Neuropathy is a symptom present in many conditions such as diabetes type 2, degenerative disease, now long covid-19 syndrome and chemotherapy.
Today, we would like to discuss chemotherapy treatment. Chemotherapy is the injection of chemicals to kill cancer cells but unfortunately it has a lot of side effects and one of them is neuropathy.
Patients with neuropathy usually experience tingling, numbness and pain in their hands and feet. Some patients find it difficult to walk without shoes, barefoot at home and they always need some foot support.
Neuropathy could be defined as an increase of nerve endings sensitivity. It is like watching sparks coming out of an electric outlet. Chemotherapy causes stress to the human body while trying to kill the cancer cells. It causes inflammation in the tissues.
Patients usually experience nausea and extreme fatigue when they are undergoing chemotherapy.
Why is acupuncture beneficial to treat neuropathy?
Every time, patient is prescribed a medication, there is a risk of side effects. Acupuncture does not interfere with any medication and there are no side effects.
Acupuncture will decrease the inflammation along the nerves’ endings.
How long does it take?
If the patient is still undergoing chemotherapy, then the relief will be temporary, but it will still be cumulative. For example, based on our clinical findings, when a patient is getting chemotherapy once a week and started developing neuropathy, then the relief time might be 2-3 days and after a while 3-4 days. When the patient is experiencing neuropathy for a long time, it will take a while to obtain the same results but eventually it will get there.
If the patient has finished the chemotherapy, then the relief will be temporary and cumulative at first. After a while, the patient will start to stabilize.
While patient is receiving acupuncture for neuropathy, he should also get some relief from nausea and fatigue.
Acupuncture will improve the life of cancer patients without causing any adverse effects.
