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Does acupuncture help saliva glands damaged from radiation?
I had cancer in soft palate of mouth and left tonsil and it went to lymph node on left side of neck received chemo and radiation been done with treatment for year and a half having trouble with dry mouth and my taste still i heard that people have had acupuncture that has helped has anyone tried this and how many sessions did it take and how do I find the right place for acupuncture thanks
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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 @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.
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1 ReactionHi @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 @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!