In addition to nausea and fatigue, chemotherapy can also cause other side effects, among them painful sores in the mouth. At the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., researchers studied 18 people with a variety of cancers who developed mouth sores from chemotherapy. Half applied an oil containing vitamin E daily. The other half applied a placebo. Relaxation therapies minimize nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy .
Chemotherapy often causes nausea and vomiting.
Compared with those who did not learn biofeedback, those who did reported significantly less nausea. Researchers at the VA Medical Center in New Orleans gave deep relaxation training to 30 people receiving chemotherapy, but not to 30 others. Those practicing deep relaxation experienced significantly less nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy, and also less anticipatory nausea as they approached their oncologists' offices. At the Women's and Infant's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, researchers invited volunteers from a local spa to administer foot massages to people about to have chemotherapy. But in the evaluation, every one of them said it reduced the stress and discomfort of chemotherapy.