Footbath meridian therapy for post-chemotherapy peripheral neuritis

  Chinese medicine believes that the foot is the beginning of the three yin meridians (liver, spleen, kidney), the end of the three yang meridians (stomach, gallbladder, bladder), many points of the six meridians of the foot are located in the foot, the human body 12 meridians directly or indirectly have contact with the foot, and there are more than 60 points below the ankle and the five viscera and six internal organs have close contact. Therefore, the foot and the internal organs, meridians, qi and blood have a close connection, the foot and the whole body yin and yang qi and blood have a close relationship, through the foot bath can adjust the function of the foot three yin and three yang meridians, improve the foot meridians qi and blood flow, so that the foot meridians smooth. Modern medical practice also confirms that the Chinese medicine foot bath, heat, massage, water pressure, drug ion movement and other benign stimulation together on the foot, can stimulate the body’s own regulatory functions, promote the body’s immunity, so as to achieve the effect of regulating the metabolism of the internal organs and disease prevention.  The thermal effect will cause the capillaries of the skin to expand, the microcirculation of blood to accelerate, and the peripheral circulation blood flow to increase, so that the original unopened microcirculation can be opened, bringing more necessary substances needed for nerve growth and promoting the repair of peripheral damaged nerves. Chemotherapeutic drugs such as platinum, vincristine, paclitaxel and doxorubicin are prone to cause neurotoxicity and damage to the peripheral nervous system, which on the one hand affects patients’ quality of life, and on the other hand leads to patients’ inability to adhere to systematic treatment and affects their survival. Western medicine is mainly based on the principle of improving neurometabolism and nerve nutrition, but the clinical efficacy is not certain. Peripheral neuritis belongs to the category of paralysis and impotence in ancestral medicine, with Yang deficiency and cold condensation, stagnation of Qi and blood, and inaccessibility of the ligaments as the main evidence.  According to the patient’s symptoms, the foot bath herbal medicine combination is more effective in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuritis. It can not only improve the symptoms effectively, but also adjust the systemic function, stop the further deterioration of the disease, and greatly improve the quality of life of patients.