Acupuncture For Side Effects Of Cancer Treatment

Acupuncture is a common traditional Chinese medicine that has been adapted by the Western countries.

It involves the inserting of needles into specific points on the human body. It makes you wince a little bit at the thought of needles all over your body.

But these are not normal needles that we use when sewing. They use a specific needle for this, called the filform needles.

Acupuncture has been known to treat persistent hiccups, constipation, Arthritis, headaches, Paresthesias and many more. Recent studies have also indicated that this practice can help in curing the side effects of cancer treatment.

Side effects of cancer treatment can vary with the range or scope of the procedure. Anti-inflammatory drugs and exercise are often prescribed to address pain associated with these after effects but these may administer a lot of pain or may actually take even longer for the patient to recover.

Most women are often treated with anti-estrogen tamoxifen after they have been in surgery for breast cancer. You will find these women often suffer from hot flushes as an after effect. Acupuncture relieves hot flushes in these women faster and more effectively than any other antibiotic can.

Acupuncture has no additional side effects as compared to the steroids or antidepressant drugs that patients are given after treatment to cater for these side effects.

These drugs may further complicate your health through nausea, weight gain and constipation. On the other hand acupuncture actually has benefits in store for you. These include an increased sense of well being and a lot more energy. You will certainly not experience this after taking the drugs.

When treating some head or neck cancers, neck dissection or the removal of the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue is common in treating these cancers.

After this procedure you can imagine the pain you feel when you wake up from surgery. Not only may you feel pain, but the dysfunction of the shoulder. Acupuncture provides the necessary treatment without having to take down glasses of antibiotics everyday.

Acupuncture may be the perfect cure for cancer treatment side effects but it’s not exactly painless. It does involve a little pain when they stick the needles in your body.

This often depends however, with where the needles are going to be inserted. If it’s a less sensitive part of your body then you shouldn’t expect much pain.

Don’t experiment this at home though. It requires great expertise to perform acupuncture.