Common alternative therapies - massage therapy

To read more about the alternative treatments mentioned here, go to the British Columbia Cancer Agency's review section of alternative medicine and Health Canada's Natural Health Products Directorate.

Massage therapy: Massage has been used for centuries by many cultures to relieve stress and aching muscles. It's essential to consult your doctor before going for any kind of massage after you've been treated for cancer.

Naturopathy: Naturopathy is a health practice that integrates both naturopathic and homeopathic remedies plus botanical and traditional Chinese medicine and lifestyle counselling to treat the whole person, not just the symptom. Naturopaths are trained to work with other health-care practitioners.

For information about how to keep your body healthy with naturopathy, Sat Dharam Kaur, doctor of naturopathy and a frequent lecturer at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto, has written two books: A Call to Women: The Healthy Breast Program & Workbook and The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer (Robert Rose, available October 2003). You can order them online at her Web site www.healthybreastprogram.on.ca

Acupuncture: Developed perhaps 2,000 years ago in China, acupuncture involves the insertion of very fine needles (sometimes in conjunction with electrical stimuli) on the body's surface, to influence physiological functioning of the body. Studies show that acupuncture may be successful in lessening nausea from chemotherapy in some patients. Read more at Acupuncture.com