Massage Therapy Canada reports that acupuncture is being increasingly embraced by both patients and doctors as an alternative to opioids.
According to the article published online this week, “Many opioid addictions begin with patients in pain seeking help, and acupuncture is increasingly seen as a way to help keep some patients from ever having to go on opioids in the first place.”
Though federal research evaluators say more research is needed on the effects of acupuncture on pain, more doctors are willing to let their patients try it, especially when used as an alternative to the powerful painkillers driving the nation’s opioid crisis.
In addition, officials in the military and office of Veterans Affairs (VA) promote acupuncture as a pain treatment option: the Pentagon and the VA are teaming up with the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health to spend $81 million on research projects to study the effectiveness of a variety of nondrug approaches to treating chronic pain.
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