Complementary and alternative treatments are often overlooked when managing patients with chronic pain. Given the prevalent problem of prescription opioid abuse, narcotics should be avoided in the treatment of chronic pain if possible. When appropriate, practitioners should ensure patients have explored a wide variety of pain relief therapies prior to initiation of narcotics for the treatment of chronic pain. Increasing awareness and understanding of complementary and alternative therapies among practitioners and patients will hopefully help to mitigate the perceived need for narcotics in the treatment of chronic pain.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1164/thumbnail.jp
