FDA Says Providers Should Get Their Chi Together

The Food and Drug Administration—not considered to be strong advocates of new-age approaches to medicine, typically—suggested recently that alternative and holistic therapies like acupuncture and chiropractors can play an important role in managing pain for patients. It’s actually part of the FDA’s ongoing plan to reduce the need for opioid pain medications in the U.S. The agency recommends that healthcare providers “become more familiar with alternative therapies for treating pain, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractics.” The point is not to get doctors to learn how to administer these treatments, but simply to gain a better understanding of the role they can play in a multidisciplinary approach to pain management.