Forum Discussion
Ice Therapy Success - No Peripheral Neuropathy, All Nails Intact & No Mouth Sores
I have just finished 12 weeks of Paclitaxel without dose reduction. I am very happy to report that I have no peripheral neuropathy, my finger and toe nails are undamaged and I have no mouth sores.
It is thanks to the information on this website about ice therapy (cryotherapy), and in particular to the generous advice of @shs14, that I finished this chemo last week relatively successfully.
I decided to write all the information in one place as it may be helpful to others considering ice therapy.
Upfront I should say that you will need a helper to implement this and that at times it can be a little painful. My incredible twin brother, Tom, came up from Launceston and looked after me for 5 months - 4 x fortnightly DD - AC and 12 x weekly Paclitaxel. He's my hero.
Equipment:
1. Booties: I bought 2 x pairs of NatraCure Cold Therapy Socks on Ebay. These were a little expensive and from the US, but I found them effective. I used them for my feet and hands. (I read that other women have improvised, wearing regular socks and purple nurses' gloves directly into the ice).
2. Buckets: I bought 2 rectangular clear plastic boxes from Bunnings - they had lids, but not needed. They need to be wide enough to fit your feet and hands.
3. Ice: Every week we visited the bottle shop near the Kinghorn cancer centre, Darlinghurst, and bought 2 big bags of ice. These were carried, unopened, in a supermarket "chiller bag" until needed. Although the Kinghorn centre does have an ice machine, the amount of ice was unreliable.
I also used ice bricks on top of everything in the buckets - 2 for each bucket.
4. Socks and gloves: I wore cotton socks and used the purple nurses' gloves from the clinic. I brought a pair of woolly socks and knitted gloves to wear after ice therapy as my hands and feet were very cold.
5. Towels and a bath mat: the ice box for my feet was placed on a bath mat so that it didn't slip and the floor didn't become slippery. On my lap I placed a doubled over bath towel on which we placed the ice bucket for my hands.
6. Blanket and Cardigan: During the 5 months of chemotherapy I generally felt colder than normal. I used a a white blanket available at the clinic and always wore a cardigan during treatment.
Process:
1. The night before chemo I placed the booties with their gel packs in the freezer. It is very important that the booties are completely dry when they go into the freezer otherwise it's difficult to put them on.
2. The nurses got used to us, and by week 3 we were a well-oiled team setting it up and not getting in the way of medical staff.
3. You need to start the ice treatment 10 - 15 minutes prior to the taxol infusion. Tom would empty half a bag of ice in a bucket, then I placed my feet in the booties, then on the ice. Tom tipped in the remainder of the ice bag on top of my bootied feet so they were completely covered. A similar procedure was done for the hands.
(See attached photos).
The first and last ten minutes were sometimes difficult - icy pain. But I rarely took my feet and hands out of the ice during the entire 90 minutes.
4. My brother also popped ice cubes into my mouth during the whole time. I had no mouth sores whatsoever.
5. I did not wear dark nail polish. However, during the entire 5 months I applied a nail strengthener Revitanail. Starting with 2 coats on the first application, then adding another coat daily. I removed it the night before chemo and reapplied immediately, following the same procedure for the following week.
Although the studies on cryotherapy have been small and many medical professionals are not convinced, my own experience was positive and I am grateful to have avoided nerve damage and mouth sores and to have all my nails. Happy to answer any questions you may have.
24 Replies
- Hi all @Hils I am sorry you have had a bad reaction. I agree with @ddon that ice may not have prevented what you are going through. I hope your onc can do something so you don’t go through it again. It’s not too late to start with the ice. I would just grab a bag of party ice and take a couple of containers for your hands and feet. Look after yourself. Xx@Caz1 I hope you are recovering well. Take care x
- Hi gals I did the icing too, @Mazbeth I used the Natracure ice socks too. My lovely Oncol nurses gave me some iced gloves from their freezer too, which made it easier for me.
It was hard and uncomfortable but totally worth it, no nerve damage for me. Get the word out!
Ok, does anyone want my Natracure socks? They come with little ice packs. I can post them to anyone, pm me if you do. I’m currently in hospital post mastectomy but will be able to post them by the end of the week when I’m home. Hopefully will never need those things again! :)
Caz x - I think what you’re experiencing is not the the norm for paclitaxel. Even icing your hands and feet wouldn’t have helped with what you’re going thru I would guess - it sounds very extreme. No one ices where I am - the nurses are quite mystified when I walk in with my esky and bind up my hands and feet in ice packs. Still, I haven’t heard of anyone having such a severe reaction, especially after one dose. Please talk with your oncologist before you have another dose.
- Ok so here I am seven days after my first treatment and so so sorry I didn't use ice packs. The nurse told me not to worry just cut your nails and put hardener on my nails. I was too scared to go to the shops to see if I could get some ice packs. :( I've been crying with the pain in my hands for days. Cant feel the tips of my fingers and my hands are red and feel like I've had them cooked in the oven! My feet are better but the heels and big toe were painful so couldn't walk properly. This is going to kill me before the cancer! I had to use ice packs to cool the skin down 24 7, its eased in the last two days and now my skin is peeling off. I rang the Dr last week when it started happening and he put me on Lyric for the nerve pain and Endone for pain. To make matters worse straight away I broke out in spots/ sores on my legs arms and chest, look like I've got chicken pox! Im seeing him next week and I hope he will change me to something better. Luckily now I have been in contact with a lady that I met at a therapy meeting and shes going to give me mits and cold packs that she used. Im definitely not going through this again. :(
- Thanks for the great post @Gavroche my friend xx
So great to see increasing resources and information about this simple therapy on this board. I'm a great believer and its so good to hear the positive stories. Mine was one too. The one time I didn't have perfect cold on my hands I had immediate adverse effects, tender and discoloured nails and numbness in my fingertips.
They have recovered now luckily.
@Mazbeth your setup is how I finished with my cold therapy and the one I recommend. latex gloves and ice bowl and Natracure ice socks.
@hils the ice socks are great, use the latex gloves and take a bag of ice and the bodichek ice packs are good backup for feet. Good luck with it! - Hello @Mazbeth, and @poodlejulesThanks so much for the pix and comments. As fussy as this treatment is, it seems to be very effective for some people. I wonder why it's not promoted more?Best of luck for the rest of your treatment @Mazbeth.xx
- Great job @Gavroche ! And thanks for putting up your photos , I never thought to take pics when I did it but I had nearly the same routine only minus the socks (very cute ones I might add) and booties , ( I used plastic shopping bags tied around my legs) and I took everything out of the ice for the saline flushes.
You did a mighty job to keep them in for 90 mins , I used to watch the clock and even count down the drips 'til I could take them out. I had great success too and a lot of the nurses at Peter Mac were intrigued and encouraged by my routine . Peter Mac had only recently opened so had ice machines in the staff breakout rooms which they let me use. On my 12th and last dose, we were setting up and realised that the ice machine was broken. I went into a bit of a panic and the nurses assured me I'd be fine but my husband found a working machine on the next floor. Phew.
Big hugs to your brother ! I too couldn't have done it without my husband and my friends who took it turns to be my 'ice assistant'. And if I were you @ddon I would ask the nurses for their help in getting you set up if they have ice machines in the building. Best of luck to you too @Hils , ask for help from the nurses , surely they must be more sympathetic with this whole virus situation and hopefully willing to provide more support seeing your support person can't be there ? And remember to go to the loo before you get set up ! :)
Thanks for pics too @Mazbeth , good luck with the rest of your chemo and stay well x - Hi everyone I am doing taxol at the moment and I am doing the cooling. I bought the socks and whilst they are great, they don’t stay cold for the whole time. I will attach a couple of pics of what I do. I put the gel socks on and then put my feet on separate gel packs which makes sure my feet stay cold. However I really think that putting your feet in ice is just as effective. You will just need to top up the ice. I actually had to make do last treatment as I forgot to freeze all my packs. 😞 I put my feet in my socks then little plastic bags to stop it being too uncomfortable. It’s a real DIY process, but I think absolutely worth doing. I have a big container for my feet - I have not got a pic. The last pic is the gel packs I got from OS and they last the whole time and I only use them for my feet . The nurses have been fantastic and give me loads of support . Good luck
- Just been looking up those feet cooler socks with gel inserts. Its going to cost $40.00 just for the feet! Do you think these socks with gel inserts will be enough cooling? Wondering if its worth it without the ice?
