Cold to Combat Neuropathy - did you do this/what did you use?

polamom

Hello I've read about people icing their hands/feet to combat neuropathy.  Did any of you do this? Did you use special gloves or wraps or pack coolers of ice to stick your feet in or frozen peas or the hands or what? lol  I want to try this but don't know what to do.  I have an appt with a nurse on Monday to talk with her about it.  That is also my first treatment.

dlb823

polamom ~ Icing your nails (both hands & feet) during chemo infusions to combat nail damage is pretty common and will save you from losing nails.  I would think icing your hands & feet as a whole probably would cut down on neuropathy, but I'd also question if it might possibly inhibit the chemo from circulating sufficiently, so would certainly want the approval of your onc.

Some infusion centers supply ice mitts that are made by one of the drug companies.  Mine did not, nor did they provide ice.  Because I live in the desert and had chemo during the heighth of the summer heat, I brought along a bag of frozen peas (or corn) so that I didn't end up with ice melting all over the place.

Another thing that's really helpful for neuropathy is the supplement B6.  I used 50 mg./day, and it helped a lot.

Let us know what your onc says about using ice to prevent neuropathy.  It sounds like a plausible idea.    Deanna