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INFORMATION FOR PERSONS WITH PAIN
There is a great deal of pain-related
information available for patients – some found on the
internet, in books, journals, or brochures. It may be difficult,
however, to know where to find the information needed. The
following link is a guide that may help you review the quality
of health-related web sites. How
to Evaluate Internet Sites
The intent of this page is to provide
some helpful information for patients – it is not comprehensive,
but will attempt to address a variety of areas as our content
changes over time.
A useful web site for people with pain
and those who care about them is the American
Pain Foundation. Two of their basic guidelines "Pain
Care Bill of Rights," and "How
do I Talk to MyHealth Care Provider about Pain?"
are very helpful for establishing open communication about
pain.
 The
Role of Complementary and Alternative
Medicine in Pain Management
NOTE: This article will provide an overview of complementary
and alternative therapies. As with conventional therapies,
MassPI cannot recommend specific treatments for pain. Patients
should consult with their own health care professional and
other practitioners about interventions that may be of benefit
to them.
Both professionals and the lay public increasingly recognize
the importance of “complementary” and “alternative”
therapies in the role of pain management:
 complementary
therapies are used in addition to conventional treatments;
alternative
therapies are generally used instead of conventional treatments.
Increasingly we are learning from the research that these
therapies can be useful in providing evidence based best care
to the whole person. The National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was established by Congressional
mandate in October 1998. The Center's predecessor, the Office
of Alternative Medicine, was established in 1992. The mission
of NCCAM is to support rigorous research on complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM), to train researchers in CAM,
and to disseminate information to the public and professionals
on which CAM modalities work, which do not, and why.
NCCAM recognizes 5 major domains of
complementary and alternative medicine. These include Alternative
Medical Systems, Mind-Body Interventions, Biologically-Based
Treatments, Manipulative and Body-Based Methods, and Energy
Therapies. Examples of a few of each of these categories are
given below.
Alternative Medical
Systems are complete systems of theory and practice
that are independent of our conventional Western, biomedical
approach to care. They are, however, complete systems of care,
many of which also have their own scientific and evidence
based practice. These systems include Ayurveda , Native American,
Aboriginal, African, Middle-Eastern, Tibetan, Central and
South American cultures, traditional Chinese medicine, Homeopathy,
and Naturopathy.
Mind-Body Interventions
are those that facilitate the mind’s ability to affect
bodily functions and symptoms. Many, such as patient education
and cognitive behavioral approaches are now considered “mainstream.”
Other interventions in this domain include meditation, hypnosis,
dance, music, art therapy, prayer and mental healing.
Biologically-Based
Treatments are natural and biologically based interventions
of care. Included in this domain are herbal treatments, special
diets (such as those developed by Drs. Atkins, Ornish, Pritikin
and Weil), orthomolecular therapies using mega doses of vitamins,
magnesium, or melatonin, and individual biological therapies
such as shark cartilage or laetrile.
Manipulative
and Body-Based Methods are those interventions based
on manipulation and/or movements of the body or spine including
Chiropractic, osteopathic, and massage therapies.
Energy Therapies
are
biofield
therapies, which focus on energy fields within the body;
electromagnetic
therapies which focus on fields outside of the body.
These include but are not limited to Qi Gong, Bio-energy healing,
Therapeutic Touch, Reiki, and Healing Touch.
The NCCAM Web site (nccam.nih.gov)
is a rich resource of publications, information for researchers,
answers to frequently asked questions about CAM, and links
to other CAM-related resources. Databases located on the NCCAM
Web site include:
CAM
on PubMed, a subset of the National Library of Medicine's
PubMed, which provides access to complementary and alternative
medicine journal citations; and
CHID
(the Combined Health Information Database), a reference tool
to find patient education materials.
These resources can be useful to both the professional and
the layperson seeking additional information about the use
of CAM in pain management.
The NCCAM Clearinghouse is the public
point of contact for scientifically based information on CAM
and for information about NCCAM. For more information on CAM
or NCCAM, contact:
NCCAM Clearinghouse
Toll-free: 1-888-644-6226
International: 301-519-3153
TTY (for deaf or hard-of-hearing callers): 1-866-464-3615
E-mail:
info@nccam.nih.gov
Web site: nccam.nih.gov
Address: NCCAM Clearinghouse,
P.O. Box 7923
Gaithersburg MD 20898-7923
Fax: 1-866-464-3616
Fax-on-Demand Service: 1-888-644-6226
Information from NCCAM Website, NCCAM
Publication No. D158
June 2002, retrieved August 11, 2003.
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