Helping you restore energy, reduce side effects, and feel like yourself again—before, during, and after cancer treatment.
Hi, I’m Dr. Amie Shimmel-Handa. As someone who has personally faced cancer, I understand the physical pain, emotional stress, and uncertainty that come with a diagnosis.
With over 37 years of experience as an Acupuncturist and Chiropractic Physician, my goal is to help patients restore balance, harmony, and vitality—supporting healing on every level: body, mind, and spirit.
How Acupuncture Can Help
According to the National Cancer Institute and Integrative Oncology Research, Acupuncture can safely and effectively ease many side effects of cancer and its treatments, including:
Acupuncture is a gentle yet powerful way to support the body’s natural healing process—helping you feel calmer, stronger, and more in balance.
Because healing isn’t just about fighting disease—it’s about restoring wholeness and vitality.
It’s one of the most common things patients ask about, and honestly one of the best-studied uses of acupuncture. A handful of sessions targeting the digestive and nervous system can take real pressure off the nausea, and most people notice they’re eating and keeping food down more normally within a couple of visits.
It’s more common than people expect. The body can stay in an inflamed, “on guard” state well after chemo or surgery wraps up. Acupuncture helps bring that inflammation down, which usually means less swelling and less everyday soreness — it works well as a companion to whatever your oncology team already has you doing.
Cancer fatigue isn’t the same as being tired — sleep doesn’t really touch it, and it can hang around for a long time. Acupuncture works on the body’s energy balance rather than just masking tiredness, and patients often say they feel sharper and less drained after a series of treatments.
This is one area where patients often feel the difference right away. Acupuncture has a genuinely calming effect on the nervous system, and a lot of people leave sessions feeling like their mind has quieted down — better sleep, fewer racing thoughts, a steadier mood as treatment goes on.
This one gets overlooked a lot. Radiation near the head and neck can seriously cut down saliva production, which makes eating and even talking uncomfortable. Acupuncture can help get saliva flowing again, and patients often notice a real difference in day-to-day comfort.
It can, and it’s one of the more requested treatments here. Hormone therapy tends to bring on hot flashes that wreck sleep and comfort during the day. Regular acupuncture has been shown to bring down both how often they hit and how intense they feel.
Dr. Amie Shimmel-Handa treats patients out of her clinic in the Gold Coast, at 1 E Superior St #300. She’s also a cancer survivor herself, so the care here comes from someone who’s actually been on the other side of a diagnosis, not just studied it.
For most patients, yes — it’s recognized by groups like the National Cancer Institute as a safe complement to standard treatment, never a replacement for it. That said, everyone’s case is different, so bring your treatment history in so the plan can be built around exactly where you are.
It’s different for everyone. Some people feel a shift — steadier stomach, better sleep — after just one or two visits. Others take a little longer to notice change. Since no two treatment journeys look the same, the plan gets adjusted around what your body’s telling us.
Your first visit begins with a conversation about where you are in treatment,what’s bothering you most day to day, your wellness goals so I can better understand your unique needs. If appropriate, your visit will also include a comprehensive acupuncture evaluation followed by a personalized treatment.