Introduction: A Short History of Light Therapy
Three hundred years ago, Russians directed sunlight through red stained glass onto the skin to relieve back pain. It evolved slowly, due to the development of the laser and light emitting diode (LED) in the 1960’s. In 1982, veterinarian acupuncturists began using LED devices to treat soft tissue injuries in race horses. Light from these devices was pulsed on and off at specific “tissue resonance frequencies” discovered by Paul Nogier, father of ear acupuncture. Using a unique pulse test and a frequency generator, Nogier found body tissues are in resonance with specific frequencies, according to their embryologic origins.
In Search of a Device That Emits Chi
In 1999, I asked a master energy healer from China (a qigong master) if he could make the veterinary devices more effective, and he came up with a new triangular design that included red, white, and blue LED’s (the X-Light). After testing a prototype, he told us it was emitting energy similar to chi (qi, prana, ki) and could be used the same way a qigong master emits healing chi to a patient. We found most people could feel energy from the device passing through lead roofing material (chi passes through lead and does not diminish with distance, thereby defying the laws of physics). This meant treatment could be applied through casts, and clothing; and that put this product in a class by itself.
Treatment Applications
Research in light therapy shows it can be helpful in many conditions, including post-op pain, muscle spasms, bruises, burns, sprains, fractures, etc. Accelerated healing of fractures and wounds is well documented. Basic science studies show light therapy stimulates collagen formation, DNA synthesis, ATP synthesis, cell growth, cell motility, phagocytosis, protein synthesis and many other basic functions. An interesting phenomenon is that healing often occurs in a part of the body far from the treatment area.
Many dramatic responses have been reported with LED’s pulsed at Nogier’s frequencies. An 11-month-old chiropractor’s son placed both palms on a 400 degree open oven door. Therapy commenced immediately that relieved his pain and blocked the burn effect as well. A 70-year-old lady with a muscle spasm in her thigh experienced instant relief when she placed a device over the painful area (treating through her slacks). Veterinarian acupuncturists supplied us with photos of horses that had torn off hunks of skin when they ran into barbed wire fencing. With pulsed LED treatment, twice daily, the wounds healed in 20-30 percent of the normal time.
Chiropractic Applications
A chiropractor was forced to retire early after living with chronic pain from a T-12 spinal fracture for 11 years and spending $60,000 searching for relief. Sleeping between two LED blankets (propped vertically, one foot away from the body) relieved the pain overnight. A 55-year-old lawyer spent four days in bed with back pain after a fall. When he entered a chiropractor’s office he looked like a little old man, bent over, taking shuffle steps. After 30 minutes of treatment with a LED blanket, he walked normally with good posture and said the pain had been 70 percent relieved. A chiropractor in Shreveport, LA, says that pre-treating patients with a pulsed LED blanket helps his adjustments hold better.
Summary
Light therapy has many possible applications, both at home as a “first aid kit” and in the doctor’s office. Expensive coherent (laser) light is not needed to achieve therapeutic effects. Pulsing light on and off improves effectiveness, and pulsing at Nogier’s tissue resonance frequencies seems to produce the best results.
Dr. McGee can be reached at 2385 W. Bolivar Ave., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815. For more information, call 888-369-1396 or e-mail [email protected].