Laser Therapy for Peripheral Neuropathy
As a result of chemotherapy ending in July 2021, I was left with very painful neuropathy in both my feet. 8 months after chemo I was still in pain (level 6). I decided to try acupuncture and after 13 session over several months my pain was reduced (level 3). I was able to comfortably wear shoes and bend my foot without much pain. A year and a half after chemo I became aware of another treatment for my foot neuropathy, namely Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT). It was offered by a physiotherapy practice in Ottawa specializing in oncology. From January 26 to February 20, 2023 I had 7 treatments of 15 minutes on both feet. There was a noticeable improvement bringing my discomfort down to level 1. The literature I received stated that light therapy entails light applied to the skin being absorbed by the body. The result is increased energy production to stimulate increased healing, increased circulation, decreased inflammation and decreased pain. The cost of acupuncture and laser therapy are comparable. The major difference is that there is no pain with light therapy. I also found that the small wand used to apply the light is better for treating the underside of the toes, which for me was one of the major sources of pain. The next time I have to have chemo for ovarian cancer I am going to try to see if I can use laser therapy to keep the pain under control between each chemo session. I hope this information is helpful to others suffering from foot or hand neuropathy.
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Comments
Thank you for posting this it was very informative. More importantly I am happy that it reduced your pain level from your initial 6 to a 3 with acupuncture and then down to a 1 with the LLLT. It also sounds like it brought more function to your feet as a result of treatment. I bet that felt wonderful for you. It would be interesting to know if this would work as well for any hand neuropathy as well.
Thank you for sharing and posting this and that you are feeling better overall as a result. I will cross my fingers for you that you don't experience a recurrence in the near or distant future.
Thanks for this information. i'm going to discuss with my care team to see if it's offered here in Kingston and might be helpful to me. My neuropathy runs from my knees down through my feet. Not painful unless I step on something but the bottoms of my feet have almost no feeling and impacts my mobility greatly. Even a partial improvement would be liife altering for me.