According to the American Red Cross, 7.8% of Americans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 30% of them are military veterans. As the nation recognizes National PTSD Awareness Day Sunday to bring attention to PTSD and educate people about it, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville and a veterans group are trying to make alternative treatments available to veterans.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville last week signed on to legislation that would allow the VA to use Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to treat veterans with PTSD. The treatment is similar to decompression chambers used by divers. Patients breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized environment, sending more oxygen throughout the body and helping to repair tissues and restore functionality.

Tuberville, who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said, “Many veterans say HBOT helps treat their traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and PTSD – ailments that can lead to suicide. But perhaps most importantly, HBOT is a holistic treatment. Instead of loading up on prescribed medications, this treatment involves no drugs, no endless trips to the pharmacy, and no medicine schedules to keep up with.”

It’s also relatively inexpensive, costing between $250-$450 per treatment.

He noted, “HBOT is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment option for more than a dozen different conditions, including severe burns, infections, and decompression sickness. In fact, there are many former professional athletes, including football players, who have found success with this treatment for different injuries, including severe head injuries. But the FDA does not recognize HBOT as an approved treatment option for TBI and PTSD, meaning veterans can’t receive this care at VA facilities and must pay for it out of their own pockets. It’s time that changed.”

The bill, HBOT Access Act, would require the VA to refer veterans to HBOT if they have tried at least two evidence-based treatment options and are at high risk for suicide.

Another Alabama group is also pushing for a non-pharmaceutical therapy for veterans.

Cullman-based Saving Forgotten Warriors (SFW) and VFW Post 2214 are paying for and arranging stellate ganglion block (SGB) procedures for veterans. Since the program started in January, 2020, 170 local veterans have received the SGB shot. It “resets” the central nervous system, which controls the “fight or flight” instinct. It’s administered into the neck, and, according the research published in the JAMA Psychiatry, has shown to provide “a significant difference” for sufferers of PTSD.

Retired Air Force Col. Ken Brown said they’ve seen a significant difference in the men and women that have received the shot. “We know we saved six lives in 2020,” he said. “We’re having great success rates on lessening the effects of PTSD.”

Brown said he believes they are the only group helping veterans with PTSD get the treatment, but said they will soon be meeting with other VFW posts to share what they’re doing.

They first began sending veterans to Annapolis, Maryland, for the procedure, but as of January this year veterans have been going to Nesbitt Pain Associates on the campus of St. Vincent Hospital in Birmingham. 

This is saving the veterans’ travel time and SFW the cost of sending veterans out of state on an overnight trip. “They can just go on down there and get the shot,” said Brown. The shot costs $800 per person, and the group relies on donations to make it possible to send veterans for treatment.

Brown said there are about 42,000 Alabama veterans with PTSD that may benefit from this treatment, along with counseling. The Department of Defense has approved SGB and uses it at selected military hospitals, but, said Brown, “You have this tremendous population [of veterans] and their health is supposed to be taken care of by the Veterans Administration.” The VA, he said, is treating PTSD through counseling and drugs. 

“They are not allowing hospitals to give SGB to veterans for PTSD,” he said. 

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) introduced a bill that would require the VA to expand the use of SGB. So far, the bill has not made it out of committee.