Cold therapy for hands/feet

jspringer4

I’ll be starting good ol’ Red Devil in December and Taxol in February. My biggest concern is permanent neuropathy from the Taxol and am interested in doing cold therapy with my hands and feet. Did y’all have special gloves/socks that you bought or did you just use ice packs or something?

hanks!

LW422

I bought the icing socks from Amazon because they were convenient. For my hands I used a regular ice bag (like you'd use for a headache), take it empty to treatment, and the nurses would fill it with ice for me. I tried the icing gloves but they were bulky and hard to deal with if I needed to answer my phone or whatever.

I also bought a small lunch-sized nylon cooler to carry my icing socks in. I believe it was worth the small expense and a bit of inconvenience because I never had ANY neuropathy at all, and my nails didn't discolor or release from the nail beds. I also sucked on ice chips to help prevent mouth sores. Do it!!

ETA--if you do use the icing socks, be sure to wear a thin pair of regular socks underneath because they get COLD and will make your feet hurt without that thin barrier.

sillyoldrabbit

Hi JS. I used gallon size zip lock bags filled with ice cubes for both feet and hands and wore cotton gloves and socks to insulate a bit against the cold. For some reason, my hands survived without even a hint of neuropathy, but not my feet. They still tingle after 3+ years. It's not terrible, just a little annoying at times. Most of the time, I'm able to tune it out. Seems like it's very very gradually fading away. So, my thinking is that it could have been much worse without icing. I don't know if the particular device used for icing makes a difference. Seems like you just need to keep the extremities cold enough to narrow the blood vessels during the infusion any old way you can.

Diane

NorCalS

I iced my hands and feet during taxol treatments and I did not have any neuropathy. My partner came with me (pre-covid) with an ice chest full of blue ice and reusable cold/hot packs. I wore thin socks and gloves to protect the skin and my partner wrapped the ice packs on my hands and feet with adjustable wraps. If the packs got warm, we would switch out with new ice packs. It wasn’t fun, but I was glad not to have neuropathy after the treatment

1982M

For my feet I bought long gel ice packs. I put on a pair of socks, then I slip the long ice packs into a big fluffy pair of socks and put them on. I can wear them the whole time pretty much.

These ice packs for reference: https://www.amazon.ca/Caldera-Therapy-Pack-10-5-Inch/dp/B0027CU1LM/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=36MS9B6F291MH&keywords=gel+ice+pack&qid=1636634670&sprefix=gel+ice%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-3

For my hands I wear a pair of small winter gloves and put small ice packs on the bottom and tops and place a larger pair of gloves on top. I may use think socks on my hands to keep them in place.I also suck on ice chips to prevent mouth sores so my right hand gets questionable icing. I've struggled with icing my hands bc I'm alone and high on Benadryl. I had #8 infusion yesterday last this way really worked better then holding frozen bottles or laying them inside folding ice packs.

These ones I slip into my gloves: https://www.amazon.ca/Frozen-Fire-Packs-Reusable-Sizes/dp/B07R91XFH8/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?crid=36MS9B6F291MH&keywords=gel+ice+pack&qid=1636634719&sprefix=gel+ice%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-17

GR4C1E

Got my cold therapy socks at Walmart. https://www.walmart.com/ip/NatraCure-Cold-Therapy-...

I have two pairs. Their pretty comfy and no muss, no fuss.

mle42

I used these for my hands and these for my feet. My taxol infusions were 3 hr long, so I had 3 sets that I rotated in and out of a cooler we brought packed with other ice packs to keep them cold (these work really well). I was lucky to only got a teensy bit of neuropathy (numbness) in my fingers during treatment, but it was transient and was gone very quickly after. At my infusion center, visitors were not allowed (COVID rules) but I was able to get an exception for my husband to be with me to help manage swapping out the ice packs. If you want to use ice from the infusion center instead of bringing your own ice packs, be sure to ask first if that's possible - at mine, I was told they were not allowed to provide patients with ice because of the risk/liability of frostbite.

AmyCinny

I kept my feet plunged into a cooler which was filled with bags of ice. I put bags of ice on the cooler top which I rested in my lap. That way I could rest my hands on the bags and flip them over when the cold on one side became too much to bear.

I was desperate to avoid neuropathy and fortunately, I did not develop it. But the cold was difficult and I usually had to take a break at least once during the infusion.

Don't forget to take warm socks and gloves to change into when you're done. I was also very fortunate that my friends were able to accompany me and help carry the cooler and help me set myself up.

J_bryant923

I am thinking of trying icing to hopefully prevent any numbness. Does the icing need to happen at the same time as the infusion or can I do it the moment I get home, afterwards?

LW422

J_Bryant--it needs to be done while the infusion is happening. The point is to narrow the blood vessels in your extremities so that a lesser amount of the chemo gets to your hands and feet. After you get home the chemo has already circulated through your body.

MinusTwo

jBryant - Yes - you start 30 minutes before the infusion starts, ice for the 'hour' that it's dripping and keep the ice on for 30 minutes after. I used frozen peas in zip lock bags. The nurses kept my 2nd set in their freezer and switched them out half way through. I iced my hands from day one, but didn't do my feet the first time. Big mistake - but we live & learn.

If you go to my profile in the upper right & post your diagnosis & treatment plans to date - it helps people answer questions. For example - I had two different drugs that are known to cause neuropathy. What is your plan?

jspringer4

I’m tentatively scheduled to start dose dense AC in December, and then 3 months of regular dose Taxol starting sometime in February. I’m scheduled for my “education” day at my oncology office on 11/30, so hopefully I’ll have a lot more detail about what they’ll be doing to me then.

gamzu710

My infusion center does icing for all Taxol patients. The nurse uses ice packs similar to like you might put in a big picnic cooler and has me hold two in my hands and then basically ties the other two to the soles of my feet with the same bandages they use to keep the gauze pad on after a blood draw. They put warm blankets on the rest of me. The only mildly annoying thing about it is that it puts your hands and feet out of commission for over an hour. I make sure to take a trip to the bathroom right beforehand, and I download videos for my iPad that are at least an hour long so I can just press play and sit.