Can acupuncture help with peripheral neuropathy? Neuropathy comes in many forms, with many causes, but for some it can be a very unwelcome side effect of chemotherapy. Your feet or hands can feel numb or tingly, or have burning or stabbing pains. Weakness and dizziness or impaired balance can follow.
When the neuropathy is a result of chemotherapy treatment, it can be brief, or for some it can become a lasting problem:
“In some cases, peripheral neuropathy can develop or get worse over time, even after treatment has finished. After the end of cancer treatment, peripheral neuropathy symptoms may begin to improve over 6–12 months. In some people, symptoms are permanent and may be severe.”
What does the science say?
To assess how the evidence base is looking so far, in 2024 a team of researchers looked at the studies that have been done on peripheral neuropathy induced by chemotherapy. They analysed the results for more than 2,000 patients, across 21 separate studies, and concluded that:
“Acupuncture can improve the neuropathic pain intensity, the intensity of the CIPN [chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy], MCV [motor conduction velocities] of the median nerve, SCV [sensory conduction velocities] of the tibial nerve and peroneal nerve, quality of life, and has good safety in CIPN patients. LI4 (Hegu), ST36 (Zusanli), LI11 (Quchi), LR3 (Taichong), and SP6 (Sanyinjiao) are the core acupuncture points for treating CIPN, and this protocol has the potential to become a supplementary treatment for CIPN.”
Like a lot of research papers, it’s not written in the most accessible of English! But, their finding was that acupuncture was helpful in reducing pain and improving quality of life, at the same time as being safe for people with this problem.
I can only echo the researchers’ hopes that lots of people get access to acupuncture to help them in this situation. One of the joys of being an acupuncturist is meeting a really diverse range of people. Some come to me as their first resort, and occasionally I find myself trying to persuade someone to visit their doctor to at least get some possibilities ruled out. But others often come as their last resort, after trying many different avenues in search of help, and suffering for quite an extended period.
It’s great to see the growing range of conditions which are gaining an evidence base to show that acupuncture can help. I was very pleased to see this study come out for peripheral neuropathy after chemotherapy, which is such a difficult experience on top of everything else that you will already be going through if you are going through chemotherapy.
Book in for acupuncture for peripheral neuropathy
If you would like to give acupuncture a try for your peripheral neuropathy, I will be happy to see you. Just get in touch.
References
https://www.cancer.org.au/assets/pdf/understanding-peripheral-neuropathy
Limeng, L., Huang, Y., Chengfei, A., Ning, J., Xu, C., Xiaoyu, W., Li, H., & Tan, T. (2024). Acupuncture in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: A meta-analysis and data mining. Frontiers in Neurology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2024.1442841