Acupuncture helps Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy

Acupuncture in Exeter: research from New York says acupuncture helps chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. American researchers investigating whether acupuncture helps chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, have conducted a three-arm randomised trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.  A group of 75 cancer patients were recruited. All had completed chemotherapy at least three months prior, and were experiencing moderate to severe neuropathy in the form of numbness, tingling or pain. Patients were randomly assigned to either real acupuncture, sham acupuncture or usual care. Acupuncture was given in the form of ten sessions over eight weeks, and biweekly for the first fortnight.

The real acupuncture group exhibited statistically significant improvements in quality of life, anxiety, insomnia and fatigue.

(Health-Related Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors with Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Oncologist, November 2021.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.