Cannabis, Acupuncture, and Chiropractic Care: What to Know about Alternative Healthcare

The price of prescription medication is getting ever more costly - and not just at the checkout counter. Pharmaceutical companies have unlimited incentives to raise prices and no legal barriers to doing exactly that each year. Moreover, patients across America are paying a different kind of cost, many with their lives, as addiction and overdose rates have skyrocketed. Alternative healthcare treatments like medical cannabis, acupuncture, and chiropractic care are at least as if not more effective and come without the negative health risks associated with mass-manufactured drugs. 

Cannabis can be used to treat depression, chronic pain, epilepsy, digestive disorders, and some cancers. Over half of US states have legalized cannabis, and federal laws like the 2018 Farm Bill are making it easier to grow certain cannabis crops and manufacture derivative products. Researchers are using this new freedom to build a better understanding of the plant’s potential. Cannabinols - the molecules in cannabis - interact with users’ endocannabinoid system to regulate biological functions like digestion, sleep, and stress. Cannabis can be consumed as raw flower, in concentrates, capsules, teas, and topical products that are particularly effective for skin disorders and joint pain. 

Despite its origins in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has found popularity in the West, and not just among mystics. The placement and pressure of thin needles can stimulate certain nerves and systems in the body, restoring them to their proper functions. Traditionalists simply put it in different words, with the needles realigning each person’s energy force, or “chi.” Regardless of perspective, the research backs it up, showing acupuncture helps to reduce lower back pain, neck pain, migraines, and more. The University of Maryland found acupuncture improved symptoms ranging from tremors and joint pain to anxiety, depression, and insomnia in 85% of Parkinson’s patients in a 2002 study. 

Commonly used as a complementary treatment to physical therapy, chiropractic care is often underestimated for its ability to optimize your everyday health and wellness. By manipulating the spine, certain joints, and soft tissue, skilled chiropractic treatment can actually improve a range of symptoms as well as contribute to overall health. The spinal canal and the central nervous system are intrinsically connected, so musculoskeletal alignment can affect things like mood, digestive and immune system health, hypertension, and even neurological disorders. One 2018 study found spinal manipulation reduced headache days by half among chronic migraine sufferers, and another reported a 96% success rate among acute neck pain patients. 


Not only do medical cannabis, acupuncture, and chiropractic care often produce superior health outcomes, but they are also more cost-effective. Any of these methods can help relieve stress and nerve pain, reducing patient dependency on anti-anxiety medication or prescription opioids, sometimes even preventing surgery. Each of the treatments mentioned above are backed by science as well as rooted in tradition, sometimes going back thousands of years. Now more than ever, they should not be overlooked.