Treating breast cancer patients post mastectomy

For those of you with experience treating breast cancer patients I would love to know more about your clinical experience. I always hear from my patients that their doctor doesn't want their acupuncturist to needle them in the arm(s) where the lymph were removed. They are trying to prevent lymphedema from occuring and they are concerned that acupuncture will contribute to this. I see about 5-10 patients a year for breast cancer treatment and I have never seen this occur clinically but i wanted to hear what you all thought. For those patients who express this concern I avoid the arm(s), but for those who don't express this then I usually treat the arm(s).

So today I was having a discussion with one of my patients about this and I said that I would post the question to the community at large to see what others thought/experienced.

Do any of you have similar experiences? Have you found that acupuncture can cause lymphedema?

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Marc Sklar, LAc, FABORM
Reproductive Wellness