Ice packs for hands and feet during chemo.

@juliea55

Dry ice is way too cold. You want what you're using to cool your hands and feet to be right at 32° F, the melting point of water, or maybe a smidge warmer, to avoid frostbite.

During my chemo treatments I felt freezing cold, I even brought an electric blanket to keep from shivering during the infusion and extra blankets. I did not know that ice mittens and socks may help with not developing peripheral neuropathy. When I noticed other infusion patients using them I asked about the purpose. The nurse told me that I'm already freezing and I would not like them. I was taken aback. It makes sense now why a patient also showed up with an ice cooler on wheels.

@denisestlouie I had 6 rounds of chemo for uterine cancer and kept my hands and feet in socks that I purchased on amazon that kept my feet and hands cold during treatment. I have had no neuropathy in my hands or feet...I attribute that to having kept them cold as was recommended .

@val64 Not talking about dry ice on your hands or feet, but maybe to recool the booties and gloves once they’ve been used for a bit. They defrost over time, so would have to be recooled depending on how long your session is.

@alohman08 I had neuropathy issues before chemotherapy. It's caused by inflammation in my case. I didn't do ice. I didn't have additional issues. My doctor didn't believe it would matter much if I did. The best course of action my case is diet. If the diet isn't addressed the inflammation will continue. Permanent neuropathy doesn't have to happen. You used ice. I used food. To me. The diet is has the bigger impact on the total health of the person. I would recommend anybody who's fearful of it do both. But if they don't want to do the ice, definitely do the diet.

@denisestlouie @alohman08 I view changes in one's diet that are nutritious and anti-imflammatory as a win-win. You know how we often weight the risk/benefits of medications and treatments? From my point of view I can think of no risks with changing one's diet for the better during treatments for cancer. I do think, however, that it's best to work with a nutrtionist on this. I worked with a nutritionist who specialized in cancer and an integrative medicine physician. Both specialists were (and still are) enormously helpful in figuring out how best to support my wellness and health. I've adopted many of their recommendations that I still do after my recurrence (2021).

@naturegirl5 I totally agree that food is medicine .. I live a very healthy lifestyle with daily exercise and pescatarian Mediterranean diet.. I have been doing this long before my cancer diagnosis and have continued because I've never had any issue with nausea.. I am an extremely healthy 78 year old other than having cancer .. I'm on no medication other than monthly enhertu treatments .. actually had my 15 th this morning !! I am aware that inflammation causes all kinds of health issues so I do whatever I can to minimize inflammation in my body.. exercise, diet, attitude .. no
Processed food ever !! Organic Whole Foods and no sugar other than from fruit .. I still believe that I had no neuropathy because I was diligent about keeping my feet and hands cold during 4 hour treatments!

Just a quick recommendation. I used "Cryo Max" ice packs for my hands and feet. For hands, I used 2 small sizes; 1 under and 1 on top of my hands. For feet, I used 2 large packs, 1 under my feet and 1 wrapped on top of my feet with the help of my nurse. There was very little neuropathy that I experienced during chemotherapy. These stay cold for just about the entire treatment instead of merely 20 minutes. Freezing them the night before and bringing them in a cooler to keep cold while your labs are drawn can help extend how long they stay cold.

This next strategy, I'm not sure about, but a friend and I both used this as well. A fellow patient was told by a Nurse Practitioner to use glutamine for neuropathy, so we both tried this. It may have helped, but the caution I learned about later was that cancer can use glutamine, so this may not be prudent. My friend's neuropathy was well-managed without ice packs at all and only the glutamine. Prior to her using glutamine, she was experiencing so much neuropathy, she was weighing out whether to even continue treatment. In any case, check with your Oncologist or NP or Nurse Navigator for any risks and nutrient/drug interactions. Always a safe approach.

I hope this helps someone out there! Be brave and know you are special.

@juliea55 Thank you all for posting . The personal experience is so valuable to everyone.

You are welcome. It's my pleasure. One more word of caution, using CryoMax ice packs for hands and feet. Although they do come surrounded in a thin removable cloth material, it is wise to wear a good pair of socks (not too thin or thick) and some additional type of cloth or thin mittens for your hands. You would never want to expose your skin directly on the frozen plastic piece and even with the removable cloth, THESE ICE PACKS STAY VERY COLD A LONG TIME. Everyone is different, so if you have normal skin, thin skin, delicate skin, take extra precautions and consult your treatment RN or speak to a Nurse Navigator. Had to add that 🙂