My name is Melinda Johnson and I suffered with foot pain for many years. I went to see a podiatrist and after an examination, I was told that I had heel spur syndrome. I followed the recommendations of my doctor by doing at home treatments along with physical therapy. I was amazed at how much these treatments helped my foot pain. Living with pain can have a big impact on your life and that's why I started this blog. My foot pain kept me from doing many things that I enjoy and I want to help others who are going through the same situation. As you browse through my blog, you'll learn about home treatments, medical procedures and new advancements in medicine that can help reduce pain. It is my hope that by writing this blog, you can live pain free too.
Loving My Pain Free Life
What You Should Know About Complementary Medicine For Cancer
Claire Roberts
When you receive a cancer diagnosis and begin to consult with an oncologist to determine your treatment program, the focus of the conversation will be on the contemporary medical cancer treatment options that are available to you. While these cancer treatments will attack the cancer cells and help you to stop cancer from spreading and destroy the existing cancer cells, these treatments do not treat the rest of your body or address the emotional and/or mental toll that a cancer diagnosis and the subsequent treatment can have on a person. As such, you may want to discuss with your oncologist the possibility of incorporating complementary treatments into your cancer treatment program to create a more comprehensive holistic treatment program. Get to know some of the complementary treatments available so that you can create a holistic treatment program that works for you.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a complementary treatment option that has been in use for thousands of years. It involves inserting tiny needles into acupuncture points throughout the body to help stimulate the flow of energy in the body. In medical terms, acupuncture can trigger nervous system responses and signal the release of certain chemicals that may help reduce pain, stress, and worry and therefore making a person feel content, calm, and relaxed.
Massage Therapy
Massage therapy is another treatment that may help with the side effects of cancer and conventional cancer treatments. Many people suffering from cancer feel aches and pains as well as fatigue, both from the cancer and from the treatments like radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The purpose of massage therapy is to manually manipulate the soft tissues (muscles) to relieve tension, trigger "happiness hormones" like dopamine, and to make a person feel calm and relaxed. Some people find that massage therapy can also help to restore energy, particularly when they have the chronic fatigue associated with cancer.
Mental Health Support
Dealing with cancer is not just a physically difficult process, it can also have a major impact on a person's mental health and their sense of self. As such, mental health support in the form of individual therapy, family therapy, and cancer support groups can have a positive and important effect upon the person going through cancer treatment. Support groups allow a person with cancer to voice their concerns with others who are going through the same process and may be the only place where a cancer patient feels fully understood. Individual and family therapy can help with problems such as depression and anxiety that can be triggered by a cancer diagnosis and can also be side effects of the treatment process.
Now that you know some of the complementary medicine options available for your cancer treatment, you can better determine if these options could be helpful to your overall treatment program and cancer recovery process.
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