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Has your hand ever felt numb? Have you ever felt tingling in your fingers? You probably thought it wasn't a big deal, and in many cases, it's not. But, those could potentially be signs of something serious going on in your body.
Neuropathy is the damage of one or more nerves in your body, which usually results in tingling, numbness, or weakness, and pain of the affected area. Neuropathies typically start in your hands and feet but can affect other areas of the body as well. These symptoms typically indicate a problem within the peripheral nervous system.
Symptoms include:
And these are only a few of the symptoms. But what makes these symptoms occur? How does neuropathy work?
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The peripheral nervous system is a web of nerves outside your brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). These two systems work together to control your body. The peripheral nervous system lays down the foundation for signals to travel throughout the body from your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
When neuropathy occurs, it essentially signifies the damage of nerve cells, called neurons. When neurons are damaged or destroyed, it affects how your body communicates. Neuropathy can affect a specific nerve or multiple nerves throughout the body, affecting your senses, motor skills, or body functions.
Neuropathy is extremely common, as it's believed between 25 to 30% of Americans alone are affected by neuropathy. The causes vary from autoimmune disorders and infections to trauma or diabetes (the most common). While the symptoms can range from mild to severe, such as sharp jabbing pains, or paralysis, there are ways to reduce these symptoms and regain control of your body.
Neuropathy led light therapy
Typically, the treatment for neuropathy doesn't treat the root issues; rather, they focus on the symptoms. However, light therapy does both. So, how does light therapy help neuropathy? Red light therapy uses the power of light to penetrate through the skin, stimulating cellular energy. In return, the body increases circulation, reduces inflammation, and provides pain relief to the areas applied. By increasing circulation, blood flow returns to normal, and symptoms reduce. One study found that red light therapy treatment improves cellular energy, allowing for quicker healing and results. Another study discovered that red light therapy reduces pain hypersensitivity and improves sensorimotor function for those with a mild spinal cord injury.
Those experiencing neuropathy can treat themselves using non-invasive and non-pharmacological methods through red light therapy. Instead, simply using red light therapy can reduce and eliminate painful and uncomfortable symptoms from neuropathy.
Luckily, Kaiyan Medical produces MDSAP-certified and FDA-approved light therapy products and devices for your own at-home treatment or even for your patients. We've worked hard to provide solutions for both patients and healthcare practitioners, catering to various needs. Whether you're looking to private label your own light therapy devices or for home use, contact our team, as we would love to help you through your light therapy journey.
Imagine that the movement of a single hair on your arm causes severe pain. For patients with neuropathic pain — a chronic illness affecting 7 to 8% of the European population, with no effective treatment — this can be a daily reality.
Scientists from EMBL Rome have now identified a special population of nerve cells in the skin that are responsible for sensitivity to gentle touch. These are also the cells that cause severe pain in patients with neuropathic pain. The research team, led by EMBL group leader Paul Heppenstall, developed a light-sensitive chemical that selectively binds to this nerve cell type. By first injecting the affected skin area with the chemical and then illuminating it with near-infrared light, the targeted nerve cells retract from the skin’s surface, leading to pain relief. Nature Communications publishes the results on 24 April 2018.
The Spicy Effect
By clipping off the nerve endings with light, the gentle touch that can cause severe pain in neuropathic patients is no longer felt. “It’s like eating a strong pepper, which burns the nerve endings in your mouth and desensitizes them for some time,” says Heppenstall. “The nice thing about our technique is that we can specifically target the small subgroup of neurons, causing neuropathic pain.”
There are many different nerve cells in your skin, which make you feel specific sensations like vibration, cold, heat, or normal pain. These cells are not affected by the light treatment at all. The skin is only desensitized to the gentlest touch, like a breeze, tickling, or an insect crawling across your skin.
Illumination vs. Drugs
Previous attempts to develop drugs to treat neuropathic pain have mostly focused on targeting single molecules. “We think, however, that there’s not one single molecule responsible. There are many,” Heppenstall explains. “You might be able to succeed in blocking one or a couple, but others would take over the same function eventually. With our new illumination method, we avoid this problem altogether.”
Touch and pain were assessed by measuring reflexes in mice affected by neuropathic pain in their limbs. Affected mice will normally quickly withdraw their paw when it is gently touched. After the light therapy, however, they exhibited normal reflexes upon gentle touch. The therapy's effect lasts for a few weeks, after which the nerve endings grow back, and gentle touch causes pain again.
The team also investigated human skin tissue. The tissue's overall makeup and the specifics of the neurons of interest appear to be similar, indicating that the method might be effective in managing neuropathic pain in humans. “In the end, we aim to solve the problem of pain in both humans and animals,” says Heppenstall. “Of course, a lot of work needs to be done before we can do a similar study in people with neuropathic pain. That’s why we’re now actively looking for partners and are open for new collaborations to develop this method further, with the hope of one day using it in the clinic.”
Chronic nonspecific back pain (CNBP) is a common and cost-intensive musculoskeletal syndrome in Western society. This condition is the most common cause of disability in North America, and it accounts for 64% of new consultations at this pain clinic. It has a lifetime prevalence of up to 80%, and for example, in low back pain, high rates of repeated occurrence have been reported. The mechanisms underlying CNBP are manifold: Mechanical reasons are not the sole triggers, as it was demonstrated that 85% of all CNBP cases show no morphologic causes. There is international consensus that comorbidities such as mood and anxiety disorders are associated with higher levels of perceived pain, and psychosocial mechanisms are essential in the chronification of pain. Patients suffering from depression with comorbid pain show longer times to remission. Psychosocial factors such as avoidance behavior and anxiety are closely connected to depression. They are evidently more accurate predictors for the development of chronic pain compared with biographical or somatic determinants. It has been reported that 60% of chronic pain patients show manifest symptoms of depression. The prevalence of depression is three to four times higher in low back pain patients than in the general population.
Pain relief with IR has been shown and studied for arthritis of the knee. Other beneficial effects documented are increased wound healing, blood flow, endorphin levels, and bioactivation of neuromodulators.
Infrared light promotes faster healing of deep tissues by penetrating the skin and improving the circulation of oxygenated blood in the body, thus relieving pain. Infrared light therapy can penetrate deeply so that it can help even harder to reach cells and tissues.
When infrared light reaches the smallest unit in our body, which are the cells, it is absorbed by the power generators of the cell, which are called mitochondria. This increases the cell’s metabolism, stimulating healing in the muscle, bone, skin, and subcutaneous tissue.
Improving the metabolism of the cells will increase blood flow. A vital component for this is the release of nitric oxide, a molecule that signals the blood flow when activated. Increased blood flow helps bring oxygenated blood and nutrients to different parts of the body, most especially to areas where there is pain. Aside from that, increased blood flow also paves the way for body wastes to be drained from the body faster. All these are crucial in the healing process, which reduces the inflammation and pain of the affected area.
It is widely accepted that a multimodal approach is required in the treatment of CNBP. The incorporation of infrared light therapy may offer this combined intervention strategy — considering pain, psychosocial, and emotional factors and being cost-effective. Infrared light therapy has proved successful mainly in the treatment of mood disorders. It has also been of interest in the treatment of various other behavioral syndromes such as eating and circadian rhythm disorders and headaches. That infrared light therapy could effectively treat CNBP can most likely be explained by the fact that pain and depression have been shown to share similarities in pathophysiological pathways and the brain regions affected. Additionally, melatonin, which strongly depends on the light-dark cycle, contributes to pain control through antinociceptive activity on spinal and supraspinal levels. In fact, MT1 and MT2 melatonergic receptors play an essential role in pain regulation by reducing hyperalgesia and modulating inflammation.
The frequency of sessions will depend on your alignment and the severity. Clients with chronic pain who have regular weekly sessions find this helps manage their ongoing pain issues by staying ahead of the inflammation and helps proactively manage their pain. If the pain is temporary, then 2–3 sessions may be what you need.
If you are unsure, discuss your needs with our friendly staff, who will help you sort through what’s right for your needs.
You have probably enjoyed the soothing, therapeutic benefits of Infrared heat without even knowing it. The sun provides nature's best Infrared heat therapy, and it's the reason that you seem to relax when your skin is touched by its warmth instantly. Far Infrared Rays do not cause sunburn or damage your skin and should not be confused with Ultraviolet Lights that can cause sunburn and damage the skin.
Infrared heat warms objects directly, including you, rather than just warming just the air around you as a conventional heater does. This has many associated health benefits but also economic benefits when used to heat the home efficiently. Far Infrared heating is a very economical way to heat the house without losing heat to the air as with conventional heating systems.
Infrared heat is light that lies between the visible and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Infrared light has a range of wavelengths, just like visible light has wavelengths that range from red light to violet.
Near-Infrared light is closest in wavelength to visible light. These shorter, near-infrared waves are warm, and you can feel a comfortable sensation with them.
Far Infrared, often referred to as FIR waves, are thermal and closer to the electromagnetic spectrum's microwave region, and we experience this as heat. Far Infrared heat provides many of the benefits of natural sunlight without the dangerous effects of U.V. radiation.
Since the primary source of Infrared radiation is thermal radiation, any object with a temperature radiates in the infrared. The warmer the thing, the more Infrared radiation it emits. Even cold objects such as an ice cube will emit some detectable infrared.
When an object is hot but not quite hot enough to radiate visible light, it will emit most of its energy in the Infrared range. For example, hot charcoal may not give off visible light, but it demits infrared radiation that we feel as heat.
Infrared waves around the home have been with us for years and are now starting to be used in a wide variety of new applications. Near-Infrared is the one we all know and is used to transmit information from place to places, such as with your T.V. remote control or data links over short distances between computers or mobile phones.
The therapeutic and practical effects of far-infrared heat are used in applications such as hospital incubators for newborn babies, modern saunas which avoid the high temperatures of the traditional humid hot air saunas, food heaters in restaurants and even modern hair dryers and straighteners, which are claimed to be a gentler on the hair and of course, light therapy for muscle recovery and general wellness.
The health benefits of Infrared heat generally fall into two categories. The first is Far Infrared used as a domestic heating system, and the second is Infrared heat therapies.
Far Infrared heat is a healthier, more comfortable, and more efficient method than any other source of domestic heating. Far Infrared heat provides many of the benefits of natural sunlight without the dangerous effects of U.V. radiation. Conventional heating systems diminish air quality by drying out the air and producing an irritating dry, static atmosphere.
The incredible benefit of using a Far Infrared heating system is that your home or office climate feels healthier and is healthier to be in. Using less energy saves you money, which has its natural feel-good factor. An economic heating system brings social benefits in that more people can afford to heat their homes to a more comfortable and healthier temperature.
Infrared heaters work by exciting the molecules in objects and our bodies, causing them to generate heat. This also stimulates the circulatory system and produces a feeling of pleasure and deep warmth, unlike convection, which warms only the skin's surface.
There is a large body of evidence, observations, and medical acceptance from around the world that Far Infrared heat therapies and heating are good for your health too. Health treatments and therapies using Far Infrared heat usually involve using a particular Infrared device, a balanced lifestyle, plenty of fresh air, and balanced exposure to natural sunlight.
One of the reported health benefits of Far Infrared heat is that it helps to relieve pain better than more traditional sources of heat to apply warmth to the body.
Because Infrared heat radiates heat evenly and does not need a secondary transference method to warm an object or person as with conventional heat sources, infrared is seen as a more efficient heat therapy method. Suppose you've ever used an infrared sauna, then you will understand why. You can stay in an Infrared sauna longer and reap more excellent benefits because the air around you does not reach blistering temperatures like in a traditional sauna. Athletes have been known to use this Infrared heat to relieve aches, pains, and strains and help speed up the healing process. Infrared heat is believed to help make circulation more efficient. Wounds heal faster with better circulation, and this is also true of muscle and tissue trauma.
Toxic accumulation in the body (or Toxic overload) can be a root cause behind many health conditions, including aging and diseases such as cancer. Symptoms of toxic overload include fatigue, headaches, joint or muscle pain, frequent colds and flu, signs of allergy and hormonal imbalance, chemical sensitivity, sinus congestion, psoriasis, other skin conditions, loss of talent, insomnia, etc. more. Psychological symptoms include poor concentration, memory loss, mood changes, mental confusion, and changes in behavior.
When toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, or potentially fatal heavy metal toxins such as mercury, lead, and chlorine, meet large water molecules, they are encapsulated by clusters of water and trapped in the body. Where these toxins are accumulated, blood circulation is blocked, and cellular energy is impaired.
Detoxification is the process of trying to remove these toxins from the body to achieve a healthier balance. Far Infrared is thought to be seven times more effective at detoxifying heavy metals such as mercury, aluminum, and even cholesterol, nicotine, alcohol, ammonia, sulphuric acid, and other environmental toxins instead of conventional heat or steam saunas.
"One of the reasons that far-infrared (FIR) has beneficial results in a variety of illnesses is the ability of FIR waves to remove toxins, which are often at the core of many health problems. Toxins that cannot be removed immediately after they enter the body are encapsulated by clusters of water. Blood circulation becomes blocked, and the cellular energy is impaired where 9 of these toxins accumulate. However, when a 7 to 11 micron FIR wave is applied to water molecules containing toxins, the water begins to vibrate. This vibration reduces the ion bonds of the atoms that are holding together the molecules of water. As the breakdown of the water molecule occurs, encapsulated gases and other toxic materials are released. One study done by American researchers showed that the sweat released by users of an FIR sauna was different from people's sweat using a conventional sauna or doing routine exercise.
Luckily, Kaiyan Medical produces FDA-cleared light therapy products with infrared light for your at-home treatment or even for your patientsWe'veve worked hard to provide solutions for both patients and healthcare practitioners, catering to various needs. Whetheyou'rere looking to private label your own light therapy devices or for home use, contact our team, as we would love to help you through your delicate therapy journey.
The quick answer is no, sunscreen doesn’t block infrared light, and you don’t need to block it.
The wavelengths of UV coming from the sun are classified as UV-A (320–400 nm), UV-B (290–320 nm), and UV-C (100–290 nm). UV-C has the highest energy, making it the most dangerous of the three-wavelength types. Luckily, the earth’s ozone layer protects UV-C (light that is even higher energy than UV is absorbed by nitrogen in the atmosphere), leaving UV-A and UV-B wavelengths to be of concern. The high energy of photons of UV light can penetrate the skin and trigger damaging reactions within the skin’s DNA or excite other chromophores present in the skin to form reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Ninety-five percent of UV radiation that reaches the earth’s surface is UV-A radiation. UV-A radiation triggers the tanning reactions in the skin, as the skin darkens in an attempt to protect itself from further damage. UV-A plays a major role in skin aging. It also causes damage to the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin) and is a factor in developing skin cancers.
Wavelength: 320–400 nm.
Effects: Tanning, Premature skin aging, Skin cancer.
Protection: Avobenzone (Parsol 1789), Ecamsul (Mexoryl), Zinc oxide.
Wavelength: 290–320 nm.
Effects: Vitamin D production, Sunburn, Cataracts, Genetic damage, Skin cancer.
Protection: Oxybenzone, Homosalate, Octinoxate, Octisalate, Titanium dioxide.
Wavelength: 100–290 nm
Effects: Cellular decomposition
Protection: Ozone in the lower stratosphere
A sunscreen product’s efficacy is commonly indicated by its “sun protection factor” or SPF. The SPF indicates how long it will take for UV-B rays to begin to redden the skin. Skin coated with an SPF 15 sunscreen will take 15 times longer to redden than without the sunscreen.
Infrared waves, or infrared light, are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. People encounter Infrared waves every day; the human eye cannot see them, but humans can detect them as heat. The remote control uses light waves beyond the visible spectrum of light — infrared light waves — to change channels on your TV.
Sunscreens do not shield skin from any infrared rays. Topical antioxidants should help shield the skin. Ignore the chatter about infrared. Ignore the sunscreens which claim to block infrared.
Focus on protecting your skin from UVA and UVB using a broad-spectrum sunscreen and physically keeping the sun off your skin with clothing, a hat, and shade. Yes, wear UPF 50 clothing and a sun hat when outdoors. Head for the shade or create it. Apply mineral zinc oxide-based sunscreen to exposed skin not covered by UV-blocking clothing. There is no controversy with these recommendations, and your skin will look great and stay strong for your lifetime if you protect it from UV exposure.
Daniel Barolet, François Christiaens, and Michael R Hamblin, Infrared and Skin: Friend or Foe, J Photochem Photobiol B. J Photochem Photobiol B. 2016 Feb; 155: 78–85.
Laura Hudson Eyman Rashdan Catherine A. Bonn Bhaven Chavan David Rawlings Mark A. Birch‐Machin, Individual and combined effects of the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light components of solar radiation on damage biomarkers in human skin cells, The FASEB Journal, Volume34, Issue3, March 2020, 3874–3883 https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201902351RR
The control of fire by early humans was a turning point in the technological evolution of human beings. Fire provided a source of warmth, protection from predators, a way to create more advanced hunting tools, and a method for cooking food. These cultural advances allowed human geographic dispersal, cultural innovations, and changes to diet and behavior. Additionally, creating fire allowed human activity to continue into the evening's dark and colder hours.
Claims for the earliest definitive evidence of fire control by a member of Homo range from 1.7 to 2.0 million years ago. Evidence for the “microscopic traces of wood ash” as the controlled use of fire by Homo erectus, beginning some 1,000,000 years ago, has wide scholarly support. Flint blades burned in fires roughly 300,000 years ago were found near fossils of early but not entirely modern Homo sapiens in Morocco.
The fire was used regularly and systematically by early modern humans to heat treat silcrete stone to increase its flake-ability for toolmaking approximately 164,000 years ago at the South African site of Pinnacle Point.[5] Evidence of widespread control of fire by anatomically modern humans dates to approximately 125,000 years ago.They also used fire for light.
The burning of wood (or other organic materials) releases energy in the form of infrared light. When you take a photo of someone with an infrared camera, what do you see? A heat “signature” that correlates (approximately) to their metabolic activity.
What is infrared light? It is a spectrum of light that we can’t see but that powerfully shapes our biology. You sense infrared light as “heat.” The heat you feel from the sun — that’s the sensation of infrared light. The feeling of heat you get when you put your hand close to an oven, toaster, or fire — that is also infrared light. The heat of another person’s body — infrared light again. Hot springs transfer heat to your body in the form of infrared light stored in the water itself. When you take a hot shower or hot bath, the same principle is at work.
Infrared light has been used for decades as a heat source for saunas. Before IR saunas, we had sweat lodges and traditional stone saunas. In traditional saunas and sweat lodges, stones absorb energy from either an electronic heating unit (in the case of a sauna) or a fire. The light is stored in the stones and gradually released during the sweat lodge or the sauna. Both methods use light to heal the human body.
And infrared light doesn’t just transfer “heat” to your body — it turns the water in your cells into batteries. This is likely why ancient cultures recognize the importance of fire, sweat lodges, and saunas, especially in winter.
It is not a coincidence that sitting down next to a fire is so comfortable. Firelight is natural and helps to manage melatonin production as well as keeping our circadian rhythms under control.
A fireplace or fire-pit isn’t just an ornamental detail of your home, and it’s a tool you can use to live a healthier life.
