Supportive care
Acupuncture during & after cancer treatment, with Dr. Peter Caron.
Joint pain from hormone therapy and numbness after chemotherapy can last for years. Both are treatable. Acupuncture doesn’t treat the cancer itself, and I work alongside your oncologist.
Why it hasn’t gotten better
Some side effects last as long as the treatment, or longer.
Joint pain from aromatase inhibitors is a common example. Many women take one daily for five to ten years after breast cancer. The joint pain and stiffness often lead them to stop early.
Others finish chemotherapy and still have numbness in the hands and feet, or fatigue that won’t lift. If you’re still in treatment, easing these can help you finish the course your oncologist prescribed.
Working with your oncologist
With your permission, I keep your oncology team informed. During active treatment, I use herbs only with your oncologist’s agreement. Some herbs can interact with cancer drugs.
What it feels like
What people describe when they first call.
- Your fingers, wrists or knees ache and stiffen since you started an aromatase inhibitor, and mornings are the worst
- You’ve wondered whether you can stay on the hormone therapy for the years your oncologist wants
- Numbness, tingling or burning in your hands and feet that didn’t go away when chemotherapy ended
- Buttons, keys and jar lids are harder than they used to be
- Hot flashes that wake you at night since treatment started
- A tiredness that a full night’s sleep doesn’t touch, months after your last treatment
If you recognized yourself in that list, the free 15-minute call is the place to start.
How I treat it
Treatment is matched to the side effect and to where you are in treatment.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture turns down the pain signals from stiff, aching joints and calms the nerves in the hands and feet, which can make the rest of your treatment easier to finish.
For aromatase-inhibitor joint pain, I treat the painful joints. For neuropathy, I treat the hands and feet and the spinal levels that supply them. For hot flashes, fatigue, and poor sleep, I work on the stress response.
- Joint-focused treatment
- Electroacupuncture
- Neuropathy treatment
- Autonomic regulation
Herbal medicine
After active treatment ends, an herbal formula helps your energy and sleep recover.
After active treatment ends, an herbal formula can help your energy, digestion, and sleep recover.
- Recovery formulas
- Constitutional support
In the trial below, women had twelve sessions over six weeks, then weekly sessions for six more.
Fifteen minutes on the phone is usually enough to tell whether I can help.
Your first visit
What happens the first time you come in.
- We go through your treatment history What you were diagnosed with, what treatment you’ve had or are having now, what you take, and which side effect bothers you most. If you’re in active treatment, bring your medication list and your schedule for the next few weeks.
- I look at the whole pattern I check the painful joints or the numb areas, and I ask about sleep, digestion and energy. After treatment, Chinese medicine often reads this as deficiency: you tire quickly, feel the cold, and your appetite is low.
- You’re treated the same day Fine needles at the points that matter for your side effect, often with gentle electrical stimulation for joint pain or neuropathy. If you’re mid-treatment, I ask about your recent blood work and avoid an arm where lymph nodes were removed.
- You leave with a plan How often to come in, built around your infusion or radiation schedule, and one number to track, such as your worst joint pain out of ten.
What to expect
How it usually goes, visit by visit.
I plan the course around your treatment schedule. We track one number, like your worst pain out of ten.
- Weeks 1–6 Two visits a week where your schedule allows, matching the trial behind this page. Keep track of your worst pain so we have something to compare.
- Weeks 7–12 Once a week. By now you should know whether the side effect is easing. If it isn’t, we change the approach, or I tell you plainly that acupuncture isn’t the right tool for it.
- After that We space visits out. Hormone therapy can run five to ten years, so we find a rhythm that holds the improvement.
Typical ranges, not promises. Results vary from person to person.
You’ll know at the first visit roughly how many visits it should take.
What the research shows
In a trial at eleven US centers, acupuncture eased joint pain from aromatase inhibitors, and the relief lasted a year.
Columbia University led a trial at eleven US centers. It enrolled 226 women with early-stage breast cancer and joint pain from an aromatase inhibitor. After six weeks, real acupuncture cut their worst pain by about two points out of ten. That was roughly twice the drop with sham acupuncture or a waiting list. In the one-year results, the benefit was still there.
The 2022 guideline from the Society for Integrative Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends acupuncture for this joint pain. Memorial Sloan Kettering ran a second trial at sites in New York and New Jersey. In 360 cancer survivors with chronic pain, electroacupuncture reduced pain by nearly two points more than usual care.
Questions
What people ask about acupuncture and cancer treatment.
Something not covered here? Ask on the free discovery call.
No. It treats side effects of cancer treatment, like joint pain or numbness after chemotherapy. It works alongside your oncology care, never in place of it.
For most people, yes, with a few precautions. I ask about your recent blood work. I avoid any arm where lymph nodes were removed, and any skin being treated with radiation.
Many large cancer centers, including several in New York, offer acupuncture to their own patients. Oncology guidelines recommend it for aromatase-inhibitor joint pain. With your permission, I keep your oncology team informed.
It’s worth trying. The research is smaller than for joint pain. The 2020 oncology guideline on neuropathy calls acupuncture unproven but a reasonable option. I’ll tell you after a few visits whether it’s moving.
Only with your oncologist’s agreement, because some herbs interact with cancer drugs. After active treatment ends, a formula matched to your pattern can support energy, digestion and sleep.
They’re far finer than an IV or injection needle. You may feel a dull ache or a brief twitch at a point, then very little. If treatment has left your hands or feet sensitive, I adjust for that.
In the joint pain trial, women had twelve sessions over six weeks, then weekly sessions for six more. I plan your course around your infusion or radiation schedule.
We’re out of network and don’t bill insurance. After each visit we can send a superbill that you or a family member can submit. Ask your plan before your first visit.
If your question isn’t here, ask it on the call. It’s free and takes fifteen minutes.
Related conditions
Often treated alongside this one.
Digestive problems
For bloating and irregularity that normal tests don’t explain.
Perimenopause & menopause
For hot flashes and night sweats that break up your sleep.
Peripheral neuropathy
For numbness and burning in the feet or hands.
Start here
Relief from side effects is part of good cancer care.
On a short call, I can tell you whether acupuncture is likely to help. I’ll also say how it fits with your oncology care.
If you already know you want to come in, book an initial visit.