Washington, Dec 19 (ANI): Wit the rise in the popularity of acupuncture as a pain-relief therapy, the U.S. Air Force is showing interest in the treatment.

The air force has plans to teach acupuncture early next year to the doctors who will be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Dr. Richard Niemtzow, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Medical Acupuncture, is the man behind the development of battlefield acupuncture.

He describes this therapy as a variation of acupuncture that involves inserting very tiny semi-permanent needles into very specific acupoints in the skin on the ear to block pain signals from reaching the brain.

Battlefield Acupuncture can relieve severe pain lasting several days.

This method can reduce the need for pain medications that may cause adverse or allergic reactions or addiction.

“This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence. The pain can be gone in five minutes,” said Dr. Niemtzow. (ANI)