Acupuncture & Neuropathy

Hello @carmen332, Welcome to Connect. I haven't tried acupuncture for my neuropathy but I only have numbness. The good news is that there is a wealth of experience here on Connect with acupuncture and neuropathy. I did a quick search of Connect and here is a link to the list of different discussions - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/.

Have you tried any other alternative therapies?

Yes. I have some acupuncture experience.

The first session was very good. Second session, unfortunately, the therapist hit the radial nerve on my left lower arm. I had terrible pain followed by an electric nerve shock sensation in my whole peripheral nervous system. Must have caused some kind of nerve inflammation. Since then, not a single day without pain.

I later found out that I was having mercury poisoning during the time of the acupuncture. Maybe that is why my nerves reacted so badly to the additional injury. Since that injury I am suffering of chronic peripheral neuropathy pain.

Maybe caution is advised going for acupuncture therapy with neuropathy, although it is very often recommended by health care professionals.

Here you find some info on acupuncture and nerve shock.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7655260/

Most insurance, including ours, won't pay for acupuncture, and my doctor told me that at best it's temporary in his experience with his other patients.

@johnbishop Thank you John for your reply. I will certainly follow up. I do not want to jump into this procedure with out having an idea of success or failure.

Has always been a sticking point for me.

Yes, I did accupuncture for about 6 months when my neuropathy was painful. The accupuncturist advised me that in his experience it helps with pain but not numbness. That was my experience. I no longer have any pain (going on 4 years) and have not done any follow up appointments)

Thank you for your positive reply

I have numbness. Get acupuncture every 2-3 weeks. Also have an MPN. It helped a lot with numbness, although effect is not permanent. Hence repeat visits. Also great with my back pain. That benefit seems to persist longer between treatments. I also suffer from blurred vision. Weird thing is that my vision is really good for a few days after treatment. An unexpected benefit. I wish that benefit was more persistent. My insurance pays for 12 visits. I wish it was more, but it is better than nothing.

Yes! Accupuncture has relieved a lot of the burning in my knees and legs. Accupuncture reduces inflamtion. I started with three times per week and it was so effective after a couple of weeks we reduced it to twice, then once and now just twice a month. Good luck!

I forgot to add, my neuropathy is idiopathic