3. Musculoskeletal Cases [pain, stiffness, Arthritis, accelerated healing, etc.]
Success reported with infrared treatments by Japanese researchers in the following conditions: TMJ Arthritis, Muscle Spasms – reduced or eliminated, Traumatic Arthritis, Lower Back Pain – relieved, Acel-decel Injury Sequelae, Adhesions – lengthened or more easily broken; they are common in competitive athletes, trauma and repetitive stress syndromes. Disc-protrusion Related Neuralgia, Brain Contusion – accelerated healing, Tight shoulders – relaxed, Compression Fracture – Example: pain stopped for 3 days with only a single treatment, Spinal Cord Shock – post traumatic shock reversed, Muscle Tension – relaxed, Post-exercise Muscle Pain – relieved, which is vital to competitive athletes, Arthritis (Gouty, Rheumatoid & DJD) – each substantially relieved or improved, Shoulder Pain – relieved or eliminated, Bursitis – eliminated.
“Medical practitioners make use of infrared Radiant heat to treat sprains, strains, bursitis, peripheral vascular diseases, arthritis, and muscle pain…” – McGraw/Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Dr. Masao Nakamura of the O & P Medical Clinic in Japan has reported great success with the use of infrared treatment for: Whiplash, Sciatica, Menopause, Arthritis, Shoulder Stiffness, Rheumatism, Acne, Gastro enteric Problems, Ear Diseases, Insomnia.
Pain Relief - Rheumatoid Arthritis
A case study was reported in Sweden of a 70 year old man with Rheumatoid Arthritis secondary to acute rheumatic fever. He had reached his toxic limit on Gold injections and his Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate was still at 125. Within 5 months of undergoing an infrared treatment, his ESR was down to only 11. IN the case of rheumatic arthritis of a 14-year old Swedish girl who couldn't’ walk comfortably downstairs due to knee pain since she had been eight years old, her rheumatologist told her mother that her child would be in a wheelchair within 2 years if she refused gold corticosteroid therapy. However, after 3 infrared sauna treatments, she began to become more agile and subsequently took up folk dancing, without the aid of the conventional approach in her recovery. A clinical trial in Japan reported the successful solution in seven out of seven cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis treated with whole-body infrared therapy. These case studies and clinical trials indicate that further study is warranted on the usage of whole-body infrared therapy in the care of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The following is a summary from Therapeutic Heat and Cold, 4thEdition, Ed. Justus F. Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Chapter 9 or concluded from the data therein. Generally it is accepted that heat produces the following desirable therapeutic effects.
1. It increases the extensibility of collagen tissues.
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Tissues heated to 45 degrees C and then stretched exhibit a non-elastic residual elongation of about 0.5-0.9% that persists after the stretch is removed. It does not occur in these same tissues when stretched at normal tissue temperatures. Thus 20 stretching sessions can produce around 10-18% increase in length in tissues heated and stretched.
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This effect would be especially valuable in working with ligaments, joint capsules, tendons, fasciae, and synovium that have become scarred, thickened or contracted.
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Such stretching at 45 degrees C caused much less weakening in stretched tissues for a given elongation than a similar elongation produced at normal tissue temperatures.
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The cited experiments clearly show that low-impact stretching can produce a significant residual elongation when heat is applied together with stretching or range-of-motion exercises, which is also safer than stretching tissues at normal tissue temperatures.
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This safer stretching effect is crucial in properly training competitive athletes so as to minimize their “down” time from injuries.
2. It decreases joint stiffness directly.
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There was a 20% decrease in stiffness at 45 degrees C as compared with 33 degrees C in rheumatoid finger joints, which correlated perfectly to both subjective and objective observations in stiffness.
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Any stiffened joint and thickened connective tissues should respond in a similar fashion.
3. It relieves muscle spasms.
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Muscle spasms have long been observed to be reduced through the use of heat, be they secondary to underlying skeletal joint or neuro-pathological conditions.
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This result is possibly produced by the combined effect of heat on both primary and secondary afferent from spindle cells and from its effects on Golgi tendon organs. The effects produced by each of these mechanisms demonstrated their peak effect within the therapeutic temperature range obtainable with radiant heat.
4. It produces pain relief.
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Pain may be relieved via the reduction of attendant or secondary muscle spasms. Pain is also at times related to ischemia due to tension or spasm, which can be improved by the hyperemia that heat-induced vasodilatation produces. This then breaks the feedback loop, in which the ischemia leads to further spasm and then more pain.
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Heat has been shown to reduce pain sensation by direct action on both free-nerve endings in tissues and on peripheral nerves. In one dental study, repeated heat applications eventually led to abolishment of the whole nerve response responsible for pain arising from dental pulp.
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Heat may lead to both increased endorphin production and a shutting down of the so-called “spinal gate” of Melzack and Wall, each of which can reduce pain.
5. It increases blood flow.
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Heating of one area of the body produces reflex-modulated vasodilatation in distant-body areas, even in the absence of a change in core body temperature; i.e. heat one extremity and the contra lateral extremity also dilates; heat a forearm and both lower extremities dilate; heat the front of the trunk and the hand dilates.
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Heating of muscles produces an increased blood flow level similar to that seen during an exercise.
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Temperature elevation produces an increase in blood flow and dilation directly in capillaries, arterioles, and venuies, probably through direct action on their smooth muscles. The release of bradykinin, released as a consequence of sweat-gland activity, also produces increased blood flow and vasodilatation.
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Whole-body hyperthermia, with a consequent core temperature elevation, further induces vasodilatation via a hypothalamic-induced decrease in sympathetic tone on the arteriovenous anastomoses. Vasodilatation is also produced by axonal reflexes and by reflexes that change vasomotor balance.
6. It assists in resolution of inflammatory infiltrates, edema and exudates.
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The increased peripheral circulation provides the transportation needed to help evacuate the edema, which can help stop inflammation, decrease pain and help speed healing.
7. Cancer Therapy
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This is a new and experimental procedure. It shows a great promise in some cases when used properly. American researchers favor careful monitoring of the tumor temperature; whereas, the success reported in Japan make no mention of such precautions.
8. Soft Tissue Injuries
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Infrared healing is now becoming the leading edge in the care of soft tissue injuries to promote both relief in chronic and intractable “permanent” cases, and accelerated healing in newer injuries. Localized infrared therapy using lamps tuned to the 2 ~ 25 micron waveband is used for the treatment and relief of pain by over 40 reputable Chinese Medical Institutes.
Researchers reported over 90% success in a summary of Chinese studies that assessed the effect of infrared therapy on: Soft tissue injury, Lumbar strain, Periarthritis of the shoulder, Sciatica, Pain during Menstruation, Neurodermatitis, Eczema with Infection, Post-surgical Infections, Diarrhea, Cholecystitis, Neurasthenia, Pelvic Infection, Pediatric Pneumonia, Tineas, Frostbite with inflammation, Facial Paralysis (Bell’s Palsy).
Japanese researchers, as reported in the book Infrared Therapy by Dr. Yamajaki, have produced the following provocative results with: Burns: relieves pain and decreases healing time, with less scarring. High Blood Pressure: safe in 40 ~ 50 degrees C range and regular use helps to lower it. Low Blood Pressure: sauna trains body to raise it. Brain Damage: accelerated repair in brain contusions. Short-term memory improved. Cancer of the tongue reversed. Toxic Electromagnetic Fields: effects neutralized. Cerebral Hemorrhages: recover is both sped up and significantly enhanced. Auto Accident: related soft tissue injury – daily sessions were used until best healing was attained; the residuals from such injuries lasted three days before another treatment was necessary. Arthritis, acute and chronic was greatly relieved. Gouty Arthritis: relieved. Rheumatoid Arthritis: relieved. Menopause Symptoms: relieved chills, nervousness, depression, dizziness, head and stomach aches. Weight Loss: first, through sweating and the energy use needed to produce the sweat and second, through direct excretion of fat.