Chronic pain is a debilitating condition with dramatic personal, economic and societal impacts. It affects about 20 % of the population worldwide and its clinical management remains challenging. In this regard, complementary and alternative medicine is used to relieve pain symptoms together with conventional medicine (complementary) or in place of conventional medicine (alternative).
Complementary and alternative medicine comprises several approaches, including but not limited to natural products (e.g., herbs, probiotics, dietary supplements), physical and manipulative interventions (e.g., physical therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy) and mind and body practices (e.g., acupuncture, yoga, meditation, hypnosis).
Despite the growing number of patients using complementary and alternative medicine, research is needed to determine the mechanisms of these approaches and their effectiveness for pain management.
Thus, this research topic aims at providing further insights on how complementary and alternative medicine may relieve acute and chronic pain, how effective they are compared with placebo interventions or other approaches and how they may be implemented in clinical practice.
Manuscripts can be original articles, including animal and human research, clinical trials, as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Chronic pain is a debilitating condition with dramatic personal, economic and societal impacts. It affects about 20 % of the population worldwide and its clinical management remains challenging. In this regard, complementary and alternative medicine is used to relieve pain symptoms together with conventional medicine (complementary) or in place of conventional medicine (alternative).
Complementary and alternative medicine comprises several approaches, including but not limited to natural products (e.g., herbs, probiotics, dietary supplements), physical and manipulative interventions (e.g., physical therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy) and mind and body practices (e.g., acupuncture, yoga, meditation, hypnosis).
Despite the growing number of patients using complementary and alternative medicine, research is needed to determine the mechanisms of these approaches and their effectiveness for pain management.
Thus, this research topic aims at providing further insights on how complementary and alternative medicine may relieve acute and chronic pain, how effective they are compared with placebo interventions or other approaches and how they may be implemented in clinical practice.
Manuscripts can be original articles, including animal and human research, clinical trials, as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.