Shiatsu for Medication Side Effects: Practical Support Alongside Medical Care

Medication can be the reason someone gets through treatment, stabilises a condition, sleeps, heals, or stays alive. It can also bring side effects that slowly wear the body and mind down.

Nausea, constipation, headaches, muscle aches, neuropathy, appetite changes, disrupted sleep and anxiety are not minor issues when they keep showing up day after day. They can affect work, relationships, mood, eating, movement and rest. For some people, the medicine is doing an essential job, but the body still needs help coping with the strain.

Shiatsu used well, can offer practical, body-based support alongside medical care. Bodywork does not interfere with treatment, it can enhance it. The aim is to help the person feel more settled, more comfortable and more able to manage what their body is going through.

A quiet setting can help the nervous system begin to settle before treatment starts.

Medication side effects affect more than one symptom

Side effects rarely stay in one neat box. Nausea can change appetite. Poor appetite can lower energy. Low energy can reduce movement. Less movement can worsen constipation or stiffness. Pain can interrupt sleep. Poor sleep can make anxiety louder.

This is one reason side effects deserve more than a quick “just put up with it” response. Even when a side effect is medically expected, the person still has to live with it.

Common medication-related concerns that people bring to supportive therapies include:

• Nausea or queasiness

• Constipation or sluggish digestion

• Headaches or head pressure

• Muscle aches and joint discomfort

• Neuropathy, such as tingling, numbness or burning sensations

• Appetite changes

• Fatigue or heaviness

• Disrupted sleep

• Anxiety, agitation or feeling constantly on edge

• Sensitivity to touch, smell, noise or movement

  
  

Take chemotherapy for example. Recently a lady in her 50's sought shiatsu in a hope it would help deal with the nausea and extreme constipation from her chemo sessions. She has found with fortnightly shiatsu and diet recommendations she went from having 1 good week in the month to 3 good weeks. Quality of life can be improved and necessary treatments tolerated better by adding shiatsu into the mix.

A shiatsu practitioner does not diagnose medication reactions or decide whether a medicine should be changed. A practitioner listens to what is experienced by the client, the pulses and what the body and it's meridians are telling them. Shiatsu is tailored to what is being experienced now.

This article is general information only. Anyone dealing with medication side effects, a new symptom, or symptoms that are getting worse should speak with their doctor.