Radiation Therapy & Neuropathy (Nerve Damage) what can be done for relief

A side effect of cancer treatments
What is it? What can be done for relief?

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Radiology is defined as the use of radiation and imaging technology to diagnose and treat disease. CT scans, X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, and bone scans all fall into the category of radiology.

Supposedly, these types of radiology does not hurt the nerves, however, it is believed by many physicians that CT scans can cause nerve damage.

Cancer Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy, also called radiation oncology, or radiotherapy and by the abbreviations XRT and DXT. It is ionizing radiation which works by damaging the DNA of exposed tissue leading to cellular death. During cancer radiation therapy, the machine is using high energy beams and the body is exposed to high levels of radiation. These high levels of radiation are meant to damage cancer cells eventually destroying them – unfortunately – both healthy and cancerous cells get destroyed. These radiation treatments can injure the nerves. The effects of this can be delayed for many years. Radiation close to a nerve can increase the chances of damage.

Symptoms of Radiation Induced Nerve Damage

When just the ends of nerves (the “periphery”) are affected, this is called peripheral neuropathy.

Damaged sensory nerves do not accurately “sense” heat, cold, pressure, pain and body position. When these nerve endings are damaged, a burning sensation is often experienced.

Damaged motor nerves do not accurately tell muscles to contract and move. This is sometimes referred to as muscle/nerve damage. In these situations, the motor nerve is damaged which can lead to the muscles being weak or non-responsive. It can make the person off balance. Situations like this can start a year after the treatment is stopped. Inability to walk is often reported.

The nerve damage from radiation can cause facial drooping, loss of hearing, erectile dysfunction, infertility, and pain as well as mobility issues. It can also cause ‘drop foot’ a leg became weaker so that it can only lifted and inch or so off the floor. Nerve damage can happen anywhere in the body and the types of problems will come from the nerves that are damaged.

What can be done to get relief from nerve damage?

Treatments for Neuropathy

There are many medications, and other remedies that can bring you relief, you can read about them in this article Neuropathy Treatments

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What can you do?

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Lasting Relief

None of the various neuropathy treatments will build healthy nerves. You can cover up the symptoms and you can increase circulation and you can make a person feel less pain, etc., but if you build healthy nerves, there will not be any symptoms (healthy nerves don’t hurt, tingle, burn, are not numb, etc.) and the relief will be lasting.

Building Healthy Nerves*

Healthy sensory nerves mean that they are not painful. Healthy nerves means that they communicate and don’t send wrong signals such as burning, hot and cold, tingling when there is no reason for it. Healthy motor nerves mean that they relay messages from the brain to the muscle so that they move correctly. Nerves need to be healthy to function properly.

The body needs specific nutrients (vitamins) to be able to build healthy nerves.

It may not give immediate relief (although many do feel changes in the first week) as the vitamins are working at a cellular level, but it does address the actual problem, builds healthy nerves and brings lasting relief.

(For temporary relief while building healthy nerves, go to Pain Relief Formula)

What can be done for lasting relief?

Find out how to Build Healthy Nerves

*Studies & Research on Nerve Health

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