| Have you been to a practitioner besides your | | | | - primarily chiropractors - experienced fewer |
| family physician? Whether chiropractic care, | | | | hospitalizations, underwent fewer surgeries |
| acupuncture, yoga or homeopathy, | | | | and used considerably fewer pharmaceuticals |
| Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) | | | | than HMO patients who received traditional |
| has become increasingly common in the United | | | | medical care." |
| States, and 72% of adults use some form of | | | | |
| CAM therapies according to the US National | | | | A large national survey of all studies on |
| Centers for Disease Control and US National | | | | treatments for back pain, the most common |
| Center for Health Statistics. | | | | cause of disability in working Americans, |
| | | | lead by William Meeker, DC, PhD, and Marc |
| A recent cover story in The New York Times | | | | Micozzi, MD, PhD, found that chiropractic was |
| Magazine highlighted how chronic pain tends | | | | more effective at reducing pain and restoring |
| to be under treated because doctors worry | | | | function, and was less costly and dangerous |
| about over prescribing medications, and being | | | | than medical and surgical management. |
| liable for malpractice or even criminal | | | | |
| penalties. Many doctors fear entering the | | | | Another study, in the Journal of |
| field of pain management at all. Many | | | | Rehabilitation, Research & Development |
| patients are also concerned about becoming | | | | examined the effectiveness of a wide range of |
| dependant on medication or about the | | | | complementary and alternative medicines in |
| invasiveness and dangers of surgery and | | | | the treatment of chronic pain. This |
| anesthesia. CAM therapies, which are able to | | | | encompassing study examined clinical trials |
| treat pain and help manage diseases without | | | | and previous studies done on the therapies. |
| medication or surgery, are rapidly growing | | | | |
| services as people search out better, safer | | | | Acupuncture is an effective treatment for |
| approaches. | | | | chemotherapy related pain, dental pain, low |
| | | | back pain, and probably premenstrual syndrome |
| So how effective are Complementary and | | | | pain. They found massage therapy effective |
| Alternative Medicine therapies? | | | | for lower back pain and shoulder pain, but |
| | | | found less evidence for its treating |
| One recent study published in the Journal of | | | | fibromyalgia, neck pain, headache, and carpel |
| Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics | | | | tunnel syndrome. Yoga in turn has been found |
| tracked data from a unique organization, the | | | | to very effective for carpal tunnel syndrome |
| Independent Physicians Association (IPA) | | | | and many forms of arthritis. For some |
| where chiropractors serve as first-contact, | | | | therapies like reiki, homeopathy, and |
| primary care physicians. | | | | therapeutic touch ("laying on hands"), there |
| | | | are few clinical trials done, making it |
| This study found patients treated by these | | | | difficult to prove effectiveness. |
| practitioners reported lower costs and higher | | | | |
| satisfaction rates than those treated by | | | | Still, for the many who routinely seek out |
| conventional medical doctors. One of the | | | | alternative and complementary treatments, it |
| co-authors of the study James Winterstein DC, | | | | has less to do with clinical trials than with |
| said that they found that, "patients visiting | | | | their own positive experience. |
| CAM-orientated primary care physicians (PCP) | | | | |