Luna Acupuncture Clinic

Cancer Support

Cancer is a diagnosis that no one wants to hear. It can leave you feeling frightened, uncertain, and powerless. But if you or a loved one is facing cancer, it's important to have hope. In many cases, cancer can be cured, especially when it's detected early. There are more treatments available now than ever before to cure cancer or slow it from spreading, relieve its symptoms, and help you live a healthier life.

It's also important to know that you have options in addition to standard medical therapies. Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of conditions. It can safely be used to naturally support your body and mind as you undergo conventional cancer treatments.

Understanding treatments and their side effects
Cancer is an overall term for a group of diseases that occur when cells begin to reproduce abnormally, eventually damaging or killing healthy tissue. Most cancers are named according to where they begin in the body, and there are more than 100 different types. The most common are breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer.

Your treatment plan will be based on many factors, including the type and stage (how far it has spread) of the cancer and your overall health. While cancer treatments have proven to be effective, they do have serious side effects to take into account.

The most common treatments include
Surgery: Performed to remove the cancer if possible. Surgery may be used alone or along with radiation therapy, chemotherapy or biological therapy.

Chemotherapy: The use of medications to destroy cancer cells. Chemotherapy generally lasts from three to nine months, and can have side effects including fatigue, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, early menopause, hot flashes, peripheral neuropathy, change in taste and smell, and decreased white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells.

Radiation therapy: The use of high doses of radiation to destroy cancer cells. Side effects generally include fatigue, hair loss, skin darkening at the site of the treatment with possible skin burn.

Biological therapy: This treatment works by boosting the body's immune system to fight cancer cells. Side effects depend on the specific type of therapy, but they can include rashes or swelling, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, nausea, and loss of appetite.

It is important to remember that acupuncture is not a quick fix but another tool you can use in your arsinol of battling cancer.

How acupuncture and TCM can help
Acupuncture and TCM have been used for thousands of years to maintain health and relieve symptoms. Practitioners work to treat imbalances in the body's Qi, or vital energy, by inserting fine, sterile needles at specific acupoints.

Since acupuncture has few side effects, it can be safely used as a complement to conventional cancer treatment. In fact, in many cancer cases it's recommended as a way to soothe and reduce side effects. According to the National Institute of Health, acupuncture has been found to be effective in relieving:

Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and post-surgical pain.

In my personal experience treating numerous patients with cancer over the years, acupuncture and TCM work extremely well for peripheral neuropathy, loss of taste and smell, post-operative lymphedema, hand and foot syndrome, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, boosting the immune system, in addition to the above mentioned symptoms.

Acupuncture and TCM can also help relieve stress, depression, and anxiety, which can greatly improve your quality of life during this challending time.

Treating the person, not just the disease
Acupuncture practitioners take a holistic, or whole-body, approach to cancer care. This means that not only will your symptoms be considered, but also your lifestyle, emotional state, and overall health. Your whole being will be taken into account, not just the cancer. When you work with your pracitioner to improve your health and relieve your side effects, you are not only helping yourself get the most from conventional treatments, you're taking back the control of your own life.