Complementary and Integrative Medicine
What is complementary and integrative medicine?
Many families think about using complementary medicine — sometimes called integrative or alternative medicine — as part of a child's health care such as during cancer treatment, around surgery or a medical illness.
Terms like "complementary medicine" usually refer to methods not used widely by conventional health care providers in this country. This includes a wide range of practices, such as using herbs or acupuncture, therapeutic and healing touch, yoga and massage.
We recommend talking to your child's doctor if you are using or thinking of using methods like these. Some methods may be very helpful in supporting your child's health. Others may not work well with your child's illness and treatment.
Together in consultation with the complementary and integrative medicine providers, you and the doctor can weigh any benefits and risks for your child and make an informed choice.
What's special about complementary and integrative medicine at Children's?
Children's Hospital has a Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program to help doctors and families mix, or integrate, complementary methods with conventional treatment in an informed manner. Dr. Anjana Kundu leads the program. She is an anesthesiologist who is trained in pain medicine and acupuncture. She has been joined by Dr. Katie L. Larkin, an anesthesiologist and acupuncturist.
Very few other pediatric hospitals in the country offer the full spectrum of services that we provide.
We focus on using methods that have proven good results. Some methods may help support your child's overall health and journey through cancer treatment, acute and chronic medical conditions and surgeries as well as promote well being and mental health.
For example, acupuncture helps relieve pain and nausea in some people undergoing cancer treatment as well as pain and nausea related to surgery.
Read about Emily, a young patient at Children's Hospital who benefited from acupuncture.
Who needs the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program?
Much of our work with complementary and integrative medicine focuses on therapies used in chronic and serious illnesses, relieving our patients' pain as well as improving their overall quality of care.
If your child has pain from his disease, treatment or side effects, ask his health care team what can be done to help.
Some complementary therapies have stronger evidence for use with a particular condition but several therapies can be used together for greater benefit along with your conventional treatment options.
Our complementary and integrative medicine providers can guide you in determining which therapies might be helpful for your child's care.
We also work with families who want to learn more about whether complementary methods may help or harm.
Some complementary methods may get in the way of your child's conventional treatment, make side effects worse or lead to infections. This is a concern mainly with remedies that your child takes by mouth, such as herbal and nutritional supplements.
No government agency assures that supplements are safe or pure — or that they work. Certain supplements are known to be harmful.
Children on chemotherapy, with a weak immune system from cancer treatment or diseases or who are taking particular medications may be at greater risk.
Your child's health care team along with the complementary and integrative medicine team can give you guidance about which herbs and supplements may be helpful and which ones may be risky.
Please talk with your child's health care team about any methods that you want to combine with conventional treatment. We will be happy to help you make choices to support your child's comfort and recovery.