What Are Complementary Pain Treatments?

The word complementary means “in addition to.”

Complementary treatments such as yoga, massage therapy, and acupuncture can be used in addition to your doctor’s standard care to help you reduce your long-lasting pain.

Click the pictures below to learn more about these complementary treatments for pain:

If you are considering complementary pain treatments…

Tell your health care providers. They need to know what you do to manage your health to make sure that your health care is safe.

Are complementary pain treatments effective?

There is growing evidence to suggest that acupuncture, massage, and yoga may help to manage some painful conditions.

Even the best treatment is unlikely to completely eliminate long-lasting pain, but complementary treatments may help lower your pain and make it easier to live with.

Click here to learn more about evidence for complementary pain treatments

Sources:

Furlan AD, Imamura M, Dryden T, Irvin E. Massage for low back pain: an updated systematic review within the framework of the Cochrane Back Review Group. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2009; 34:1669

Furlan AD, van Tulder MW, Cherkin DC, et al. Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2005; :CD001351.

Berman BM, Lao L, Langenberg P, Lee WL, Gilpin AMK, Hochberg MC. Effectiveness of Acupuncture as Adjunctive Therapy in Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2004; 141(12):901910.

(2012, November 19). Complementary Treatments. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/complementary-medicine-topic-overview