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Integrative Therapy

Integrative therapy is a term that refers to the combined offering of mainstream and complementary therapies. It is not used in place of conventional treatment, but is used as part of your cancer treatment to promote well-being and to alleviate side effects of chemotherapy, surgery or radiation.

Integrative medicine is different than complementary and alternative medicine, which emphasizes the use of unconventional treatments as an adjunct to conventional medicine. Instead, integrative medicine seeks to combine those modalities and treatments, including the science and technology of conventional cancer medicine and the holistic approach of complementary medicine, in attempts to meet a patient’s unique and individualized needs for healing.

Integrative therapies include:

• Acupuncture is a technique of inserting and manipulating very fine needles into specific energy points in the body. The stimulation of these points may encourage the restoration of health and well being. Acupuncture is primarily good for treating pain.
• Acupressure is a traditional Chinese medicine technique based on acupuncture. It involves stimulating the energy points with pressure using the hands and fingers. Acupressure may work by releasing endogenous opioids into the bloodstream.
• Aromatherapy is the skilled and controlled use of essential oils in a positive, healing way to maintain health and well- being on a physical and emotional level.
• Biofeedback provides information about physiologic processes the patient was previously unaware of and allows the patient to gain more control over symptoms and side effects.
• Massage involves applying structured pressure to the soft tissues of the body to achieve a beneficial response. Therapeutic massage therapy can be applied to parts of the body or the whole body to relieve stress, manage pain and improve circulation.
• Naturopathic medicine is a school of medical philosophy that seeks to maintain health and treat disease by assisting the body’s own capacity to recover from illness and injury. Licensed naturopathic doctors try to avoid surgery and synthetic substances in their treatments and strive to treat the patient as a whole person using natural foods and remedies, counseling and environmental medicine.

For more information about integrative medicine, speak to your doctor and his or her staff.

If you make the decision to see a practitioner of integrative medicine, be sure to inform your oncologist of the treatments you will be receiving. He or she may also be able to refer to you practitioners in your area. Ideally, a fully integrated medical approach encourages the development of relationships between health care providers to provide patients with individualized, coordinated and team- oriented care.

The following websites may also provide you with additional information on integrative medicine:

http://www.cancer.gov/
http://nccam.nih.gov/
http://nccam.hih.gov/clinicaltrails/factsheet/