War PTSD

[Omer]

We would like to hear from anyone who has done medical massage and research with soldiers returning from Iraq & Afghanastan with PTSD. Our center at Ft. Bliss offers several integrative health practices including massage, acupuncture, Reki, meditation, expressive arts, therapeutic field trips and individual, couple, family and group therapies. We feel that we can't miss helping our wounded warriors heal with all of these interventions and most are getting well within 6 months and returning to active duty.

We are about to launch a research study and would like to know about other experiences with soldiers and medical massage.

Thanks for your assistance.

Gerald Vest, ACSW/LISW/LMT
Clinical Social Worker & Professor Emeritus
Warrior Restoration & Resilience Center
Wm Beaumont Army Medical Center
Ft. Bliss, TX

 

[Amy]

Keep us posted how this goes Jerry -- it's important work.

 

[MissNobody]

Here is a little bit of information from the Upledger Institute about work with PTSD.

http://www.upledger.com/newsletters/ptsd.htm

http://www.upledger.com/UF/detail.php5.htm

They may have more information available if you contact them directly. The Upledger Clinic has done a lot of work with Veterans and PTSD.

 

[glowingdevil63]

This is the area I want to specialize in, so in a few months I may have information for you.

 

[vickky :)]

Vajara,

So glad to hear that you will be launching this study! Bravo!

I have not been practicing medical massage per se. I practice Swedish, Myofasicalesque Deep Tissue, Reiki, accupressure, and palpate Craniosacral rhythms.

I work in a spa and have worked with probably five soldiers at this point. Some returning from service and others while on leave and then returning. Most of these were gift certificates from loved ones that believe in bodywork.

It has been rewarding work and energetically I will say while I am working I am deeply moved. I have felt intense tension, and sadness while working with these soldiers. After a session with one of them I promptly went to wash my hands in the other room and could not help but break down. I had not done that before and have not done that again...so I have to say there is a lot their bodies have to say when they return from war.

Please keep us posted on your work.

My best.

 

[Girl Stewie]

Do you notice more adhesions than normal? Could this be caused by sympathetic dominance?

:?

 

[MissWilson]

Hi Jane,

As far as I am concerned I did not notice any more adhesions than normal but then again I wasn't really making that an intent as I worked at the time so maybe there were and I just didn't notice it.

I will say for many of the military people I have worked with - those that are on active duty I do notice that the musculature is extremely developed and a lot of time not balanced because many are hauling around tons of gear on their bodies in the same places everyday and it is developing muscle tissue in some areas while not as much in others.

My brother is in the Navy and came to visit once and let me put on his gear that he wears...oh my gosh, the vest alone when all loaded up (is bullet proof too) was like fourty or fifty pounds and his helmet was heavy too.

So all of that weight I believe wreaks havoc on the body even before actively running around.

I wonder if anyone else has some input.

Take care!

 

[hepmom]

I've had many soldiers on my table over the years. One I remember well spent 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton under extreme situations. He not only suffered from PTSD but having his arms broken after his chopper was shot down. They never healed properly in prison much like Senator McCain's arms. He also suffered from the effects of Agent Orange poisoning too.

My training was in the body/mind model and it came in handy when dealing with this gentleman as he was suffering daily and because of the effects of Agent Orange was also an extreme insomniac. I had to use many skills to be able to help his whole being and he soaked it up like a sponge. I usually ended with CST and he would unwind like a tightly coiled spring.

I love your many tiered approach in dealing with soldiers and their families. I think it is a wonderful model to include expressive arts and field trips as well as meditation.

Keep up the good work Gerald.

 

[calley]

War PTSD

It has been a couple of years since I posted a message describing our integrative health center serving soldiers returing from deployment and diagnosed with PTSD. We are very successful because we offer all of the integrative methods--Reiki, massage, Acupuncture, meditation, movement therapies, therapeutic arts, therapeutic outings, water polo, and individual and group therapy in a mileau setting. Soldiers are with us for 35 hrs a week and their job is to get well and transcend or transform their symptoms.

We have a slide show that introduces our premier health center and are hoping other Army sites will follow our 'footsteps'. I have learned and did join the center believing and teaching holistic health practices in my university for many years, but now I know for certain that just treating war trauma with conventional therapy is not the Way to go. We do need both the integrative methods and the group/individual therapies to empower our wounded warriors and to slow their minds down so that they can overcome these horrendous experiences. Do visit my website where we share our work, honor our warriors and review on their progress. Our partner-type massage is an integral part of the warrior's recovery and resilience: http://jerryvest.pages.qpg.com & http://www.15minutestressout.com

Also, our work is producing results that we are very proud to review: http://www.tricare.mil/twr/downloads/RRCENTER.pdf

 

[Tapioca Is A Pipe Bomb!]

War PTSD

I just wanted to thank you for the services you provide for our veterans.

t041

Angie

 

[trd93]

War PTSD

I just wanted to thank you for the services you provide for our veterans.

t041

Angie

Me too. Thank you!

 

[nuclearbroods]

War PTSD

Thanks for the kind words. I am very fortunate and grateful to be part of their support and health care. Every warrior returning from their deployment deserves the best comprehensive, intensive and extensive integrative health services available. They all have serious mental, physical, spiritual, social and emotional injuries and conflicts. Their stress, anxiety and depression is requiring these support services. Many won't admit that they have these injuries as they don't trust what their superiors will do to them. They also have very good reason not to trust the biomedical model as all they do is give them pills and send them on their way. If I sound cynical it is because this is my experience with the Behavioral health systems, public and private. They don't know better as they don't have the knowledge, practice skills, awareness and experience as you body, mind, spirit practitioners.

Do invite Warriors into your practice and thank them for their service with the best treatment and service possible.

Jerry

 

[Pompal 09.]

War PTSD

You've inspired me, Jerry, thank you. I live in a military town, and have recently restructured my practice to make all my services (bodywork, trauma resolution, energywork, homeopathy) affordable for all people. I'm giving some thought to how to get the word out.

 

[laughing_stock]

War PTSD

Awesome!!

 

[Blue Boy]

War PTSD

Thank you all for your comments. I have this holiday off, so I can visit some of my forums and contribute. All of our massage therapists have been with us for over 2 years as have our other integrative practitioners. They are so committed to giving their best practice as, like me, these warriors are so gifted and interested in getting well, strong and able so they can return to the Force. As we had discussed in the forum related to how love fits in with our practice. Love is the healing energy for PTSD and every injury and trauma that I have been associated with. I suspect this is one of the factors that separates integrative medicine from the Allopathic approach;however I certainly have learned a lot from those who are holistic health practitioners.

Frankly, psychiatry and conventional medicine is one Big Pill pusher that is neither interested in changing their directionn nor their attachments to Big Pharma $'s and the DSM committee who vote on these symptoms....everyone has a Disorder but them and their profession. YUK!!!!

 

[doris s]

War PTSD

PTSD is not curable,it won't go away,no matter how much they want it to...its with them for life.

The freaking out from loud noises or random strange noises. That constant paranoia. The instant reflexes when something happens to close to fast by them. The night sweats won't go away. The waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare,in panic mode because they think they are still there. And let me add that this still happens with regular massages and anxiety meds. Without the meds its a whole lot worse.

I know this because I live with this every single day. My husband works for the Dept of Veteran Affairs,he is a OEF/OIF Vet. I have become friends with many of these men and women,I have seen tha anguish that comes along with PTSD.
If there was a healing cure for it,trust me ever single Vet would be on it like crazy but sadly there isn't any cure.
Massage may make them better for that hour they are on your table but it doesn't stop everything else associated with it.

 

[Tab]

War PTSD

i'm sorry that you haven't received the treatment that our soldiers get every day for 35 hrs. a week and for 6 months with after care as needed. We do see "little miracles" as our founder describes with his observations and research as wellI don't think in terms of Cure, but restoration and resilience. He recently returned from an Army-wide conference that identified psychotropics as working about 15 % of the time. I would like to see 2 tracks for our soldiers so that we could evaluate the effectiveness of the integrative medicine compared with those who take meds. There are many more variables, so probably can't be valid.

Anyway, we also observe that those with a strong support system and family, appear to restore themselves much more effectively. It will be an extended time period for us to do followup on our soldiers to see how they are able to manage their symptoms and maintain quality life, relationships, and health. We currently have researchers designing and adminiistering several studies.Some of my contacts with graduates are mixed reviews. Some feel that if they had had a year's treatment with all of our integrative health and therapy their transition back to the public sector would not have been so stressful.

Please, I have worked in mh for more years than I like to remember. I have also worked PT and full time with the military as a health practitioner for over 27 years. I would love to have had the money that was put into drugs and put it into alternative health practices for soldiers suffering from stress, anxiety and depression. Btw, have you explored meditation, martial arts, yoga, water therapy, neuropsychology methods, and the other interventions we offer our injured? I have also observed that many of our soldiers have not been diagnosed effectively with TBI that may require certain meds and other brain technologies. I'm sure we will be hearing more about the neglect of diagnosis and treatment of this population.

I appreciate your service and spouses contributions to this discussion. What you do to help yourself is right for you. I believe that we must accept the principle of self determination as this is a developing field of practice, knowledge and research. I only wish to share what I have learned from my soldiers and their families.

Best wishes,

Jerry

 

[chuck]

War PTSD

My husband did 2 tours. When he was discharged(medically) he went to work for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs as a OEF/OIF readjustment counselor (peer on peer counseling).While dealing with his own demons, he has counseled other OEF/OIF Vets,their spouses,children and parents of these soldiers. He has had EVERY single thing out there available to him and has done or is doing everything possible to keep things at bay. He was diagnosed with TBI.
I have had to go to counseling for him but without him present. I am there any time he needs me.
My point is nothing takes it away. Like I said,yes it helps some but the big picture of it all,those demons are still there.

Nothing sucks more than having a grown man cry in your arms in the middle of the night because of the things,he saw,the things he experienced first hand,the lives he took away,watching his "brothers or sisters" die next to them.

Honest to God what helps him, I joke with him about things. When he starts freaking out I make him laugh some way some how. I don't let him pity himself, yes I let him get that anger out sometimes. I don't want it to come across as I am passive about this,far from the truth. I have had to learn to adapt to how he is at certain times. I give him his time alone.

Take for instance the other day we are on our front porch and he hears a funny noise, he sits straight up in his seat and that panic look is there, he is about to jump over a fence in defense mode.....it was our sprinklers kicking on.I about peed myself laughing which helped calm him down and he started laughing.

Figuring out how to cope with each instance helps so much more.

 

[Vaughn.student]

War PTSD

I'm curious to know if you folks offer any EFT for the PTSD? Supposedly it can have profound results, but I've never had the opportunity to try it first hand.

 

[Montificus]

War PTSD

After almost 3 years, I have taken leave from our US Army's premiere PTSD, Ft Bliss Restoration & Resilience Center. (do search, R & R Center). I left for family reason, but it was the greatest experience of my life working in an Integrative Health Center along side of most of the body-mind-spirit professionals--reiki, medical massage, acupuncture, 15-Minute StressOut Program, meditation, movement therapies, water polo, therapeutic outings, therapeutic arts, group & individual therapies, etc. The soldiers spent 35 hrs. a week for 6 months in this intensive and extensive program becoming resilient and we did followup as long as necessary. We are now doing followup studies, so time will tell.

Several of us around the country are beginning to build a network of practitioners to continue to advance our work and our model of PTS. Note: some of us do not accept that PTSD is a disorder, disease, or an illness, rather we see it as a natural response to (war) trauma that affects the whole being. It is for this reason that whole body, mind, spirit and social interventions or practices are necessary to promote healing. We had the psychiatrists with their pill available, the ones who got better the quickest were those who didn't take the meds or left them ASAP. (more of my observation--time will tell)

Anyway, do keep me posted if you wish to be put on a support list for body work in your City and State. My administrator will maintain a data base for those who wish to build their experience working with vets, soldiers and their families. In any event, do give our Warriors special attention and notice as body work is one of the great methods to help them slow down their minds and restore their health and wellbeing. Many of you have many skills so do note them on your note to Brent Laracuente http://www.15minutestressout.com

Thanks for your interest in PTS. You are a great resource for our vets and families. I didn't mention that we also worked with their families as PTS is also an injury that definitely affects the family and our greater community. If you have a vet center in your area, do visit them and let them know how valuable you are to them for recovery.

Best wishes,

Jerry