Cancer treatment often evolves into a multi-faceted experience, one that takes a toll on both the body and the mind. For many, radiation therapy is an important part of that journey. It works silently and powerfully, using radiation to destroy cancer cells. But with that power can come a few unwelcome companions: fatigue, skin changes, poor sleep, and emotional lows.
“Integrative Medicine plays a gentle, supporting role during radiation therapy. It doesn’t attempt to replace the treatment; it simply adds care, where it’s often needed the most. Whether it is by facilitating a feel-good factor, or aiding the mind to achieve a sense of balance, this approach works quietly in the background, easing the journey, without disrupting the vital path to recovery,” shares Dr Shantling Nigudgi, Senior Consultant Radiation Oncology at HCG Cancer Centre, Kalburgi.
What Is Integrative Medicine?
Integrative medicine is all about blending the best of conventional and advanced treatments for cancer, with supportive techniques that focus on the whole person. It recognises that people are far more than the diagnosis itself.
Managing the Side Effects of Cancer
Radiation may be precise, but it can induce fatigue, trauma in the treated area, changes in appetite, or even digestive issues. These effects vary, depending on the site being treated and the physiological and psychological features of the person being treated.
Also Read: Expert Explains Role Of Advanced Radiation Therapy In Treating Complex Cancer
Complementary therapies offer subtle but powerful ways to handle these challenges.
- Gentle movement practices, such as yoga, can ease stiffness, improve circulation, and fight the deep fatigue that many patients experience.
- Breathwork and mindfulness help regulate anxiety, especially when treatment schedules feel overwhelming or when sleep becomes elusive.
- Simple nutrition changes, guided by an expert, can improve digestion, prevent weight loss, and help maintain energy levels.
- Acupuncture, although less known, can be useful in easing nausea, particularly in those receiving abdominal or pelvic radiation.
- Skin discomfort, which sometimes follows radiation, may respond well to cooling herbal applications and careful skin care, guided by your clinical team.
Emotions too play a big role
Dealing with cancer is not only about the distress that the body undergoes. It also stirs deep emotional reactions—anxiety, fear, and moments of hopelessness. This is where integrative care for cancer truly adds value. Simple practices, such as talking to a counsellor, trying guided meditation, writing down thoughts, or just relaxing, while watching calming imagery, can ease some of the inner tension. These tools often help when emotions are difficult to express.
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Prevention Through Lifestyle
While integrative medicine shines during treatment, it also plays a role before and after the experience. Enabling lifestyle habits such as avoiding tobacco, eating well, moving regularly, and learning to unwind are not just good for the body; they also serve to reduce cancer risk or recurrence in the long run.
A Partnership, Not a Replacement
It’s important to be clear: integrative therapies don’t replace radiation or other cancer treatments. They support the process. Everything is guided by medical expertise, and therapies are chosen based on the patient’s unique needs and preferences.
At its heart, Integrative Medicine is about building a circle of care - one that bonds your oncologist, your nutritionist, your therapist and you. It’s about listening to the body, acknowledging the mind, and remembering that healing involves much more than what we can see on a scan.
Integrative Medicine is helping us arrive at the most desirable goals. With its quiet tools and thoughtful practices, it allows patients to not just endure treatment, but also to walk through it with a little more strength, a little calmer, and a sense of positive purpose, while gaining from the awareness of being cared for, in every possible way.