All Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine therapies are performed by a Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner. We complete a full intake and diagnosis according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, providing individualized treatment plans to help optimize your overall health and wellness.
Pain is the brain’s way to signal that the body is in danger. Pain has evolved for a good reason to allow humans to know when something is too hot and prevent us from burning ourselves, it helps us identify when we are injured and aids in the inflammatory response that helps us heal. Pain when it is proportional and timed with preventing dangerous actions is a good response to have. But for many, pain is a constant phenomenon that inhibits daily activities and causes unnecessary suffering. And in these cases, pain is triggered by the brain in the absence of an injury or danger. It may be due to the pain system becoming hypersensitive signalling pain with mild touch or is stimulated constantly. This is the case of a malfunctioning nervous system that was once designed to signal danger but is now misfiring.
Pain is a common concern that we see at our clinic. Ones that can range from back pain, neck pain, headaches, sprains and more. Most of these concerns can be linked back to an injury but there are cases that are diagnosed by their physician as neuropathic pain that may not have a said cause, these are the cases that piqued my curiosity and I wanted to delve deeper into the cause and effect. These patients are experiencing extreme burning, pricking and stabbing pain in the limbs, often located at the ends of the limbs, hands/arms and feet/legs. One of the common denominators in these few patients that we’ve seen found was that they all had a previous history of cancer and had undergone either Chemotherapy or Radiation therapy. Looking deeper into if there was any possible link and there are studies showing that up to 40% of chemotherapy patients have experienced neuropathic pain. (Staff, N., Grisold, P., Grisold, W., Windback, A. 2018) What researchers have found is that “when nociceptors (cells that signal pain) are exposed to chemotherapy drugs they become more easily triggered and begin to degenerate. This likely contributes to the neuropathies that 40% of chemotherapy patient endure.” Neurobiologist Clifford Woolf, Children’s Hospital, Boston. (Bhattacharjee, Y. 2019)
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views Neuropathic pain as a combination of stagnation (the inability for blood, qi and energy to flow through a certain area of the body) and deficiency of qi and blood which contributes to the degeneration of the peripheral nerves. (Paio, Y., Xiaochun, L., 2012) In cases with a history of chemotherapy, these individuals will experience a temporary decline in blood according to TCM as the drugs target all cells, damaging and killing them in the attempts to destroy tumour cells. To help reduce and relieve pain due to peripheral neuropathy (degeneration of the peripheral nervous system that signals pain and sensory information) we have to aim to decrease inflammation and improve circulation with acupuncture while helping to nourish and rebuild blood to aid in the healing and regeneration of nerve cells.
In chronic cases Chinese herbal medicine can help improve blood reserves, energy, sleep and mood as well as aid in nerve regeneration. Acupuncture is used in conjunction to decrease inflammation and promote circulation of qi and blood.
Vitamins that have shown to be helpful include Vitamin K2 (MK7). Studies have shown that the use of 200mcg daily for 8 weeks may help to decrease neuropathic pain. (Krishnan, K. 2018)
I have found that acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can be helpful in helping patients manage their pain. However results and response does vary from person to person. Acupuncture is used to target the areas of pain along with the nerve roots on the spine which help to alter the sensation of pain. The goal is to have patients report less burning sensation, less stabbing pain and an overall increase in their ability to complete their daily duties. Everyone is unique, and we tailor treatment to specific needs and causes for that person. Treatment results will vary from person to person, but our goal is through acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine to help improve the quality of life through a change and decline in pain.
If you or someone you know is suffering from peripheral neuropathy and would like to see if acupuncture may help them, please contact us to find out more at info@acutoronto.com.
References:
Bhattacharjee, Y (2019). Scientists Tre Unraveling The Mysteries of Pain. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/scientists-are-unraveling-the-mysteries-of-pain-feature
Krishnan, K (2018) Vitamin K2-7: Vitamin K2 and the role it plays in reducing multiple chronic diseases. Microbiomelabs.
Piao, Y., Xiaochun, L (2012) Chinese Medicine in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: Experimental Research on Nerve Repair and Regeneration. Therapeutic Approaches to Neuroprotective Activity by Complementary and Alternative Medicines. Volume 2012. Article ID 191632. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/191632
Staff, N., Grisold, A., Grisold, W., Windback, A (2018) Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: a Current Review. Us National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health, Author Manuscript Anne Neurol. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5656281/#:~:text=Chemotherapy%2Dinduced%20peripheral%20neuropathy%20(CIPN,in%20its%20severity%20between%20patients.
