Lymphedema Well Treated by Acupuncture

At the Northside Holistic Center we routinely and successfully treat lymphedema, usually as a sequelae from breast cancer surgeries where lymph nodes were removed. 

• A study, recently published by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center demonstrated what many of our patients have already learned:

Acupuncture significantly reduces lymphoedema related arm swelling in women after breast cancer surgery.

Researchers found that,

existing conventional treatments for lymphoedema are only “marginally beneficial, rarely reducing arm swelling in any meaningful way.” The new study concludes that acupuncture is safe and that some of the women in the study showed a 30 percent or better reduction of lymphoedema related arm swelling.

 An article about the study can be read here. 

• A small study, published in the Journal of Acupuncture Medicine, found that, 

A small US pilot study has found that acupuncture may help reduce lymphoedema associated with breast cancer surgery. Nine women with chronic lymphoedema following breast cancer surgery received acupuncture twice a week for four weeks. Four women showed at least a 30% reduction in the extent of lymphoedema at four weeks when compared with their respective baseline values.

A synopsis of this article can be read here.