MTCforum.net

That’s when her primary care doctor suggested she go visit one of the Navy’s new acupuncture specialists — Navy doctors trained in the ancient Chinese practice of using small pins at the body’s key pressure points.

Since February, Muraca has had about a dozen 45-minute treatments at Naval Medical Center San Diego.

“I’m virtually pain-free. Sometimes it’s immediate — as soon as you get done with a treatment, you can feel the difference,” Muraca said.

The Navy for the first time is training doctors across the fleet in the 2,000-year-old Chinese medical techniques. About 25 doctors underwent the 300-hour training program earlier this year, and the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery has a second training course underway for 35 more.

The Navy is not hiring traditional acupuncture specialists, who typically do not have medical degrees and study acupuncture alone for up to four years.