A recent study published in The American Journal of Managed Care surveyed 6,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Oregon and Washington about their utilization of chiropractic and acupuncture care for chronic pain. The results indicated that these alternative care services were increasingly being utilized, but that in a large minority of cases this care was not disclosed to their primary care doctors. The reasons for this silence wasn’t clear, but it may have resulted from a concern by the patients that their doctors would not approve of alternative medical techniques.

The Kaiser clinicians who were interviewed said they should know about this care, because it may tell them whether changes in prescribed conventional medicine care might be needed. They noted that conventional medicine, including surgery, invasive procedures, and pain medications, are often not effective and carry additional risks, including addiction to pain medications. Dr. Charles Elder, lead author of the study, noted that “More evidence is available suggesting acupuncture and chiropractic treatment and other modalities can be effective for chronic pain, and there’s awareness that a lot of the things we’re doing aren’t working or are creating problems.”