Acupuncture Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Acupuncture, including details on alternative medicine, uses, benefits, treatment, chinese medicine.

Complementary and alternative medicine for persistent facial pain.

Myers CD

Integrative Medicine Program, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. myerscd@moffitt.usf.edu

This article discusses complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), reviews literature on the prevalence of use of CAM by the general adult population in the United States and by patients with persistent facial pain, and summarizes published, peer-reviewed reports of clinical trials assessing the effects of CAM therapies for persistent facial pain. Results indicate that many patients use CAM for musculoskeletal pain, including persistent facial pain. Preliminary work on selected complementary therapies such as biofeedback, relaxation, and acupuncture seems promising; however, there are more unanswered than answered questions about cost-effectiveness, efficacy and mechanisms of action of CAM for persistent facial pain.

Published 22 December 2006 in Dent Clin North Am, 51(1): 263-74, ix.
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