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From:	Rocket Scientist (proxy1d.external.lmco.com)
Subject:	A little late here...
Date:	September 16, 2005 at 8:32 am PST

In Reply to: Post Trauma Surgical Reality posted by Ramona on September 10, 2005 at 8:53 pm:

Hi,

I highly suggest you find a good experienced acupuncturist in your area. Acupuncture has a great track record for pain management, and some insurance companies (even HMOs) are supporting this, if you use someone in their network!

Another good option, that will probably be more difficult to come by, would be to see a naturopath who has experience with pain management. NDs are only lisenced in about 15 states, but you will find lisenced practitioners in nearly all states. (Basically, they get a lisence in another state, like Oregon, and then they set up practice in an un-lisenced state, like Colorado. That is what my ND did.) The great thing about an ND is that they can evaluate the situation, and then they can recommend all sorts of therapy that would be most helpful to you. They could recommend anything from herbs to massage to acupuncture to meditation - they draw upon a huge array of different treatments.

Contact your insurance company to find out what kind of alternative care they can give you. If you hear "no" the first time, keep working at it - often, they will relent if you keep going up the chain of command, and get your primary care physician involved. But even if they won't pay, you can often get low-cost treatments at acupuncture schools, massage schools, and ND school clinics (though there are only 4 ND schools in the US). I'll paste a link below where you can read a little more about naturopathy.

RS

• AANMC website