VETERANS’ ISSUES    By Robert Odell, MD, PhD. 

Health care for our Veterans has taken front and center stage over the past several months, partly because of the VA access scandals. We owe our Veterans – who put their very lives on the line to preserve, protect and defend our freedoms and way of life – the very best of medical care no matter whether they are veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm/Shield or more recently the multiple conflicts in the Middle East.

The health issues affecting our current and former service men and women run the gamut from acute traumatic injuries and the negative after effects to severe neuropathic pain from Agent Orange in Vietnam, other toxic exposures in the Middle East, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Many of the Veterans’ health problems center around the chronic pain associated with musculoskeletal trauma and systemic disease, and are enhanced by psychological trauma.

At Neuropathy & Pain Centers of America, we have been working diligently to give Veterans access to our unique forms of healing through application of energy medicine. We have successfully treated several Veterans with phantom limb pain as well as chronic pain from training or combat operations. If you are a Veteran, or if you know any Veterans, who suffer from chronic pain from trauma, please do not hesitate to call our clinic. Veterans of all ages may now see us with a referral from the VA system. The long term chronic pain from many “permanent” injuries can often be improved with our advanced electromedical devices and unique approaches. We do not emphasize medication management, but rather healing.

Peripheral neuropathy is very common in many of the older Veterans who were exposed to toxic agents such as Agent Orange in the Vietnam or the toxic agents of the first Gulf War 24 years ago. Our unique approach to neuropathic pain affords about an 80% chance of improvement.