Peripheral Neuropathy
Key Points
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Peripheral neuropathy is damage to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves) that carry messages to and from the rest of your body. Depending on where these nerves are damaged, various symptoms may develop:
- Numbness, tingling or pain in the hands and/or feet
- Muscle weakness
- A change in organ function, such as constipation
Managing Peripheral Neuropathy
The patient-education resource from the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) advises an integrative approach to managing peripheral neuropathy:1
- Eating well, including a balanced diet that includes specific nutrients such as B vitamins (including B1 and B12, folic acid) and antioxidants, and that limits alcohol
- Physical therapy
- Massage
- Acupuncture
- Relaxation
- Moving more
- Medications: see the American Society of Clinical Oncology website: Peripheral Neuropathy
Clinical Practice Guidelines
Acupuncture is listed by the Society for Integrative Oncology clinical practice guidelines as an integrative therapy with evidence for usefulness in peripheral neuropathy.6
SIO advises that acetyl-L-carnitine (CAM-Cancer) is not recommended for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy due to potential harm.7
Integrative Plans, Protocols and Medical Systems
| For more information about plans and protocols, see our Integrative Plans and Protocols page. |
- Plans, protocols and programs
- Alschuler & Gazella complementary approaches8
- Block program9
- Lemole, Mehta & McKee protocols10
- McKinney protocols11
- Traditional systems
Commentary
Laura Pole, RN, OCNS, October 18, 2018: Janie Brown is an oncology nurse and co-founder of a cancer retreat program and centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her BCCT story, The Power of the Integrative Approach in Breast Cancer Treatment (see in Personal Stories below), is a treasure trove of helpful information. She describes how her partner with breast cancer and her team made decisions about chemotherapy, wove in useful complementary therapies to prevent and minimize treatment side effects and created a caring community. The integrative plan staved off the usual chemotherapy side effects of peripheral neuropathy, mucositis, fatigue, nausea and neutropenia.
Written by Laura Pole, RN, MSN, OCNS, and reviewed by Nancy Hepp, MS; most recent update on October 19, 2018.
More Information
- American Society of Clinical Oncology: Peripheral Neuropathy
- National Cancer Institute: Nerve Problems (Peripheral Neuropathy) and Cancer Treatment
- SIO clinical practice guidelines:
- Deng GE, Frenkel M et al. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for integrative oncology: complementary therapies and botanicals. Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology. 2009 Summer;7(3):85-120.
- Deng GE, Rausch SM et al. Complementary therapies and integrative medicine in lung cancer: diagnosis and management of lung cancer, 3rd ed: American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Chest. 2013 May;143(5 Suppl):e420S-e436S.
- Greenlee H, DuPont-Reyes MJ et al. Clinical practice guidelines on the evidence-based use of integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2017 May 6;67(3):194-232.
- Keith I. Block, MD: Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
- American Society of Clinical Oncology: Cancer.Net
- September 2018 Issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Related Pages
In the News
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- Integrative therapies guidelines receive American Society of Clinical Oncology endorsement
- Effects of cryotherapy on objective and subjective symptoms of paclitaxel-induced neuropathy: prospective self-controlled trial
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