Juharah S.

Piang

Bachelor of Science in Nursing 2A

A complementary therapy means you can use it alongside your conventional medical treatment. It
may help you to feel better and cope better with your cancer and treatment.

An alternative therapy is generally used instead of conventional medical treatment.

All conventional cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have to go through
rigorous testing by law in order to prove that they work. Most alternative therapies have not been
through such testing and there is no scientific evidence that they work. Some types of alternative
therapy may not be completely safe and could cause harmful side effects.

What are complementary therapies?

Complementary therapies are used alongside conventional medical treatments prescribed by your
doctor. They can help people with cancer to feel better and may improve your quality of life. They
may also help you to cope better with symptoms caused by the cancer or side effects caused by
cancer treatment.

A good complementary therapist won't claim that the therapy will cure your cancer. They will always
encourage you to discuss any therapies with your cancer doctor or GP.

There are many different types of complementary therapy, including.

 aromatherapy
 acupuncture
 herbal medicine
 massage therapy
 visualisation
 yoga

Many health professionals are supportive of people with cancer using complementary therapies.
There are some health professionals that have been reluctant for their patients to use them. This is
usually because many therapies have not been scientifically tested in the same way as conventional
treatments.

Research has been carried out to see how well complementary therapies work for people with
cancer. And there is some still in progress. But we need more to find out how best to use
complementary therapies.