LED (light emitting diode) therapy for body healing got its start accidentally in the 1960s when Russians and Czechs attempted to standardize colors by isolating them for use in color therapy experiments. They used light to separate their colors and found that the isolated light frequencies could heal damaged cells and tissue. Since then, the technique has been refined and is used to heal many conditions.
What is LED Therapy?
LED therapy is sometimes called "red light" therapy since red is the color frequency that most closely matches the resonant frequency of body tissue. According to the Consumer Health Organization of Canada, LED therapy stimulates acupressure points as well as enters the bloodstream. Placing the light at the belly button will cause it to get to all parts of the body since every drop of blood passes by that point within 20 minutes. A treatment consists of spending varying amounts of time under large banks of lights or with a small machine that is moved over the body. Some practitioners use pulsating light and some do not. Pulsating light allows cells to do more of their own work in healing.
Wound Healing
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has used LED for body healing in space. Minor wounds are more serious in space and previously did not begin to heal until a wounded astronaut was back on Earth. LED was used successfully to manage wounds in space that would not have healed otherwise. The Food and Drug Administration approved a hand-held device for Navy SEALs and forces in Iraq have used LED for wound healing with dramatic effects. LED stimulates blood flow and boosts cell energy and healing power. Wounds may eventually heal on their own but with LED, they heal much faster. LED is used widely in long-term care situations.
Other Conditions
Diabetic neuropathy is a complication of diabetes in which tiny nerve endings are damaged, leading to loss of sensation, usually in the hands and feet. In extreme cases, neuropathy necessitates amputation. LED lights stimulate blood flow and regrowth of nerve endings. California endocrinologist Dr. Joseph Prendergast offers his patients with diabetic neuropathy 10 sessions of LED therapy, lasting 40 minutes each. He says 95 percent of them experience a return in sensation to some degree. "Nearly two-thirds are completely back to normal." An annoying and painful complication of chemotherapy is mucositis, a condition in which the gastrointestinal tract becomes inflamed forming painful sores in the mouth and throat. At Medical College of Wisconsin, patients receiving daily LED therapy saw a drop from the expected 70 to 90 percent rate of mucositis to 58 percent.
Tags: blood flow, body healing, nerve endings