Cancer support and acupuncture
Acupuncture is a safe evidenced based therapy. It has been provided alongside conventional cancer treatments in UK hospitals, clinics and hospices for many years. Acupuncture is used to support mental and physical health and to moderate the effects of treatments such as radio and chemotherapy. It can help people who are living with cancer to manage energy and reduce the effects of stress.
We follow strict safety protocols with all our patients as outlined by the British Acupuncture Council. There is link at bottom of this page to a recent internationally authored paper outlining safe practice guidance for acupuncture in integrative oncology.
The Cancer Research UK website notes that:
Your doctor might refer you to have acupuncture because you have pain or other symptoms such as:
- tiredness and weakness (fatigue)
- dry mouth
- breathlessness
- hot flushes due to anti cancer treatments
People say that acupuncture helps them to feel relaxed and improves their feeling of wellbeing.
When to use acupuncture for cancer support?
Acupuncture works by modulating the nervous system and supporting the body’s maintenance systems. It is therefore safe to use at any time and does not adversely affect other treatments.
We design each patient’s treatment to work in accord with whatever stage they are in – whether at the time of diagnosis, before and/or after surgery or in conjunction with chemotherapy or other pharmaceutical or radiotherapy treatments.
Acupuncture can help in the management of the very many side effects cancer treatments as well as medically induced menopause. Some more common side effects are listed below.
- Pain
- Post operative recovery
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fatigue
- Digestive support (IBS, constipation or frequent diarrhoea)
- Insomnia
- Hot flushes and night sweats
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Appetite changes and weight gain
- Menopause symptoms
- Brain fog
I’d been coming to see Helen, initially for fertility support, for about six months prior to my cancer diagnosis. Then, once I had been on treatment for a few months, I returned to the clinic, as I felt I needed additional therapies to complement the medical approach I was on.
Helen treated me post major surgery, throughout my treatment path – I couldn’t be more grateful for the way she navigates and treats my many, changing side effects; and there’s the emotional side of things as well. Acupuncture does a great job at supporting to calm my anxiety when I need it.
Katie
Do contact us if you have any further questions about how acupuncture might be helpful for you.
–>
Useful information
Counselling service featuring therapists highly experienced in cancer support.
Recently published paper outlining guidelines for the safe practice of oncology acupuncture.
There is good evidence to support the use of acupuncture for post chemotherapy nausea and vomiting (alongside antiemetics) and for postoperative pain.