The use of complementary therapies to support you during illness is very common. Complementary therapies usually means they are complementary to mainstream medicine. This is not always so. It also means therapies complementary to you, your life and the disease picture you are presenting. It’s about informed choice. In the UK and most countries using the medicine called the western allopathic model, there is little official choice. In India for example there other choices. In Brazil, the coexistence of traditional plant based medicine and biochemical (western) medicine is acknowledged and supported.
The choices are based on the recognition of applicability to the disease picture. Unless there is choice then the effectiveness of creative complementary approaches to recognise individual pictures is reduced.
In the UK and USA and to an extent Australia, the choices are sometimes restricted because of state interventions. In Germany, three-fourths of allopathic physicians use complementary/alternative medicine and typically, 77% of pain clinics provide acupuncture treatments. More choice is generally available in Germany as there is a licenced system called Heilpraktiker which covers all complementary approaches.
But in the UK we also have a strong tradition of using complementary treatments outwith the state provision, often with charitable support, with private practitioners. Our links below give a few suggestions. Many pratitioners will offer help at reduced rates for cancer patients. It’s worth noting that there are some referrals to some therapies still within the state service, homeopathy being one of them at the moment.
There is another term, Alternative Medicine, which is at the name suggests, an alternative to conventional medicine. This not what this site is offering.
If you wish to seek out some complementary help, some useful links are given below. There is also a link to a Homeopathy help line, based in North London but only available in the UK. A more extensive helpline is planned for various therapies, through therapists who are part of the Golden Centre network.
You may also want to consider art therapy. This is a well known way of tapping into your own healing process through expression. Art therapy can either be therapuetic or in some cases help with choosing therapies. There are links below.
https://www.homeopathyhelpline.com/
https://www.findahomeopath.org/
https://www.therapy-directory.org.uk/articles/acupressure.html
https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/
https://www.britishhomeopathic.org/
https://www.maggiescentres.org/
https://www.medicinenet.com/alternative_medicine/article.htm
http://www.thearttherapyagency.co.uk/about-art-therapy.html
https://www.artshealthandwellbeing.org.uk/
The Golden Centre 