Papers of the Week

Military members are required to perform in austere environments in which standard medical care routinely provided in the civilian setting is not available. Medical problems requiring hospital-based treatment which is not available in the field, shipboard, or deployed setting can be a cause for military members to be permanently discharged from active duty for medical reasons. We present a case of chronic low back pain treated with epidural steroid injections not routinely available aboard ship. The member was found unfit for shipboard duties, potentially ending her career in the military. The patient's low back pain resolved with Strain Counterstrain (SCS) techniques. Additionally, SCS treatments also resolved undisclosed chronic pelvic pain, leading to improved overall quality of life. Strain Counterstrain is a non-interventional treatment which does not require special equipment, is available in austere environments and aboard ship, and allowed the member to remain on active duty. Strain Counterstrain is a manual muscle-retraining procedure easily learned, which can be performed in the field, on ship, in the deployed setting, in primary care, as well as in specialty pain medicine clinics.