by Michael Cohen, Director
Center for Brain
Cancer patients being treated with chemotherapy who develop symptoms of neuropathy may find significant relief with the help of neurofeedback.
That is the conclusion of researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who exposed a group of patients with neuropathy to 20 sessions of neurofeedback training and compared them to a control group that did not receive neurofeedback training.
Seventy-three percent of those who had the neurofeedback training reported significantly less pain, numbness, intensity and unpleasantness as well as less interference with the activities of their daily life.
Neuropathy a common side effect of chemotherapy
According to MD Anderson, chronic peripheral neuropathy is a common side effect of chemotherapy and affects between 71-96 percent of patients undergoing a month or more of treatment. The symptoms include pain, burning, tingling and loss of feeling in the arms and legs due to damage to the nerves.
Significant improvement in quality of life
Lead investigator Sarah Prinsloo, Ph.D expressed optimism about the findings, especially in light of the fact that there is only one medication approved to treat it.
“I’m encouraged to see the significant improvements in patients’ quality of life after (neurofeedback) treatment,” said Dr Prinsloo, Assistant Professor of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine at MD Anderson. “This treatment is customized to the individual and is relatively inexpensive, non-invasive and non-addictive.”
She added that her findings are “clinically and statistically significant.”
Center for Brain has been treating cancer patients and others with chronic pain such as chemotherapy-induced and other neuropathy for more than 20 years. We have a variety of biofeedback tools, including neurofeedback and body biofeedback, to help clients learn to modify brain wave activity and calm the nerves that create pain symptoms.
Book a Consultation
If you suffer from neuropathy or any type of chronic pain, we urge you to take advantage of a consultation with our director Mike Cohen to help determine if we think we can help.
Phone: 561-744-7616
Email: info@centerforbrain.com