Every once in a while I hear an interesting comment from a VA consumer -- in other words, a servicemember or veteran who's using the VA for health care. (The VA does a lot of great things for veterans; but there's also a limit to what they do or authorize, and veterans often want MORE.) Here's a recent comment, illustrating that point. The veteran with MST and PTSD was getting his or her request for going "outside the system" to get massage therapy on a fee-basis denied. Here's what the denier said:
"If the VA did fee-basis for massage everyone would want it! They are not going to approve you for that; maybe acupuncture, but not massage."
The literature indicates that massage does help PTSD symptoms. (Here's one article to whet your interest on that topic, but there are many more.) Massage is also an affordable form of stress relief that doesn't rely on medication or talk therapy for its results. And there are plenty of massage therapists available for work with veterans, whereas there often aren't enough talk therapists to meet the need. So while the VA employee above may not be speaking for the VA officially, it's a shame to think veterans aren't able to access such a low-tech, high-touch therapeutic modality that (apparently) many vets would enjoy if they could!
© 2010 by Lily Casura / Healing Combat Trauma. All rights reserved. Use with attribution.
