Frieling Chiropractic Offering Chiropractic Care for Returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Now Available Through Growing Volunteer DC Network

Dr. Rod Frieling at Frieling Chiropractic, along with Doctors of Chiropractic from around the United States have answered the call to participate in a new initiative aimed at supporting America’s newest returning veterans with immediate access to chiropractic services, in addition to the limited programs officially available through the US Department of Defense. Out of a desire to serve and to fill in a vitally important health care gap, doctors around the nation have extended an offer of care for one full year for any US military veteran returning from overseas deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq, at no charge. The concept was developed by International Chiropractic Associations Southern Regional Director Dr. R.J. Kelly, who had initiated such a program in his own personal practice, with very positive results among veterans.

“The greatest gift we chiropractors have to give is the correction of the vertebral subluxation to restore the flow of Innate in another,” said Dr. Kelly. “My greatest joy is to be allowed to do that for the people I meet. I am pleased that so many of my colleagues share my vision and my understanding of this current need, delivering this gift to a special group of our fellow citizens – our men and women in the Armed Forces of the United States.”

Since October 2001, approximately 1.64 million U.S. troops have been deployed for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) in Afghanistan and Iraq. The care of the more than 800,000 returning military veterans who have been released from service and the many hundreds of thousands who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and remain on active duty is an urgent national priority. It is so because of the sacrifice they have made for us, and because of the unique and powerful contribution chiropractic can make to the healing process.

This new generation of veterans has been subjected to a level of stress and trauma that has not been seen in living memory. The 24-hour stress, the nature of injuries, the length of deployments and the uncertainties of returning to civilian life all contribute to the physical, practical and financial, mental and spiritual burdens returning veterans must face. The statistics are staggering, with nearly 10,000 amputees, more than 18,000 brain injuries, approaching 50,000 wounded in all categories of physical injury, thousands with emotional and psychiatric damage, and the numbers continue to mount. Back and spinal problems represent one of the leading causes of lost time in action and are the leading cause of disability retirements from the military. At home, we in the states and communities can reach out, and honor what President Theodore Roosevelt articulated so well more than 100 years ago. “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterward.”

Tens of thousands of US military personnel are being rotated back to the US, many to civilian life, and others to stateside deployment. All have been subjected to exceptional strain, with a new pattern of injury and trauma. Regrettably, the care those returning veterans have been receiving through official channels has not always been adequate.  Whatever the situation for returning veterans, they need help and support from the community, including the chiropractic community. The impact of war on the human body and soul has been given much serious consideration over the years by chiropractic leaders. ICA believes that through the power of a chiropractic adjustment, chiropractic offers a unique asset, as returning veterans strive to recover and restore their lives physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. “Right now there are literally thousands in our country that are offering an even greater gift... their lives. Our military, our returning veterans, whether visibly wounded or free of outward symptoms, are coming home changed, and need our help as chiropractors,” said Dr. Kelly.

ICA has been in contact with various veterans’ organizations and service groups and is developing a protocol for this new program, as well as developing lines of communication to make sure that as many veterans as possible know that this initiative is up and running, and how to find a participating doctor of chiropractic in their area. “We want to help volunteer doctors reach out to the returning veteran population in a spirit of service in the most clinically sound, ethically based and timely manner possible,” said ICA Executive Director Robert N. Pohtos.  ICA has posted a roster of participating doctors of chiropractic on the ICA website at www.chiropractic.org.

Frieling Chiropractic is located at 6295 Lehman Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80918 and the phone number is 719-592-9400. Frieling Chiropractic’s website is www.frichiro.com.

-written by Dr. Rod Frieling