October is National Breast Cancer awareness month. Many people are probably aware of this, thanks to the many organizations that have been actively promoting it. However, many people have not yet heard about the many documented benefits that acupuncture offers cancer patients.
Having seen what a huge difference acupuncture can make for many patients in our practice, we are hoping to do our part to help spread the word by offering a special offer to any new patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer, or who are still struggling with symptoms and side effects of the disease or its treatments. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for the rest of 2013, any new patient with a main complaint related to Breast Cancer or its treatment can receive a Free initial consultation and evaluation and initial acupuncture treatment at no cost, with no obligation for further treatment. Our hope is that this will allow many people to come get their questions answered and experience first hand what acupuncture has to offer them (and to find that it doesnt really hurt).
This is a special area of interest for us as practioners–we have pursued advanced training and certification in treating cancer patients from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (one of the top Cancer hospitals in the world). Our passion for treating these patients only increased after Betsy’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
Many of the finest, most progressive cancer hospitals in the world such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center regularly offer acupuncture to their patients as part of a complete integrative treatment program.
Memorial Sloan Kettering’s website offers a concise summary of the most recent research that has been published on the benefits of using acupuncture treat cancer patients.
“Acupuncture is being used in the palliative care of cancer to alleviate pain (35) (36), dysfunction (36), fatigue (37) (71), to reduce post-operative (38) and chemotherapy-induced (39) (41) (42)
nausea and vomiting, and to ameliorate xerostomia or dry mouth,
commonly experienced by cancer patients following radiotherapy of the
head and neck regions (36) (43) (44) (63) (70). Findings from a randomized trial suggest that it is as effective as standard care for the management of hot flashes in breast cancer patients (45).
Acupuncture also alleviated aromatase inhibitor-induced joint pain and
stiffness, improving physical well-being in patients with breast cancer (46) (74). Early phase studies also suggest that acupuncture can help relieve hot flashes in prostate cancer patients (64) (65) (66),and can improve pain and well-being in lung cancer patients (76). Acupuncture does not reduce postoperative ileus from standard surgery (40) (56).
However, electroacupuncture does reduce postoperative ileus and
analgesic use after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer (73).”
We are passionate about getting the word out about what acupuncture has to offer this population. We are also deeply committed to making our treatments affordable to virtually anyone who is interested in receiving them. We have yet to turn away anyone for financial reasons who is serious about getting treatment, and we pledge to work hard with anyone with cancer to make our treatments affordable.
