People turn to alternative medicine for reasons that are practical, emotional, and sometimes deeply personal. About 36.7% of U.S. adults used at least one complementary health approach in 2022, nearly double the 19.2% reported in 2002. That sharp rise reflects a combination of factors: chronic pain that conventional treatment hasn’t fully resolved, a desire for more control over one’s own health, and the appeal of therapies that treat the whole person rather than a single symptom.
Pain Is the Biggest Driver
Nearly half of all people using complementary approaches do so specifically for pain management. That figure climbed from 42.3% in 2002 to 49.2% in 2022, according to an NIH analysis of national survey data. Chronic pain conditions like back problems, arthritis, and migraines often respond incompletely to conventional treatment, and many patients find that adding therapies like massage, chiropractic care, or acupuncture gives them meaningful relief they weren’t getting from medications alone.
This isn’t a fringe population. These are people who’ve often been through rounds of prescriptions and physical therapy and are looking for something more. Acupuncture, for example, is increasingly covered by insurance, and its use more than doubled between 2002 and 2022. Yoga use tripled over the same period, rising from 5% to 15.8% of adults.
Wanting to Feel More in Control
A recurring theme in patient surveys is autonomy. When you’re managing a serious illness, especially something like cancer, it can feel like every decision is made by someone else: which drug, which dose, which schedule. Complementary therapies give people a way to take an active role in their own recovery. You choose the therapy, the practitioner, and the pace. That sense of agency matters, particularly when the rest of your medical experience feels like it’s happening to you rather than with you.
This motivation extends beyond serious illness. People dealing with anxiety, insomnia, or chronic fatigue often feel that conventional medicine offers limited options for conditions that are real but hard to pin down with a lab test. Meditation, which became the most popular complementary approach in 2022 at 17.3% of adults, appeals precisely because it’s something you do for yourself, on your own terms.
Stress Relief and Emotional Well-Being
Many people aren’t looking for a cure from alternative therapies. They’re looking to feel better in a broader sense: less anxious, more relaxed, more able to cope. Complementary therapies that focus on relaxation, like guided imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, and massage, address emotional and psychological well-being in ways that a 15-minute doctor’s visit typically doesn’t.
The time and attention that complementary practitioners offer is itself part of the appeal. A typical acupuncture or massage session lasts 45 to 60 minutes. The practitioner asks how you’re feeling, listens, and provides physical touch or guided support. For people going through difficult treatments or stressful life periods, that combination of talk, touch, and time provides comfort that’s hard to find elsewhere in the healthcare system.
The Appeal of “Natural” Therapies
Many patients are drawn to alternative medicine because it feels less invasive. Herbal supplements, dietary changes, and mind-body practices carry an intuitive appeal: they seem gentler, more aligned with how the body works on its own. This perception is especially strong among people who’ve experienced significant side effects from prescription medications or who are wary of long-term pharmaceutical use.
That said, “natural” doesn’t automatically mean safe. Several common herbal supplements can interact with prescription drugs in serious ways. St. John’s wort, widely used for mood support, interferes with birth control pills, blood thinners, and immunosuppressant drugs. Ginkgo biloba increases bleeding risk when taken with blood thinners. Goldenseal can reduce the effectiveness of metformin, a common diabetes medication, by about 25%. Even green tea in high doses can reduce the effectiveness of certain blood pressure and cholesterol drugs. These interactions are well documented and clinically significant.
Many Patients Don’t Tell Their Doctors
One of the most important findings in this space is how often alternative medicine use goes unreported. Among people who use both conventional and complementary approaches, 42.3% did not disclose their most-used alternative therapy to their primary care physician. The top reason, cited by 57% of non-disclosers, was simply that their doctor never asked. Another 46.2% didn’t think their doctor needed to know.
This gap creates real risk, particularly with herbal supplements that can change how prescription drugs work in your body. If you’re using any herbal products alongside prescribed medications, volunteering that information to your doctor protects you from interactions that neither treatment alone would cause.
Who Uses Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine use spans all income levels, but spending patterns reveal clear differences. Americans spent $30.2 billion out of pocket on complementary health approaches in a single year. People with household incomes above $100,000 spent an average of $590 per year, compared to $435 for those earning under $25,000. The gap was even wider for practitioner visits: $518 versus $314. Higher-income individuals aren’t necessarily more likely to believe in alternative medicine, but they have more disposable income to spend on it, especially on services like acupuncture and chiropractic care that may not be fully covered by insurance.
People with multiple chronic conditions are particularly active users, averaging two complementary therapies per year. This makes sense: the more conditions you’re managing, the more likely you are to encounter limitations in what conventional medicine can do for you, and the more motivated you are to seek additional relief.
When Conventional Treatment Falls Short
For some people, alternative medicine becomes more important as conventional options narrow. This is especially visible among patients with advanced illnesses where standard treatments are no longer controlling symptoms or disease progression. In those situations, trying an alternative approach can feel like the only remaining path forward, even when evidence for a specific therapy is limited.
This doesn’t mean most alternative medicine users have rejected conventional care. The vast majority use complementary therapies alongside their regular medical treatment, not instead of it. They’re adding yoga to their physical therapy, meditation to their anxiety medication, or massage to their pain management plan. The motivation is typically supplementation, not replacement: filling in gaps that conventional medicine leaves open.