Natural therapies and cancer
Most people get some kind of cancer treatment from doctors, like surgery, chemotherapy (“chemo”), radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy or hormone therapy. These treatments try to get rid of the cancer or make it smaller.
Some people also use natural therapies (sometimes called complementary therapies) to help cope with the cancer and treatment. Natural therapies include:
- traditional bush medicines and foods
- massage and aromatherapy
- spiritual healing, prayer or meditation
- herbal medicine
- acupuncture
- counselling, art therapy and music therapy.
Natural therapies sometimes help people feel better while they are being treated for cancer. When a natural therapy is used instead of proven treatments from doctors (like chemo or radiation therapy), it’s called an alternative therapy. Alternative therapies may not have been properly tested and may be dangerous. Cancer Council does not recommend using alternative therapies to treat cancer.
Click on the headings below to learn more.
You may have problems caused by the cancer and its treatment, such as pain, feeling sick, not being hungry, feeling tired, not sleeping well, rashes, sore gums, stress, fear or sadness. Some women may have women’s issues.
You may find that certain natural therapies or medicines can help with these problems. What you use will depend on what you want to try and what your doctor thinks will help.
It’s important to talk to your doctor if you want to use natural therapies. This is to make sure they are safe and will work well with the treatment from the doctor.
It’s important to keep going to all of your cancer treatment sessions. Missing a session can make it harder to treat the cancer. Talk to your doctor about any worries you might have.
This depends on your health and the cancer treatment you’re having. Your doctor and natural therapist will work out the best time for you.
It may be okay to use different types of natural therapy while having cancer treatment, but some natural therapies can stop cancer treatment from working properly. You may need to wait until cancer treatment is over to use some natural therapies.
If you want to use bush medicine:
- talk to your Aboriginal Health Service or Worker, an Elder, or community
- talk to your doctor or nurse about any natural therapies or bush medicines that you are thinking of using
- be sure to continue the cancer treatments you and your doctors decide on.
