Interestingly enough, their physiotherapist has incorporated acupuncture techniques into the practice.
You see. Patients with chronic pain will try everything. Sometimes at the same time. Scientific, traditional, experimental... They are "happy" to be test subjects, because pain is just too depressing. And after common medicine fails for enough years, maybe the tradeoff of becoming a test subject and discussing the issue with more peers is worth it.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with everything you said, I'm just exposing another perspective on the theme.