Cancer Research, Cannabis, Neurological Disorders, Pain Research / 16.04.2025
Another Option for Cancer Survivors Who Struggle With Neuropathy
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You fight through the appointments, the scans, the treatments, and then—when it’s supposed to be over—your body still feels off. For many cancer survivors, especially those who went through chemotherapy, neuropathy doesn’t just fade away. Sometimes it lingers, sometimes it gets worse, and sometimes it shows up in ways that completely change how you move. If you’re dealing with drop foot or numbness, burning, or pain in your feet, you’re not imagining it. You’re not alone. And while it’s incredibly frustrating, there are real things that can help.
Understanding What’s Happening To Your Feet
Post-cancer neuropathy isn’t just annoying—it can be debilitating. It usually starts because certain chemo drugs damage the nerves, especially in your hands and feet. This damage can mess with how your muscles and nerves talk to each other. So when your brain says “lift your foot,” your body doesn’t always get the message right.
Drop foot is one of the more obvious results of that disconnect. It feels like your foot is dragging or slapping the ground when you walk. You might start tripping more, feel unsteady, or start avoiding certain shoes altogether. For others, the issue isn’t how the foot moves but how it feels—like walking on pins and needles, or not feeling it at all. Both are forms of neuropathy, and both can stick around long after treatment ends.
The tricky part is that this isn’t something you can just walk off. It’s not about needing to stretch more or push harder. These symptoms come from actual nerve damage, which doesn’t always heal quickly—or fully.
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Chiropractic care offers a minimally invasive solution to musculoskeletal issues. Back, neck, and joint pain are some reasons people turn to chiropractic care. Through the alignment of the spinal column, the care promotes overall health. Repeating the treatments increase the function in the body and reduce the use of medication.
Beyond pain reduction, chiropractic care also ensures overall health by aiding nervous function. A well-aligned spinal column provides good communication between the body and the brain. A misaligned spinal column, in contrast, squishes the nervous tissues, resulting in discomfort and less function. Through the maintenance in spinal health, most people feel improved rest, improved digestive function, and improved energy.
One of the most powerful chiropractic treatments lies in the body's ability to heal from illness if only given the support necessary. Rather than simply masking the symptom through medication, this integrated approach targets the root cause of the discomfort. Patients typically suffer from less frequent and less painful episodes if proper care is administered. This makes the operation appealing to individuals who desire long-term remedy and who want to eliminate surgical intervention.
Most news stories tend to focus on how drugs and the opioid epidemic are impacting people in their teens and early adulthood. However, I can tell you from personal experience, that there are a lot of older adults who are also abusing drugs alcohol at record rates. This is borne out at our family’s drug treatment program which I founded and run in San Diego, California.
You may be surprised to hear that the rates of opioid overdose in the U.S. have increased the most among people ages 65 and up (from 2021 to 2022) and that older adults have seen the greatest increase in cannabis use in Canada. One thing you also may not realize is that older adults have the highest recovery rates of all age groups.
