Which pain therapy is best

VA's whole health approach to care connects patients with other services and helps with physical, psychological, social, and economic factors that impact wellbeing.

A new research study by the Minneapolis VA Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research (CCDOR) finds that complementary and integrative health therapies delivered through VA and through community care both offer potentially effective means of reducing chronic pain.

"We wanted to learn which chronic pain therapies work for Veterans and in which settings they work better. We also wanted to help inform Veterans when choosing where to seek out treatment," said Collin Calvert, core investigator and statistician.

Overall, the research team found that VA acupuncture and chiropractic had a stronger beneficial relationship with pain than community care acupuncture and chiropractic, while conversely community care medical massage therapy had a stronger beneficial relationship than VA medical massage therapy. Also of note, extrapolating to 12 visits of acupuncture therapy at VA resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in pain interference.

While findings may demonstrate that VA does some things better than community care, and vice versa, this almost certainly depends on who is going to which facility, the comparability of people who tend toward VA and community care, and the quality of care across clinics.

Because VA uses a whole health approach to care rather than focusing just on a single chief complaint or health problem, patients may be connected with other services and receive help with physical, psychological, social and economic factors that impact wellbeing.

"Research contributes to VA health care delivery by identifying effective treatments and determining the best ways to deliver these treatments and services to Veterans," said Dr. Steven Fu, director, Minneapolis VA CCDOR.

The study, Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies and Pain: Delivery Through Veterans Affairs and Community Care, was published in the Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health last month.

If you are interested in learning more about what options are available to help manage your pain, please schedule an appointment with your provider.

This article was originally published on the VA Minneapolis Health Care System site and has been edited for style and clarity.