Cancer Care & Support
Our aim is to offer support during and beyond any Western medical treatment you may be receiving, whether that be surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can help to limit the unpleasant side effects of these treatments and assist the healing process as well as helping to tackle problems such as pain, poor appetite, sleep problems, anxiety and stress.
Our approach to Cancer
According to the ancient Chinese, chi, the life force, controls the body's workings as it travels along the meridians, completing an energy cycle every twenty-four hours. Illness is an energy imbalance; an excess or deficiency of the body's elemental energies. Cancer, like all other diseases, is regarded as a manifestation of an underlying imbalance. The tumour is the "uppermost branch," not the "root," of the illness. Each patient may have a different imbalance causing what outwardly looks like the same type of cancer.
The goal of the treatment
The goals of the cancer treatment should be to increase the patient’s survival, when possible, and to improve their quality of life. TCM has proved to be able to support patients being treated with conventional western medicine (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) through improvement of symptom control, increasing the psychoneuroimmunological function and potential of psycho spiritual wellbeing etc…
What can I expect?
Each person is unique; and the Chinese practitioner will perform a full TCM examination. From this examination, the practitioner will consider the patterns of imbalance in your body and will choose the most suitable treatment for you. The practitioner treats the imbalance rather than a condition known as "stomach cancer," "breast cancer," or so on. The prescribed treatment will vary from one patient to the next, depending on the specific imbalances.
How can TCM help to treat Cancer?
Acupuncture and herbal medicine as supportive care for cancer can help heal and strengthen the body, mind, and spirit. These therapies can help wounds heal and enhance the lymph flow to prevent lymphoedema. They can help prevent the side effects of chemotherapy, alleviate nausea, vomiting and help protect the organs from toxins. They can also enhance the immune system by increasing the white blood cells that have been depleted through chemotherapy.
Acupuncture
Ø In cancer, it can alleviate the pain and functional disorders associated with the illness.
Ø Acupuncture is also used to mitigate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation and to support immunity and control malignant growth.
Ø Acupuncture can also be helpful in stress reduction and the alleviation of pain following surgery.
Chinese Herbal Remedies
Ø Tonic herbs increase the number and activity of immunologically active cells and proteins.
Ø Toxin-clearing herbs clear the blood of germs and of waste products from the destruction of tumors and germs.
Ø Blood activating herbs reduce the coagulation and inflammatory reactions associated with immune response.
Herbal therapy in cancer treatment can improve appetite, reduce nausea and vomiting, and alleviate stress
How acupuncture works
1. Balancing energy. Gives support for coping with fatigue, digestive problems, absorption of nutrients etc.
2. Support during chemotherapy and radiotherapy to maintain energy levels and blood count and help the patient to complete the treatment.
3. Reduces pain.
Maintenance
1. Patients whose cancer has been controlled or treated successfully still need to look after the body’s balance in order to promote and enable the maintenance of good health and wellbeing.
2. After chemotherapy or radiotherapy patients often have different problems and symptoms. Acupuncture can help with these in a comprehensive way.
Other Therapies which can help
1. Tai Chi
2. Qi Gong
Qi Gong is a 3,000-year-old exercise that combines the slow, symmetrical, graceful movements of tai chi with meditation, relaxation, patterned breathing, guided imagery, and other behavioral techniques. The aim is to enable a person to regulate and direct the flow of chi, or vital force, within his or her own body, it usually takes about three months for the exercises to show their effect. In cancer therapy, the Chinese practitioner prescribes exercises geared to the individual patient.
3. Meditation
Nutritional advice:
For cancer patients, Chinese doctors frequently recommend a diet based upon whole grains, beans, and fresh vegetables. Green tea (Camellia saneness) and pan ax ginseng are two dietary supplements, which have been proven to reduce the risk of cancer induction and may prevent cancer recurrence