February 24, 2:30 PM Milwaukee Natural Health Examiner David Bock

http://www.examiner.com/x-26427-Milwaukee-Natural-Health-Examiner~y2010m2d24-Acupuncture-at-the-Winter-Olympics

In the Bejing Olympics held in China, acupuncture was readily available to athletes. It is believed that many U.S. athletes are utilizing acupuncture as part of their medical service to keep them in top shape. In some cases athletes have been very public about the services they used to overcome injuries.

Speed skater Brian Hansen, who trains in Milwaukee,suffered a back injury in 2009. He is competing in Vancouver thanks to a lot of hard work and medical services that included acupuncture. Ski cross racers Daron Rahlves and Casey Puckett have been using acupuncture to help them recover from recent injuries that threatened their chances to compete.

As acupuncture is becoming more widely accepted, it is important to remember that acupuncture is a medical technique based in a different system of medicine. Hopefully as acupuncture becomes more utilized, the lessons and medical advice of Traditional Chinese medicine will also be more widely embraced and available to all the athletes in our communities.