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Chicago doctor practices holistic medicine on GIs in Iraq

Sep-26-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

[LINK to Full ARTICLE]
By Rick Jervis
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 26, 2004

MOSUL, Iraq -- Lt. Col. Damon Arnold's hands spin magic in this northern Iraqi city.

They unlock backs twisted from carrying too much gear and body armor. They ease stomach pains and knotted necks. Sometimes they even chase away the nightmares.

As medical director of the first aid station at Camp Freedom, headquarters for the 7,500 U.S. troops in northern Iraq, Arnold leads a team of seven medics who treat the usual cases of dehydration, diarrhea, rashes and allergies. They also treat the wounds of soldiers returning from battle.

But increasingly his specialty has turned to curing common combat ailments, such as hurt backs and combat fatigue, through a medley of deep-tissue massage therapy, acupressure, acupuncture, Eastern philosophy and meditation. A medical director at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago, Arnold picked up the alternative techniques during a two-year course at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy.

The methods are reaping impressive results on patients ranging from infantry soldiers to civilians to Iraqi prisoners of war, he said. He has made believers out of skeptics and has become known as an unconventional doctor in an unconventional war.

"Skin is the window to the soul," said Arnold, 47, an Illinois Army National Guardsman working with the Army's 118th Medical Brigade attached to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, also known as the Stryker Brigade.


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