Have you noticed a burning, searing, or painful sensation in your nerves after receiving chemotherapy (chemo)? This is known as neuropathic pain (nerve pain), and it can significantly reduce your quality of life. Scrambler therapy is an electrical stimulation therapy that’s safe and effective for treating nerve pain.

In this article, we’ll dive into the different causes of nerve pain with lung cancer and how scrambler therapy can help. If you’re interested in learning more about this treatment, talk to your health care provider or oncologist (cancer specialist).

1. Neuropathic Pain Affects People With Lung Cancer

Neuropathic pain is a type of pain that affects your nervous system. Your nervous system has two parts — central and peripheral. Your central nervous system includes your brain and spinal cord. Your peripheral nervous system includes all other nerves throughout your body.

People with lung cancer can develop nerve pain for several reasons. Surgery, radiation therapy, cancer medications, and inflammation can all damage your nerves. To help, your doctor may prescribe certain medications. Some antidepressants, like duloxetine (Cymbalta), work for treating chronic neuropathic pain from chemotherapy. Anti-seizure medications like gabapentin also work for some people.

Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy

Chemotherapy is one of the mainstays of lung cancer treatment. It uses toxic chemicals to kill rapidly dividing cells — like cancer cells. However, chemotherapy drugs can also damage your nerves. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a condition diagnosed when chemotherapy harms the peripheral nerves, which are found in your arms, hands, legs, and feet.

Certain chemotherapy drugs for lung cancer are more likely to cause CIPN, such as:

• Carboplatin
• Cisplatin
• Docetaxel
• Paclitaxel
• Vincristine
• Vinorelbine

Nerve Damage After Lung Cancer Surgery

Surgery is commonly used to remove lung tumors and portions of the lung. Some MyLungCancerTeam members have found that they’re still experiencing nerve pain after their procedure.

One member wrote, “I had a lobectomy via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in August 2022. I’m getting really sharp stabbing pains in my ribs that seem to be getting more painful, not less. Sitting up for long periods seems to make it worse. I’m wondering if anyone else has had this experience?”

You may have neuropathic pain after lung cancer surgery if a nerve was damaged during the procedure. The pain tends to occur along the surgical scar. Most people notice that their pain goes away within a few years of their surgery.

Paraneoplastic Syndromes

Some people with lung cancer develop paraneoplastic syndromes. These occur when the immune system reacts to a tumor and attacks healthy cells. In some cases, the immune system mistakenly attacks the nerve cells, causing neuropathy and pain. According to Cleveland Clinic, paraneoplastic syndromes develop in 8 percent to 20 percent of those living with cancer.

2. Many Health Conditions Can Cause Nerve Pain

Outside of lung cancer, other health conditions can also lead to nerve pain.

For example, diabetes is a disease that causes high blood sugar levels. The extra sugar in your bloodstream can damage your nerves, leading to a condition known as diabetic neuropathy. People with diabetic neuropathy experience sharp pains, tingling, or numbness in their hands, legs, and feet.

Other conditions known to cause neuropathy and nerve pain include:

• Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis
• Hypothyroidism, which causes low thyroid hormone levels
• Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Kidney problems
• Genetic conditions that affect the nerves

Consuming too much alcohol can also cause nerve pain to develop.

3. Scrambler Therapy Is FDA-Approved for Nerve Pain

Scrambler therapy uses electrical stimulation to treat neuropathic pain. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the treatment in 2009 for people with neuropathic and chronic pain. Doctors use scrambler therapy to mix, or “scramble,” pain signals and reduce the sensations being sent to the brain.

At your appointment, a provider will place electrodes with sticky patches on areas of skin above and below the location of your nerve pain. The electrodes are attached to a scrambler machine.

When the machine is turned on, you’ll feel a nonpainful sensation from the electrical current. According to a 2023 review in The New England Journal of Medicine, people have described this feeling as skin tingling or as though they’re being bitten by electric ants. The sensation interferes with pain signals being sent in your nerves and scrambles them. The provider will keep increasing the electrical current until you can’t feel your nerve pain. A session typically lasts from 30 to 40 minutes.

The overall goal of scrambler therapy is to relieve your nerve pain, numbness, or tingling from neuropathy. If your symptoms don’t improve, you can have another round of treatment. Your provider will place the electrodes in different places or increase the electrical current used.

4. Research Shows Scrambler Therapy Is Effective for CIPN

Small reports have found that scrambler therapy effectively treats pain from CIPN. One 2020 study with 50 participants compared scrambler therapy to another nerve treatment known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).

After two weeks of treatments, twice as many people treated with scrambler therapy experienced improvements in pain, numbness, and tingling compared with TENS. Scrambler therapy also improved quality of life and neuropathy scores more than TENS.

Clinical trials have also reported that scrambler therapy works well for nerve pain that doesn’t respond to other treatments. In a 2011 trial, 52 people with untreatable neuropathic pain experienced a 91 percent reduction in symptoms. Scrambler therapy relieved their symptoms for at least three months. The participants also used fewer pain relievers and opioid medications after their treatment.

5. You’ll See a Trained Professional for Scrambler Therapy

In the United States, the FDA requires that scrambler therapy be given by a qualified doctor or a trained health care worker under the guidance of a doctor. You can’t perform this treatment at home. Your oncologist can refer you to a specialist who offers scrambler therapy at a pain management or palliative care center.

6. Scrambler Therapy Has Few Side Effects

Studies show that scrambler therapy is associated with very few side effects. One systematic 2023 review found that of 1,152 people treated with scrambler therapy, three had complications — two had a skin reaction (contact dermatitis) to the treatment and the other had minor bruising. No serious side effects were reported.

Since scrambler therapy uses electrical currents, you can’t receive treatment if you have any of the following:

• A defibrillator
• An implanted pacemaker
• A nerve stimulator in a peripheral nerve or your spinal cord
• A seizure disorder such as uncontrolled epilepsy

Be sure to let your doctor know if you have any of these devices or conditions before you start treatment.

Talk With Others Who Understand

On MyLungCancerTeam, the social network for people with lung cancer and their loved ones, more than 12,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with lung cancer.

Have you had scrambler therapy to treat your nerve pain from chemotherapy or other lung cancer treatment? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.