If you are living with nerve pain, tingling, or numbness in your hands or feet after chemotherapy, you are not alone.
Up to 30% of people with cancer experience what is known as chemotherapy-induced neuropathy six months after treatment. While it may sound surprising, a growing number of survivors are finding relief through an unexpected source: dancing the Argentine tango.
This gentle, partner-based dance isn’t about flashy moves. It is about improving balance, increasing circulation, and reconnecting with your body in a way that feels safe, supportive, and even enjoyable. And yes, you can try it even if you aren’t an experienced dancer.
You get the skill training with the tango
because you are getting
all that balance training just implicitly
and then you have also got the music.
There are some really cool neural phenomena
that music invokes
that we think help the body
get more bang for the buck
when you move to music,
and you can do it with a loved one.
said Lise Worthen-Chaudhari, PhD, MFA, a scientist with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and College of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
She is helping some breast cancer survivors find relief from chemotherapy-induced neuropathy through dancing the Argentine tango. She is conducting a clinical study to document how the nervous system adapts in response to the dance therapy.
Neuropathy commonly damages the nerves in the hands and feet, which can cause numbness, burning, and loss of feeling. It is a much more common side-effect of the taxane-based chemotherapies used to treat breast cancers. This can cause balance issues and put people living with cancer at greater risk for falls.
We want people to leave feeling good
about their cancer survivorship
and not have to worry
about a grandchild tackling them
or a college buddy coming up
and giving them a big hug
and knocking them off balance.
We definitely see instances
where people end up in the ER
from a fall because of that exact thing,
… Dr. Worthen-Chaudhari
One Patient’s Experience
Aimee Kain, a breast cancer survivor and participant in the study, said that her neuropathy “came and went.” She was directed to the study after she marked “yes” on a questionnaire asking if she would be interested in participating in a clinical trial.
I received a call
because I had spoken to my physician
about my neuropathy side-effects.
Somewhere along the line,
I am assuming that it indicated me
as a ‘yes’ to the study.”
What the tango Interaction did for me
was
it helped increase the circulation.
It was learning dance
but using your brain
to think about where your feet need to go.
Kain acknowledged that, while the brain always thinks about each step, the tango requires an extra level of concentration because you have a partner and the movement relies on what you are feeling in your toes and the balls of your feet. She said the classes started with the fundamentals of dance and progressed from there.
We would go over individually
what those steps were,
what the premise of the step was,
how you would partner dance,
the space between you and your partner,
letting the partner lead versus being led,
and just those kinds of fundamentals
of a partner dance.
Once we got those down,
then we would move on to the next
and incorporate those
depending on your skill level.
The Benefits This Study Showed
Last year, Dr. Worthen-Chaudhari and her colleagues reported on a two-year pilot study of this program with 52 participants, which found that just 20 minutes of social dance a few times a week improved the ability to move and think at the same time when compared to home exercise. A five-year study is now underway with 140 participants to truly assess if dancing the tango can improve both movement and cognitive functions.
When asked if this type of therapy could potentially be applied to other dances, Dr. Worthen-Chaudhari said the key is that the rhythm needs be about 120 beats per minute because it creates a neural phenomenon called “entrainment,” in which two or more oscillating systems, such as brainwaves or behaviors, align.
The tango has this type of rhythm, as does line dancing (which Kain also does), but many others do not quite have it.
Salsa is a little bit faster than 120 beats
and then the waltz is a little bit slower.
I think that they both could work,
but they are probably not in that sweet spot
to activate that entrainment neural phenomenon.
The five-year study is projected to end in 2029 and, if it is successful, Dr. Worthen-Chaudhari has plans to help this type of therapy increase nationally.
If you want to be involved in the study, she recommends emailing [email protected].
What You Can Do Right Now
If you live too far away
or you just want to do it on your own,
I would find a local dance studio,
check out the instructors,
see if it is a good vibe,
and try to join some sort of ballroom survey,
something that will get you going.
Even if dancing the tango – or dancing at all – makes you uncomfortable, Kain recommends giving it a try, just to see if it helps your neuropathy.
There is no obligation whatsoever,
so give it a try.
You never know
what could be the thing
that is going to make you feel better,
and that is what we are all looking for,
some normalcy.
And music has been found
to trigger all kinds of things for people.
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