ALLEVIATE  sharp, burning, throbbing, and stabbing pain from PHN.

NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT COLD LASER DRAMATICALLY HELPS PEOPLE WITH SHINGLES-INDUCED NEURALGIA

The medical journal Practical Pain Management (a journal for Pain Clinics / Pain Doctors) recently ran an article on the benefits of using COLD LASER THERAPY to treat people suffering from Post-Herpetic Neuralgia (Neur = Nerve, Algia = Pain). The Herpes Zoster Virus — the same virus that causes Chicken Pox — never completely goes away, but instead hides in the nerve root right next to the spinal cord. The virus can go dormant for decades at a time.  Later in life, for a wide variety of reasons (stress, weakened immune system, ANTIBIOTIC USE, POOR GUT HEALTH, etc, etc), people get what we typically call the SHINGLES. Of the one million new cases of Shingles a year, over half occur in people over the age of 60.

Because the Shingles always displays in a Dermatomal Pattern that is related to the individual nerves (see picture at left or click the previous link), they tend to manifest in rather clear cut and delineated manners, whether on the head or body. Although the Shingles themselves tend to last 2-4 weeks, about 50% of the people over 50 years of age who get Shingles end up with what is called Post-Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN). This means that the Herpes Virus stays in the nerve causing pain long after the visible signs of the disease itself are gone. Not only can this nerve pain induced by the Herpes Zoster Virus be virtually debilitating, it can go on for months —- or even in some cases, even years. The standard treatment for severe cases of Shingles has always been anit-viral drugs like Acyclovir.  However, what is a person supposed to do when the Shingles themselves are gone, and the Neuralgia remains? Pain pills are a short term option, but everyone knows that these lose their effectiveness over the course of time, not to mention the side effects associated with long term use. Although there are many natural remedies that help certain people with their Post-Herpetic Neuralgia, by far the most promising is Cold Laser Therapy.

In general, patients presenting with PHN usually categorize their pain at a 9 out of 10, which has a large impact on their quality of life and daily activities…. Patients undergoing LLLT [Cold Laser Therapy] normally notice an immediate improvement in pain of approximately 20% to 30% during the administration of the first 3 treatments. During the course of 10 to 15 treatments, patients usually experience 80% to 90% relief of pain and other symptoms. 

The July 2013 issue of Practical Pain Management

Cold Laser Therapy works on the premise that every single cell in your body has photo receptors (light receptors). According to the article, “Photon particles of light are absorbed by the mitochondria through cytochrome c oxidase and result in increased cellular Adenosine Tri-Phosphate [ATP] levels.” In simple English, this means that when certain frequencies of light stimulate these photo receptors, it turns on the mitochondria to produce the one and only source of energy that cells can use —- ATP.   We know that specific frequencies of laser light can penetrate deep into injured or diseased tissues and stimulate the production of cellular energy by as much as 8 times. Think for just a moment about why this would be important as far as any healing process is concerned. If you have an abundance of energy in a local area, that energy can be used for repairing or regenerating tissue instead of simply maintaining normal cellular functions. It’s sort of like having some extra money at the end of the month to take care of whatever needs to be taken care of. The really cool thing about using Cold Laser Therapy for pain control is that it is not simply masking pain like medications do, but actually healing the tissue. You feel better because you are really better — not because you took pain meds that only mask the symptoms.  The rather amazing thing is that this is not the first study of its kind to look at Cold Laser Therapy for Post-Herpetic Neuralgia.