Complementary therapies
Supporting your wellbeing
Therapy information
Complementary therapy is used alongside conventional treatment.
The Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre offers a comprehensive range of complementary therapies to people affected by cancer. The service is available to patients and carers, free of charge and is provided by a fully qualified professional employed by Harrogate and District Foundation NHS Trust. Complementary therapies are used alongside conventional medical treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatments.
What are complementary therapies?
It is important to remember that complementary therapies are not a cure for cancer or used instead of conventional cancer treatment. They may help to relieve some of the physical and emotional problems associated with a cancer diagnosis or the side effects of treatment. There are a wide range of complementary therapies available, all of which offer different ways of helping people. Complementary therapies are suitable for most people, but for some medical conditions complementary therapies should be avoided or changed to suit your personal needs.
If you are considering having complementary therapies ask the healthcare professional looking after you to make a referral to the service. Patients may have up to 6 sessions and carers/relatives 4 sessions free of charge. This service is supported by donations to the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre Charitable Fund.
Your sessions
Each session will include a full consultation with the therapist to discuss your health and wellbeing to ensure the therapy is appropriate for you. It is important to be honest with the therapist about any health issues you may have. Please bring an up to date list of the medicines that you are taking.
An individual confidential record file will be kept with any relevant notes for future treatments. At each visit the therapist will discuss any changes in your health and the effect of the last treatment. You will be asked to sign to agree that you have been given information about the treatment that you are to receive, the aftercare advice for after the treatment and that you consent to the treatment.
Most sessions are approximately one hour, but can be shortened if you wish. If at any time during your treatment you wish to stop, please let the therapist know.
If you are unable to get to the centre for your treatment please let our therapist know as soon as possible. If you have been admitted to a ward at Harrogate District Hospital the therapist may be able to treat you whilst you are in hospital.
All therapies are regularly evaluated. Evidence suggests that the therapies described can contribute to improving physical and psychological wellbeing.
The complementary therapies which are currently available are:
A completely safe and natural healing science which treats the whole person. Promotes deep relaxation and a sense of wellbeing. Gentle pressure is applied to reflex points on the soles of the feet or the palms of the hand.
Deep relaxing touch therapy used with oil. Works towards mental and physical relaxation. Beneficial for alleviating muscular aches and pains in the back, neck and shoulders. It can energise the whole body.
A gentle therapy which accesses the accupoints of the face, neck, ears, scalp and shoulders. It allows a deep sense of relaxation and wellbeing throughout the whole body.
The Bowen Technique is a hands-on therapy that is applied with fingers and thumbs on precise points on the body. It is a gentle and subtle treatment and believed to prompt the body to repair and balance itself. You do not have to remove any clothing for this treatment.
‘Chi’ energy is channelled to restore a sense of wellbeing. The treatment is gentle, supporting and non-invasive and offered on the clothed body. It has been documented cancer patients have reported feeling less distress and discomfort when Reiki is part of their care plan.
Many drugs and therapies, including hormone related medications are an effective way of treating cancer, however they may have significant side effects including hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems, anxiety and depression, racing heart and palpitations.
Ear seed therapy has been demonstrated to considerably improve or even eradicate some of these problems in some patients. The treatment is safe and gentle and once started you may be able to manage to apply the ear seeds yourself at home, reducing the number of times you need to visit the hospital or clinic.
The treatment uses some of the same points we would use in acupuncture but no needles are used. Instead tiny beads of a natural mineral called vaccario are applied with sticky tape to apply direct pressure to the points. This makes the treatment particularly useful for those patients who cannot have needles due to blood problems and phobia.
In our group sessions we explore a range of techniques to help you relax including meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation and guided visualisation.
Restore scar therapy is a method of non-invasive physical therapy developed to treat scar tissue, fibrosis and adhesions after surgery or injury using specialist scar massage and fascial release along with self-care information to promote healthy recovery.
We use this technique to help stimulate changes in scars, both on the skin surface and any adhesions or fibrosis in the underlying tissue. To help promote functional and cosmetic improvements after surgery or injury, helping to reduce pain and sensitivity, as well as to assess any associated functional changes and support emotional wellbeing after surgery or trauma.
A reflexology technique that can help reduce lymphoedema swelling. The focus of the reflexology, done on the feet, is on the lymphatic system reflex points, which are worked in the order of the flow of the lymph around the body. Results show a reduction in the size of affected limbs, feeling of tightness and heaviness can be ease and clothes can fit a little better.
More information can be found in the ‘Cancer and complementary therapy’ booklet from Macmillan Cancer Support.
Case studies
Interested in complementary therapy? Read how the service has supported a 58-year-old man diagnosed with carcinoma and a 54-year-old woman diagnosed with a form of breast cancer.
Relaxation session
Julie Crossman, our Lead Complementary Therapist, has recorded a relaxation session and a progressive massage relaxation session which are available here. Please listen below.
I am sleeping well and my bowels are working better without a shadow of doubt this has been helpful.
Treatment relieved lots of chemotherapy side effects, which helped me get through it much easier than without. Although I am still anxious about cancer, having complementary therapy has made the process a lot easier. It’s given me something to look forward to. Thank you Julie.
This has been helpful to me in trying to move forward, and get back to some form of normal.
Pain is a lot better after treatment for a couple of days. The treatments have been very helpful especially with the dizziness.
I wouldn’t have made it through chemo without these treatments – initially on the chemotherapy unit – these treatments have, I believe, improved my general wellbeing in terms of mind and body wellbeing. thank you.
Am sleeping well and my bowels are working better, without a shadow of doubt this has been helpful.
Treatment relieved lots of chemotherapy side effects, which helped me get through it much easier than without. Although I am still anxious about cancer, having complementary therapy has made the process a lot easier. It’s given me something to look forward to. Thank you, Julie.
This has been helpful to me in trying to move forward, and get back to some form of normal.
Pain is a lot better after treatment for a couple of days. These treatments have been very helpful especially with the dizziness.
I wouldn’t have made it through chemo without these treatments – initially on the chemotherapy unit – these treatments have, I believe, improved my general wellbeing in terms of mind and body wellbeing. Thank you.
Ear seed clinics
Julie Crossman is now holding drop-in ear seed clinics every Tuesday from 4pm till 6pm in the Summerbridge room at the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre.
Please note that there will be no ear seed clinic on Tuesday 22nd September due to annual leave.
Relaxation sessions
Three relaxation sessions are held every Tuesday at 9.30am, 10.45am and 12pm. Each session lasts about an hour and patients are invited to a minimum of six sessions. These are pre-booked, please ask for a referral from a healthcare professional at the centre.
Reflexology
Reflexology sessions are available on the chemotherapy unit on Wednesdays, please let your nurse know if you are having treatment that day and wish to have some reflexology.
Scar care workshops
Scar care workshops are given each quarter, to help educate patients about their scars and how to self-manage. We talk about the anatomy and function of the skin and lymphatic system, how a scar develops, products that help the scars heal and how to apply these products, we also discuss cording, lymphoedema and seromas. Speakers include specialists in complementary therapy, clinical psychology, physiotherapy and surgical nursing.
If you are interested in attending a scar therapy workshop, please contact Julie Crossman.