Does acupuncture help saliva glands damaged from radiation?

My husband had chemo and radiation for throat cancer. He is 1 year out and has not had taste buds or good saliva ever since but a friend whose wife is a chef for cancer patients said her experience is that putting fresh ginger on your tongue can help bring back taste buds and saliva. Guess what? It has been working for my husband for the last 3 days!!! He is elated that he can use the ginger before eating and food tastes good again! I bought fresh ginger and cut little round slices and he holds one in his mouth on his tongue, spits it out, and then he can taste his meals. It's crazy! We understand that it might not work for everyone, and it might not last, and some people won't try it because it's a pretty strong feeling in your mouth. His mouth is less dry too. Just 2 weeks ago the oncologist said that after a year he would never get more taste bud action. But he HAS with the ginger. We are hopeful and wanted to share.

@roblem I would also love to try this. I am in Canada...Toronto. if I find anything I will pass on to you.
Bless you.

Hi @roblem, That sounds like the treatment my husband had. He did not have surgery either. My husband tried the regular acupuncture and did not see a difference at all. I am going to do some research on Electrical Stimulation Acupuncture to see if they offer it where we live in Canada. I am so pleased that you had such good results with it. Thank you very much for the information, it is so good to talk to people that have been through the same thing as he has and have recovered as well as you have!

Hi @lnelsonj,

I had 35 rounds (7weeks) of Photon radiation for a total of 70Gy and 3 rounds of cisplatin chemo for tonsil cancer back in 2008 but no surgery and to help with the brutal dry mouth tried ELECTRICAL STIMULATION Acupuncture in 2015 which was offered at my cancer clinic for head & neck cancer patients. I was tested to get a baseline and retested after 8-10 appts. and had great results. Never needed to go back and to this day 10 yrs. later dry mouth is a non-issue and I don't have to carry a water bottle with me either. I also slept with a bottle of water next to me and got a Humidifier on my end table to make sure there was the most moisture possible in my bedroom to help get some sleep.

I got this from my other cancer group SPOHNC and it mention AQUAx2 which is a clinical research study for people with moderate/ severe dry mouth (xerostomia) caused by radiation therapy purpose is to assess the efficacy and safety of "gene transfer" study drug called AAV2-hAQP1.

Hi @sepdvm, I appreciate hearing from you. So far my husband has tried biotene spray, pilocarpine 5 MG two tabs 3 times daily, and akabutu's mouthwash (which may only be available in Canada). He had 3 sessions of acupuncture last week which did not help. After seeing his oncologist yesterday he started the Xylimelts and he's now going to be referred to an oral cancer specialist who deals with dry mouth. His oncologist is also referring him for hyperbaric therapy which we are hoping our Canadian healthcare will cover. I will post any updates from these referrals. Thanks again for reaching out.

Hello @lnelsonj, I hope you get a response about the acupuncture. I also have a very dry mouth from surgery, radiation to neck. I use Xylimelts every night as well as a cool mist ultrasonic nebulizer beside the bed. I use biotene gel or spray as needed and they make lozenges also. Keeping your hydration up is so important, and electrolytes are sometimes better than just water. what has your husband tried so far?

Hi There,
I realize that you posted this over a year ago but am hoping you still are active on this forum. Did the hyperbaric treatment help specifically with your dry mouth? My husband is suffering greatly from this and we are looking for anything that might help.

I had chemo radiation for left tonsil cancer back in 2008 and tried electrical stimulation acupuncture in 2015 where I was tested to get a baseline and retested after 8-10 appts. and had great results. Never needed to go back.

Great. And I see you posted a discussion which should get you some information in the next few days.
HPV 16+ subgroup appears to be a cancer most successfully resolved, some have done it with drugs instead of radiation. Of course that depends on specific cases. If radiation is on the menu then I hope he has a chance to heal well from the surgery prior to being blasted.
Anyway thanks for the info and good luck. I and others will be monitoring your progress.

It was squamous cell carcinoma. HPV 16+. One of his big issues besides not being able to swallow is the foamy saliva. He can spit and spit and it's just always there. No break. So far no radiation but we meet with radiation oncologist next week. No chemo.
Some things I have read indicate dry mouth is the culprit so I've gotten a couple of mouth moistening sprays and we are weaning him back on the hydrocodone to see if that helps any. Thanks!