Cancer pain is suffered by about 70% of patients with the disease, and quite often it isn’t well-controlled. That might be because regular pain medication has to be restricted because of heart, liver or kidney conditions brought on by treatment, or it can be rejected by patients who are worried about medication’s side effects. Pain can develop for a number of reasons, including pressure from a tumour, neuropathy, muscle pain from taking aromatase inhibitors, or from bone metastases.

Natural treatments that have some evidence behind them are acupuncture and acupressure. These treatments originated in China, where they’ve been used successfully for a wide variety of conditions for over 2,000 years. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, they believe that it works on blockages in the body’s energy system which can cause health issues. In the West, it’s believed that it stimulates endorphins, which are one of the body’s natural painkillers.

In 2019, a systematic review looked at 17 randomised controlled clinical trials with 1111 cancer patients in total (1). Of those, 14 were similar enough in design to perform a meta-analysis, where the results are merged. The quality of some of the trials was dubious, but 7 of them were considered high quality. They used sham acupuncture or acupressure as a control for the placebo effect by stimulating different sites from the real treatment. The results showed that the real treatment reduced pain more effectively than the sham treatment. They also found that when it was combined with low doses of pain reliever medication, pain was relieved even further.

Another trial, run by Memorial Sloan Kettering in the US in 2021, included 360 cancer survivors suffering chronic musculoskeletal pain (2). This trial split the groups into 3. One received electro-acupuncture, which uses very small, thin needles about the width of a hair, and a very low-frequency electric current to stimulate the acupuncture points. The second received auricular (ear) acupuncture, which uses little studs that look like earrings on a number of points on the patient’s ear. These stay in place for several days. The third group received usual care. The acupuncture was performed weekly for 10 weeks and followed for 24 weeks to see whether the effects lasted. Both trial groups had a significant reduction in pain compared with usual care. The electro-acupuncture group had a slightly higher level of pain relief and tolerated the treatment better than the auricular acupuncture group. In the first group, the main problem was bruising. The second group had ear pain from the studs.

Some people dislike the idea of having needles inserted into them because they believe it will be painful. In my experience, a good practitioner can do it so skilfully that sometimes you don’t feel anything at all.

The beauty of acupuncture and acupressure for pain relief is that they don’t interact with any medications you might be taking, which means they are generally safe provided that it’s done by a well-trained registered practitioner. I recommend looking for someone who is a member of an acupuncturists’ professional association in your country. In Australia, you can find a member at https://www.acupuncture.org.au/find-a-practitioner.

Acupuncture shouldn’t be used on anyone with low neutrophils or platelets to avoid infection or bleeding issues; those with a history of endocarditis; anyone wearing an electronic medical device, like a pacemaker; pregnant women should advise the practitioner before treatment (3).

Acupuncture can also give you relief from insomnia (4), anxiety (3), depression (3), fatigue (3), hot flushes in breast and prostate cancer patients (3), nausea and vomiting (3), and it may help with lymphoedema (3) and unintentional weight loss or cachexia (3).

Acupuncture and acupressure are not the only cancer pain relievers. I cover a number of other treatments in my book. You can find more details about the book at https://www.naturallysupportingcancertreatment.com.au/book.

References

(1)    He Y, Guo X, May B et al. Clinical Evidence for Association of Acupuncture and Acupressure With Improved Cancer Pain. JAMA Oncol. 2020;6(2):271-278. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.5233

(2)    Mao J, Liou K, Baser R et al. Effectiveness of Electroacupuncture or Auricular Acupuncture vs Usual Care for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Among Cancer Survivors. JAMA Oncol. 2021;7(5):720-727. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.0310

(3)    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Acupuncture. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/therapies/acupuncture. Published 2021. Accessed March 1, 2022.

(4)    Garland S, Xie S, DuHamel K et al. Acupuncture Versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2019;111(12):1323-1331. doi:10.1093/jnci/djz050