I have experience in the treatment of nausea, dizziness, and vertigo associated with chemotheray and radiation treatment side effects.

In addition, acupuncture benefits and stabilizes the immune system. This is a very important adjunct to conventional hospital medicine. Restoring the appetite, providing for better sleep, relieving anxiety, and enhancing the immune system helps patients undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Please feel free to call my office and consult on what acupuncture can do for you or someone you love.

Brain Tumors

Acupuncture helps to stabilize patients suffering from the side effects of brain tumors. Difficulty with vision, shaking, insomnia, mood swings, medication side effects (especially those of corticosteroids), mental clarity issues, and difficulty walking are a few of the conditions that can be controlled. I have had the honor of helping others facing this crisis and I encourage anyone facing this problem to call me and learn more.

Chemotherapy & Radiation Side Effects

There is no doubt that cancer treatments are difficult. Patients undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation for cancer suffer from nausea, dizziness, exhaustion, emotional disturbances, insomnia, hot flashes, hair loss, irregular digestion, and more. Thankfully, acupuncture is an excellent support mechanism. The National Institutes of Health published that acupuncture is a very effective means for treating nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy (NIH Consensus Statement, v15, #5, 1997; p19). The Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital published its finding in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that acupuncture is more effective for treating hot flashes than venlafaxine (Effexor) for patients receiving anti-estrogen hormone treatments for the treatment of breast cancer. The supportive list of acupuncture research is enormous.

Patients from Capitola, Santa Cruz, and surrounding areas come for this supportive acupuncture care and get immediate results. First on the list for many patients is the elimination of nausea. A simple application of two acupuncture points usually controls this issue within minutes. Lasting results can be achieved with a very modest regime of acupuncture follow-up care. Fatigue: This takes a little longer to address. Slowly, the acupuncture treatments build the energy levels in the patients such that life is enjoyable.

I have had new patients, on their initial visit to my office, tell me that their side effects from cancer treatments are so severe that they would rather die than to continue chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It is nice to be able to control their symptoms such that they are able to live a happy life once again AND continue with the necessary medical treatments with minimal side effects. Many of my patients find themselves feeling well enough to go back to work.

Many oncologists agree that certain more extreme chemotherapies for highly invasive cancers involve significant risks to human life. Acupuncture delivers a soothing and supportive medical treatment such that the patient’s risk of severe side effects from chemotherapy, including liver failure, is enormously reduced. Knowing what can be done to alleviate suffering, I would not want anyone to undergo exploratory surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation for the treatment of cancer without the help of acupuncture. It is a helpful way to make this process easier, safer and more successful.