Going through cancer can feel like a very stressful, exhausting, and physically painful experience. It may not be the cure, but acupuncture can make your cancer journey a whole lot better. From managing fatigue, reducing inflammation, and alleviating pain, acupuncture can be a great resource for those going through chemotherapy treatments. How, you might wonder?
Acupuncture works by stimulating the body's nervous system to respond to the acupuncture needles depending on where they are placed. Each point elicits a different response, thereby allowing your practitioner to guide the body in reducing your pain, promoting circulation, or reducing inflammation. In addition, acupuncture may help regulate dopamine production allowing the body to relax, and help your mood[1]. When your body’s less stressed, your immune system may be able to respond better[2,3].
Does it matter what type of cancer you have?
Yes, and no. Regardless of what type of cancer you have, acupuncture may help alleviate your symptoms. However, knowing what type of cancer you have can allow the practitioner to also focus the treatment on treating the cancer as well. Also, knowing what stage of cancer you are in, whether that is stage 1, 2, 3, or 4, will be helpful in determining how gentle or strong of a treatment your body can handle. Usually we perform a gentler treatment for more advanced stages of cancer.
What symptoms can acupuncture help with?
When treating symptoms related to cancer or effects of chemo, some individuals can show up with heightened levels of inflammation. This can be burning eyes, dry mouth, or even mouth ulcers. Acupuncture can be done to reduce inflammatory effects of the chemotherapy, and have you feeling better and more balanced as you go through chemotherapy treatments.
Some individuals may experience fatigue, or tightness in the neck and shoulders. In fact, these symptoms can be related, in that when our circulation is poor, we feel fatigue and tightness. By improving circulation in the body, acupuncture can help you feel more energetic, and less tense.
Nausea, vomiting, & diarrhea
These symptoms are a result of a heightened level of inflammation in the body. Often times by clearing away the heat from the body, or reducing inflammatory levels internally, these symptoms tend to subside as well.
How can treatments address cancer?
In addition to alleviating symptoms, there may be days where the majority of symptoms are at bay, and under control.
In those situations there is an opportunity to treat the actual cancer with a slightly different therapy called moxibustion. Moxibustion is where we would apply a herb to the acupoints and burn it. In doing so, this adds an element of heat to promote blood circulation in the organs. For example if you have colon cancer, we could target points that relate to the large intestine. Alternatively, for liver tumors, we would target acupoints that affect the liver.
You can think of it like we are trying to accelerate the immune response, and removal of cancer cells from the organ. Don’t worry, the burning herb is extinguished before it makes direct contact with the skin, thereby preventing burns & scalds. This type of therapy, if practiced correctly, can be very gentle and soothing.
So if you're struggling with chemo, or just want to overall feel better through your cancer journey, consider adding acupuncture & moxibustion to your regimen.
Szmelskyj, Irina. https://cam-therapies.co.uk/acupuncture/how-does-acupuncture-work/
Mustafa, Zainab. (Apr 14, 2022) How does stress affect your immune system. https://www.news-medical.net/health/How-does-Stress-Affect-Your-Immune-System.aspx#:~:text=Prolonged%20periods%20of%20stress%20can,a%20statistically%20significant%20health%20risk.
Peck, Molly. (April 22, 2022) Is there a connection between chronic stress and cancer. https://www.cityofhope.org/living-well/is-there-a-connection-between-chronic-stress-and-cancer#:~:text=Stress%20can%20speed%20up%20the,released%2C%20which%20stimulate%20cancer%20cells.