After cancer, the end of treatment does not necessarily mean a return to normal life. Between 25 and 40% of women treated for breast cancer suffer from fatigue, depressive symptoms, anxiety or pain during the years that follow.

Acupressure, a discipline of traditional Chinese medicine which consists of pressing with your fingers on acupuncture points, could present an alternative to medicinal solutions sometimes associated with notorious side effects or phenomena of habituation.

In 2016, this same team had already shown that acupressure reduced post-cancer fatigue. In a new article published a few days ago, she looked at the effect of this Chinese practice on chronic pain, depressive symptoms and anxiety. To do this, the researchers divided 288 women cured of breast cancer, but still suffering from at least one of these disorders, in 3 groups, the first group continued to take the treatment that had been prescribed, the second daily practiced relaxing acupressure and the third, stimulating acupressure.

Relief from depressive disorders, pain and anxiety

• After 6 weeks, the researchers observed that relaxing acupressure was the most effective of the 3 methods for relieving depressive disorders with a reduction in symptoms of 41.5%. Stimulating acupressure and conventional treatments, on the other hand, have comparable effects.

• Regarding pain, the 2 types of acupressure are more effective than conventional treatments with a reduction in pain of 28.9% for relaxing acupressure and 23.7% for stimulating acupressure.

The same goes for anxiety: relaxing and stimulating acupressions provide more relief than conventional treatments.

A benefit that is not maintained over time

However, the beneficial effect of acupressure disappears after stopping this practice, except in anxiety disorders where the effectiveness of stimulating acupressure persists for at least 4 weeks.

How is this possible? The Experts advance several hypotheses

The first is that of the placebo effect. However, researchers consider this explanation unlikely. The women in the acupressure groups received very little extra attention: about 10 minutes before the study, enough time to teach them acupressure. On the other hand, researchers have observed in some women an impact on their brain connectivity. The effect of acupressure could therefore be based on brain mechanisms. Olivier Lejus from Acupuncture on Wheels has come up with Gentle Toyohari Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques for a wholesome solution in realms of Depression. Here it is essential to mention that the Toyohari school of Japanese acupuncture happens to be a firm yet gentle form of Oriental medicine. Blind Japanese acupuncturists invented it in the 1950s.