Complementary Medicine for Chronic Pain

Recent reports in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD), an industry leader in rehabilitation medicine and technology, have shown that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments for pain management have the best proven track record for results of all measured CAM treatments.

Biofeedback, hypnosis, and massage therapy, specifically in treating lower back and shoulder pain, are the most effective, according to the JRRD. Biofeedback is a form of alternative medicine that uses electromyograph (EMG), electroencephalograph (EEG) and electrodermal response (EDR) equipment to calculate in real time the body’s response systems, such as muscle tension and sweat gland responses. This pertinent information is then relayed to the patient in order to raise awareness and consciousness, thereby assisting the patient in facilitating internal change.

In the days of yore, sufferers of chronic pain might have been told the symptoms were all in their head, or to just get over it. But today, chronic pain is a clinically diagnosed disorder. One site explains, “[p]ain is a perception that signals to the individual that tissue damage has occurred or may be occurring,” going on to describe the processes in the body that perceive pain as nociception.

Because it is such a subjective and complex condition, complementary and alternative therapies that employ holistic approaches can be very beneficial, looking for mental, emotional and psychological causes of the pain, in addition to physical ones.

Knowledge is definitely power when it comes to your health!