Acupuncture: an integrative therapy for pain management and opioid reduction in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, it was estimated that in 2016, about 25 million residents suffered from various chronic pain, while 126 million adults had certain type of pain in the prior three months (1). US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based on National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Data in the same year and pointed out that there were 50 million (20.4%) adults with chronic pain and about 20 million (8.0%) adults with high-impact chronic pain, especially among women and older adults (2).