Having cancer can make you feel like you've lost control of your life which can be really frightening and stressful. Complementary therapies can be used, along with treatments like chemo and radiotherapy, to help you deal with the side effects. These therapies don't cure cancer but can be good for both body and mind.
benefits of complementary therapies
They can:
- Help you to feel better and improve your quality of life.
- Improve your general health.
- Give you a sense of control over what’s happening to you.
- Reduce stress, tension, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and make you feel more relaxed.
- Help to reduce the symptoms of cancer such as pain, feeling sick, breathlessness, constipation, diarrhoea, tiredness and poor appetite.
- Help to reduce some of the side effects of cancer treatment like feeling sick, anxiety, constipation, poor appetite and many others.
remember
Complementary therapies are not the same as alternative therapies. Alternative therapies are treatments that try to treat cancer even when there's no research done to prove that they can. Some alternative therapies claim to cure cancer even when medical treatments can't and some alternative therapists may advise people to give up conventional treatments (like chemo, radiotherapy etc). This can be harmful to you. If you're are thinking about trying any alternative therapies, talk to your doctor first for some advice.
