The secret to Chinese medicine’s success lies in its artistry: its ability to view each person as a unique constellation of energy or symptoms, not as a disease. The key to this ability is that while it certainly recognises and can categorise and differentiate clinical manifestations into a disease pattern, it never sees the body, mind and spirit as separate.
Acupuncture for Cancer Patients
Simple + natural resolve in your time of need
93% of 89,000 patients reported successful treatment for musculoskeletal pain with acupuncture (American Specialty Health 2016).
Acupuncture for Cancer Patients
The physical and mental challenge that cancer places on you is enormous. Acupuncture protocols for cancer involve relief of symptoms such as nausea, pain, and fatigue from surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. In addition, the National Cancer Institute reports: “the effect of acupuncture on the immune system of cancer patients showed that it improved immune system response.” One of the mechanisms by which acupuncture works for cancer patients is due to the associated physical responses in nerve cells, the pituitary gland, and parts of the brain from the insertion and stimulation of the acupuncture needles at specific locations. These responses then cause the body to release proteins, hormones, and brain chemicals that control a number of body functions, and thereby affect blood pressure, body temperature, boosting of immune system activity, and release of the body’s natural painkillers, such as endorphins, to relieve pain. I am here to assist your body into reactivating its own defense systems and help manage these side effects.Nada Protocol
Auricular Acupuncture (or ear acupuncture) is a form of complementary therapy positioning very fine needles into the outer ear. There is significant evidence to suggest that Auricular Acupuncture can reduce both the severity and frequency of hot flushes in many people. Each Acupuncture point being treated, is said to trigger electrical impulses from the ear via the brain, to the specific part of the body. It is known to have a calming effect on the central nervous system. The protocol is delivered in a group setting with 8-10 clients receiving treatment at the same time. This simple procedure uses up to 5 acupuncture points on the surface of the ear. The needles are inserted just under the skin and left in place for 40 minutes. During this time, all patients are encouraged to relax and enjoy the company of fellow patients.MUSCULOSKELETAL OR NEUROPATHIC PAIN NAUSEA & VOMITTING LOW ENERGY & FATIGUE STRESS, ANXIETY & DEPRESSION HOT FLUSHES DRY OF MOUTH SLEEP PROBLEMS POOR APPETITE OR WEIGHTLOSS A Comparative Literature Review in 2017 found a potentially positive effect of acupuncture in treating cancer pain.3 The review included two systematic reviews, the older of which was unable to draw firm conclusions due to small sample sizes and clinical differences in the patients being treated. The more recent review included 36 trials and over 2200 randomised patients. They found a moderate effect size of acupuncture on cancer-related pain, and concluded that “acupuncture is effective in relieving cancer-related pain, particularly malignancy-related and surgery-induced pain.”4 Although this review did not report on risks arising from treatment with acupuncture, elsewhere studies have indicated that acupuncture is a feasible and safe treatment5 6 and may successfully be used to treat cancer patients for symptom management due to the low risks associated with its use.7How Acupuncture Helps
Acupuncture’s mechanisms for treating cancer pain are thought to be similar to those for treating other painful conditions, whether the pain is categorised as acute or chronic.
These mechanisms have been researched extensively for over 60 years, and while there is still much left to learn about acupuncture mechanisms and the human body in general, the neural pathways from acupuncture point stimulation to the spinal cord and then to the deactivation of the pain centres in the brain have been mapped.8 9 Acupuncture has been demonstrated to activate a number of the body’s own opioids as well as improve the brain’s sensitivity to opioids.10 A number of other biochemicals involved in pain reduction have been found to be released and regulated by acupuncture stimulation, including ATP, adenosine, GABA and substance P.11 Acupuncture has also been demonstrated to reduce activity in the parts of the brain associated with the perception of pain and increase activity in brain areas associated with improved self-regulation.12
