Acupuncture and Chemo Therapy

Acupuncture is useful for patients going thru chemo therapy as a way to minimize the effects of nausea and fatigue. Generally the way I explain it to patients, it is like training for a marathon, every three weeks you do another round of chemotherapy. The exercise is getting your body prepared for the next round. We normally do two treatments a week during the three week interval (the treatment strategy is adjusted based on the interval between infusions). During the first 3-5 days after the infusion we are doing a treatment to actively help the body ride itself of the tremendous die off of cells from the cytotoxic agent. The focus of the treatment is on the kidneys and liver  The second phase of the treatment involves actively nourishing and supporting the body to rebuild itself for the next round of treatment. This phase last until the next infusion and then we start the protocol again.