Many people around the world continue to suffer from this painful disorder. Peripheral neuropathy affects the periphery nerves commonly in the hands and feet. The condition presents itself with numbness, tingling and significant pain on the affected areas. There is no cure for this condition and the treatment is for managing the condition and its symptoms rather than solving it. There is a need to look for a way of resolving the neuropathic pain as for those who suffer from it will confirm.

What is Light Therapy?

Light therapy has been used over the years, although the medical community has not recognized it. The treatment is said to greatly reduce the pain and improve the nerve function. Light therapy, also referred to as Monochromatic Infrared Energy (MIRE), uses the infrared light to stimulate and increase blood circulation. This decreases the nerve pain and improves its functioning. The therapy can be carried out for approximately four weeks, where the patients go for therapy for 30 minutes, three times a week.

How does it work?

Light Therapy works by reducing the neuropathic pain but does not work with everyone. The light is said to penetrate deep into the tissue and relieve pain and accelerate the healing process. While some will benefit from the light therapy, others will not have any significant changes. The therapy is a lifelong process for continued pain management. The main advantage about the light therapy is that it does not use any medications, and thus there are no side effects associated with the therapy.

Future of the therapy

Although light therapy is not recognized, more and more people opt for it once the other conventional methods have failed. The success stories encourage the practitioners to keep on researching more in the hope of finding conclusive results of its use. Given the seriousness of untreated neuropathy, which includes ulcerations leading to amputation, more and more people still have hope in the infrared light therapy.

Challenges of Light Therapy

The major impediment on this kind of therapy is the lack of understanding on this particular field. Many medical practitioners including its advocates do not understand how the exact mechanisms work to relieve pain. The only way this light therapy will be approved is getting the needed scientific evidence showing how the light works. Until then, you can only try it at your own risk. Unlike other types of peripheral neuropathy treatment, the devices used in light therapy have not been approved by the FDA for treating neuropathic pain. It is therefore important to use a medical practitioner who is well versed in the light therapy to avoid causing more harm. Infrared when carelessly used can cause serious damage to the cells.