If you or someone you love is undergoing cancer treatment, acupuncture will help in many ways. Medical science has shown how it affects many systems in the body, setting in motion a whole host of healing effects.

One overarching effect from acupuncture is lessening some of the stress, anxiety and/or depression that often comes after a diagnosis and through the subsequent treatments.

Also, it blunts some of the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation such as nausea, fatigue, dry mouth, aches and pains, constipation, hot flashes and insomnia. It also reverses the peripheral neuropathy that is the side effects of certain treatments.

Typically, acupuncture is used pre- and post-surgery. Pre-surgically it helps to promote circulation and get the immune system into high gear. Post-surgically it speeds recovery, reduces pain, and reduces local swelling. This, in turn, can lessen the need for medications that often come with their own side effects.

Cancer treatment has evolved at an accelerated pace in the past decade, with new methods of identification and targeting tumors and cells. Once someone gets a diagnosis they usually go through a combination of treatments.  Treating people through the arc of recovery is a great use of acupuncture, so take advantage of it if you can.