-Under Construction-
Pain Treatment:
Non-medication Options
Education
The use of patient education throughout pain treatment is called “health literacy.” Health literacy was defined by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (2000) as “the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” Consider that similar outcomes have been found in disc herniation patients who randomly received either lumbar fusion with transpedicular screws, or received education about exercise and back hygiene a year later.*
CBT
PT
Exercise
CAM
Multiple studies have shown that stress management, CBT, manual therapies, and acupuncture offer effective relief for certain types of acute pain (SAMHSA, p. 46).
Reliable Resources for CAM
Acupuncture American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental
Medicine (AAAOM) • http://www.aaaomonline.org
National Certification Commission for Acupuncture
and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) • http://www.nccaom.org
Biofeedback Association for Applied Psychophysiology and
Biofeedback • http://www.resourcenter.net/Scripts/4Disapi9.dll/
4DCGI/resctr/search.html
Chiropractic American Chiropractic Association • http://www.acatoday.org
Massage American Massage Therapy Association • http://www.amtamassage.org/findamassage/locator.aspx
*Brox, J. I., Reikerås, O., Nygaard, Ø., Sørensen, R., Indahl, A., Holm, I., et al., (2006). Lumbar instrumented fusion compared with cognitive intervention and exercises in patients with chronic back pain after previous surgery for disc herniation: A prospective randomized controlled study. Pain, 122(1–2), 145–155.