How widely is acupuncture used in the United States

During the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity in the United States. The report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced--by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners--for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions. According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture at one time or other, and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture in the previous year. They are using acupuncture to treat everything from migraine to nausea, menstrual cramps to tennis elbow, asthma to addiction.