Baby boomers dealing with chronic pain face a number of tough choices.

They can tone down their active lifestyles, but that sort of flies in the face of the baby boomer aesthetic. They can tough it out on aspirin and ice wraps, but that only works for so long. 

Eventually, most turn to traditional medicine, with its endless paperwork, harried doctors and powerful prescription drugs (and their equally power side effects).

Angela Harris, a 48-year-old real estate broker from New Jersey and avid tennis player, had tried all of the above for her back pain before turning to alternative -- or complementary – forms of treatment. In her case, regular acupuncture sessions at a small, storefront clinic on Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

“It helps and I find the entire experience relaxing,” she said one recent afternoon following a 30-minute session. “It’s entirely different than the doctor’s office, where he’s always in a hurry, and then I’m usually told to refill my prescriptions.”

Harris represents millions of baby boomers who, having grown frustrated with the limitations of the traditional health care system, have expanded their options and sought relief from acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage and aroma therapists, and energy healers, among others.

Joseph Grzywacz, an associate professor in the department of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said studies have revealed most baby boomers use alternative healing to complement rather than supplant conventional methods.

In other words, if the pain persists after several trips to the doctor and a few months of physical therapy, baby boomers have availed themselves of the myriad treatments that have gained traction in Western countries in recent decades after serving as staples of Eastern medicine for centuries.

“We think complementary medicines are simply one component of the overall approach people use to manage their health,” said Grzywacz.

Click here to read more and watch a demonstration of reiki

While acupuncturists and chiropractors have been busy for years, recently energy healers who practice lesser-known treatments such as Reike and Shamballa have also seen a surge in business.

Grzywacz cited a couple of practical explanations for the growth in popularity of alternative treatments.

First, their acceptance in Western culture coincided with the period during which baby boomers came of age in the U.S. Prior to the 1960s and 1970s, when baby boomers were reaching adulthood and alternative healing methods were gaining mainstream attention, these treatments were not widely available to consumers.

Second, baby boomers – sometimes referred to as the "Me Generation" and often identified with hippy or at least New Age aesthetics – are more open than previous generations to seemingly unconventional forms of medicine.

A downside to the trend toward alternative health care is that, since most of the practices aren't recognized by U.S. health officials, insurance doesn't cover the costs. Consequently, alternative medicine consumers are mostly higher income, a point not lost on researchers.

Nevertheless, consider the markedly different experiences afforded to patients seeking treatment for their chronic pain. 

A 50-something, desk-bound baby boomer gradually injures his back skiing, playing basketball, doing yard work and generally maintaining the active lifestyle coveted by his generation. He suffers silently and downs aspirin for a few weeks, but the pain remains.

Finally, he calls his doctor and gets an appointment (probably not for another week or so.) Then, after donning a flimsy robe, the patient waits a half-hour alone in a treatment room. The doctor arrives, only to rush back out a moment later to attend to another patient. Eventually, the physician prescribes some pain killers and suggests physical therapy.

Hardly an atypical experience for baby boomers suffering chronic pain – chronic meaning the kind that doesn’t quickly go away.

That being the case, the patient still in pain, is likely to seek alternative forms of treatment that offer a different experience -- and at least as much likelihood of providing some relief.

That’s where providers like Dorothy Wong step in. Wong is a licensed acupuncturist and board certified herbalist with offices in Manhattan and New Hyde Park, N.Y.

At the tidy, gleaming white storefront on Division Street in the heart of Manhattan’s Chinatown, where Wong and her father Dr. Chi Wai Wong administer an array of alternative therapies, clients are led past shelves stocked with herbal remedies to a series of cozy booths in the rear.

Soothed by a soundtrack of wind chimes and ethereal Eastern music, patients can opt for acupuncture, massage therapy, or the ancient practice of cupping, in which warm glass cups are applied to the skin to draw moisture out of the body and promoting circulation.

While chiropractors receive the lions share of the alternative consumers, Dorothy Wong said acupuncture is also extremely popular among the 40 to 60-year-old baby boomer set.

 Many of her clients have already tried Western treatments, be it surgery, physical therapy or prescription pain killers, she said. But they return to her again and again for the personal attention and the natural experience.

“What they’ve found is that they have a lot of adverse reactions to (traditional) treatments, especially the pain killers,” she said. “They come to us seeking physical comfort. They enjoy that it’s a hands-on experience and they feel better when they leave.”