Chronic Pain Treatment in the UK: Fewer Meds?

England’s NICE—the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence—is advising that other types of pain management/treatment should be utilized before common pain medications. Nonpharmacologic suggestions include exercise, psychotherapy, acupuncture, and electrical modalities. In its draft...

Medicare Will Cover Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain

DECISION SUMMARY:

A. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will cover acupuncture for chronic low back pain under section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act. Up to 12 visits in 90 days are covered for Medicare beneficiaries under the following circumstances:

• For the purpose...

Lessons from the Military—Acupuncture + Microcurrent

Battlefield acupuncture protocol is an auricular protocol where 5 acupuncture points in the ear are stimulated for the purposes of calming the nervous system, pain management, and decreasing stress. The protocol itself was created for soldiers who were having traumas while they were on the...

The Science Behind Dry Needling and Trigger Points

The trigger point phenomena and dry needling as an approach to treat myofascial pain has gained much interest in recent years. However, the popularity of these topics has been rivaled by the controversy surrounding them within the medical and rehab community. Considering the rapid rise in continuing...

Pain Care—Some Lessons from the Battlefield

Battlefield acupuncture was developed as a standardized protocol to provide a simple and easy to apply nonpharmaceutical solution in military clinical and battlefield settings. Kelley Armstrong details the approach and discusses the evidence supporting its use for pain management and stress...