Platelet-rich Plasma or Intermittent pneumatic compression therapy

I'm with you on the so much fraud part Jake. I've always had hope in stem cell and PRP but have not seen any evidence that it works for neuropathy but have seen a ton of advertising it as a cure from the so called neuropathy clinics around the country. I always try to evaluate treatments using a few of these sites:

FDA's Health Fraud Page
-- https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/HealthFraud/ucm539101.htm

NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) which offers guidance about integrative health and how to evaluate it.
-- https://nccih.nih.gov/health/decisions
-- https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/pain

I've had one of those cheaper leg/foot devices that squeeze and release your feet with air. I suppose that would be a poor mans intermittent pneumatic compression therapy. The one I had you just slipped your feet into it and turned it on for a foot massage. It did make my feet feel a little better but didn't seem to help with the numbness for me. I did find a couple of articles on the devices and their use that were kind of interesting.

-- Influence of intermittent pneumatic compression on foot sensation and balance control in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy patients:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34717200/
-- Risks and contraindications of medical compression treatment – A critical reappraisal. An international consensus statement:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7383414/
I try to keep my feet hydrated using a skin moisturizer every night which makes the feet feel better massaging the lotion into the feet.

I tried a foot massager that went up to my ankles. It didn't do anything for my neuropathy and actually caused a lot of after use pain later that evening.
I also tried HVAC a device that stretched my back, it didn't work and was very expensive.
I also tried leaches for 6 months, 3 times a week. that didn't work either.
And, then there was HealthLight, also expensive, no luck.
Yoga seems to help. I just do what I can. I walk and stretch off and on all day.

@judithfraser000
Thank you Judith, you’re pretty much verified that a lot of these treatments are fraudulent. There’s a chiropractor‘s office here in MODESTO, who is at advertising neuropathy treatment using the hyperbaric chamber. It’s my understanding that neuropathy loves oxygen, and the hyperbaric chamber is loaded with oxygen. I haven’t checked into it to see exactly how it improves it if it does, which I highly doubt.
I appreciate all the information you have offered us.
Judith,
i’m curious if you asked your doctor about any of the treatments you’ve tried and if they recommended any?
Years ago I had all the horrible pains in the sensations but currently I only have neuropathy and I can live with that. I have numbness from the bottoms of my feet, up to just past my waist, it has caused urinary, bowel. and sexual problems.
It is also contributing to my balance problems according to my Neuro.
Take care,
Jake

Hi Jake, There is at least some evidence for hyperbaric oxygen treatment for neuropathy pain. Not sure how many members have tried it so maybe some will share their experience with you.

-- Hyperbaric oxygen treatment attenuates neuropathic pain by elevating autophagy flux via inhibiting mTOR pathway: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5446542/

Has anyone tried any of the newer treatments for Peripheral Neuropathy such as Stem Cells, Platelet rich Plasma injection,
acoustic sound and Red Light Therapy? Realizing that all patients are different, I'm wondering on the whole if these rather new therpys have been reasonably successfuul.

Tonino

Welcome @tonino

I moved your question about treatments for peripheral neuropathy such as stem cells, platelet rich plasma injection, acoustic sound and red light therapy to this related discussion that @jakedduck1 started recently
– Platelet-rich Plasma or Intermittent pneumatic compression therapy: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/platelet-rich-plasma-or-intermittent-pneumatic-compression-therapy/

You and others might be interested in these related discussions as well:
– Does Stem Cell Therapy work for Neuropathy? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/stem-cell-therapy-for-neuropahy/
– Infrared Sauna Treatment for PN: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/infrared-sauna-treatment-for-pn

Hi Colleen. Yes I had already read most of them. Interesting that there isn't more commentary on Stem Cell, platlet rich plasma or infrared than there is. Understandably the therapies are still pretty much in their infancy and to some degree experimental but treatments also include nutrition and nitrous oxide production. My wife is in stage III and needs to do something. The traditional therapies did not work for her. Taking pills isn't working. I will continue to monitor the site. Hopefully there will be more input at some point by people who have had these newly developed treatment plans.

Hi @tonino, You mentioned that you read most of the links @colleenyoung shared with you on the stem cell treatments for neuropathy. Did you happen to see my post in the discussion - Does Stem Cell Therapy work for Neuropathy that had my notes from a 2018 meeting of the Minnesota Neuropathy Association? We had a speaker that was deep into stem cell for neuropathy research and he shared what he knew and gave us links to all of the papers which sheds a lot of light and some hope on the topic along with why it's not ready for prime time yet. As far as I've read, nothing has changed and I've yet to read a successful treatment for neuropathy other than some hope if you have diabetic neuropathy. Sorry for being so wordy...here's the link to my post in that discussion.
-- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/205651/

John, that’s very interesting (and technical). It looks like that study was ~2016/2017, and it would be interesting to hear any human trials or use. It sounds promising!

Thank you John, much appreciated. I will look it up. I agree apparently nothing has changed much as I haven' t found much of anything saying that injecting unprogrammed stem cells (from newborn umbilical cords) work to any degree. Seems like they made a big splash when they first hit the scene then nothing much since then. Its like being in a trial but we're paying for it. On the surface, the approach when combined with platelet rich plasma, nutrition and other supporting treatments makes so much sense I just need to feel that it has a reasonable chance of some success - maybe any success at this point because nothing else works. Happy to be in this group. Thanks again John.