How can alternative medicine help people with cancer?

Alternative cancer treatments may not play a direct role in curing your cancer, but they may help you cope with signs and symptoms caused by cancer and cancer treatments, such as anxiety, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, difficulty sleeping, and stress.

Alternative medicine is a term that's commonly used to describe methods that aren't usually offered by health care providers. As researchers study these treatments and the evidence for these alternative methods grows, doctors and other providers are including them in treatment plans alongside the standard treatments. It's an approach that providers sometimes call integrative medicine.

Using these evidence-based integrative medicine approaches along with standard treatments may help relieve many symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment. But alternative or integrative treatments generally aren't powerful enough to replace standard treatments entirely. Discuss your options with your provider to find the right balance.

If you're experiencing:	Then consider trying:
Anxiety	Hypnosis, massage, meditation, music therapy, relaxation techniques
Fatigue	Exercise, massage, relaxation techniques, yoga
Nausea and vomiting	Acupuncture, aromatherapy, hypnosis, music therapy
Pain	Acupuncture, aromatherapy, hypnosis, massage, music therapy
Sleep problems	Cognitive behavioral therapy, exercise, relaxation techniques, yoga
Stress	Aromatherapy, exercise, hypnosis, massage, meditation, music therapy, tai chi, yoga