The combination of acupuncture and massage can significantly reduce the pain and symptoms of depression after surgery for cancer, according to American scientists.

Acupuncture has shown its effectiveness against pain in many studies, it is now being evaluated its effectiveness from postoperative nausea. Its action is based on the release of specific substances in the nervous system, which help fight the pain.

Massage helped patients get rid of problems with mental health: anxiety and depression. This is because the massage allowed the body to increase the level of the hormone oxytocin, which increases mood and reduces the feeling of pain.

However, with the proven effectiveness of both methods, their combination has never been investigated.

A study on the efficacy of two techniques in patients after surgery for cancer included 138 patients who received either standard post-operative therapy or the same therapy in combination with acupuncture and massage.

Patients who received supplemental therapy suffered less pain and had higher moods in the first 3 days after surgery.

However, according to some experts, this response of patients was not on the therapy itself, but on the greater amount of attention that patients received.

Medicinform. Net.