People diagnosed with cancer usually find themselves in the battle of a lifetime. Even many curable cases, those discovered early, can drain a patient physically and emotionally. While the cure is not worse than the disease, treatments for cancer can cause great discomfort.
Acupuncture has been instrumental in easing that discomfort in countless cancer patients. In those cases, the ancient Chinese practice has dovetailed wonderfully with traditional western medicine. While the two medical views often seem in conflict, they complement each other in the care of cancer patients.
Chemotherapy helps cure many cancers, but the treatment can be a brutal shock to the body. Most of us have friends or family members who have undergone chemotherapy. After each session, they were left weak and downright sick. An acupuncturist can alleviate the nausea and vomiting along with other side-effects, such as stress. The practitioner may administer the treatment before and after chemotherapy.
Acupuncture also helps reduce the pain and swelling caused by some cancer treatments. Relieving the pain through acupuncture may allow the patient to receive fewer drugs to ease the discomfort. That can make for a more lucid and emotionally stable patient.
A diagnosis of cancer is scary and life altering. Gone are the days, however, when the disease is necessarily life ending. With the help of acupuncture, the debilitating effects of cancer treatments may also fade into the past.