Heat Therapy for Cancer

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Heat therapy, also known as thermo therapy is regarded as one of the natural treatments to cure pain. This therapy can treat any pain varying from mild injury to severe back pain. These days, health care experts advice their patients to opt for heat therapy treatment. Along with pain relief, it also contributes in treating cancer. These days, doctors are considering heat therapy for cancer as one of the treatment parts.

Different Types of Heat Therapy for Cancer

There are different methods of heat therapy. These methods are applied according to how severe the injury is. This treatment provides relief from muscle pain resulting due to strains, stress, arthritis or injury. It is also effective for treating infections which are near the body's surface like skin infection. Heat therapy is considered as an alternative treatment to cure cancer.

Localized Heat Therapy

As per research, it is said that localized heat therapy is the standard treatment for cancers. It is said to be more effective along with chemo and radiation therapy. However, studies on this topic are still going on to determine its advantages in treating cancer.

When localized heat is applied, only certain part of the body's temperature gets high through internal or external approach. Usually, doctors use ultra sound or microwaves to get effective results, otherwise the process is also done through radio frequency ablation.

External Approach: When the treatment is done through the external way, the electrodes series are paced above the affected area. The energy waves get emitted which rise the temperature of cancerous tissues and thus destroys it.
Internal Approach: If the treatment is done on an internal basis, then during the process, series of probes are inserted in the skin and then directly in the cancerous tissues. Once the wires are in position, the energy gets transferred for rising the abnormal cells temperature. This somehow helps in killing the cancer cells.

Hyperthermia

Hyperthermia, also known as thermal therapy is another treatment for cancer. In this treatment, body tissues get exposed to high temperature of nearly 113'F. According to research made, it is said that high temperature can kill the cells of cancer with hardly any damage to the normal tissues. It is said that once the cancer cells along with proteins within the cells get damaged, then hyperthermia also reduces the tumors.

To cure inflammatory breast cancer, tonsils cancer, or prostate cancer, doctors uses hyperthermia. This treatment was recognized by many insurance companies including Medicare and is FDA approved from 1984. Usually, doctors use this treatment along with some other sources of therapy like chemo or radiation. This treatment makes the cancer cells sensitive to the radiation therapy, which makes it easier for destroying the cells. When both these therapies combine and work together, then anti cancer drugs also become effective.

Benefits of Hypothermia

From ancient times, heat therapy is used as a natural treatment to cure pain and other severe illnesses. It improves the circulation of blood. If patients have cancer, then this therapy makes the tumor cells more exposed to radiation therapy. It contributes in killing the cancerous cells quickly and effectively. It is said be an artificial fever which destroys the affected cells. Other than this, there are also some remarkable advantages like:

Quick pain reduction
Reduces the requirement of pain killers
Easy to apply
Remarkable improvement within a day
Supports other treatment courses
Improves the immune system

Whole Body Heat Therapy

This type of treatment is not common and well known like localized heat therapy. If the stages of cancer are more advanced, then doctors advice such kind of heat therapy. In this treatment, the body's temperature is raised to 1080F. Once the temperature is increased at this level, the cancerous cells get damaged. This treatment is done before chemo therapy, so that chemo therapy becomes strong enough to kill rest of the cells.

According to studies, it is said that heat therapy for cancer is an effective way to at least slow down the cancer process from getting spread to the whole body. Many people quickly respond to such therapy whereas for some, this therapy might not just work. Still it is considered as an alternative to other treatments. If heat therapy is applied before chemo or radiation therapy, it makes the other treatment results more effective.