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Met with a friend who is a nurse practitioner and has just started her own practice. Great news for me... I now have someone to who is willing to go any direction that I feel would work for me. In our meeting today one topic we discussed was Anodyne Therapy. Pulsed inferred to treat pain. Could it help other conditions as well. The vascular part of ms? or at least some of the issues like PAIN !!! I guess what caught my attention is that it increases blood flow in sluggish or damaged tissue areas. Would like to get some feedback. Cheerleader You have the magic google fingers. I am still all thumbs on the computer but still learning. Help Peace and Health Mark

this is a far cry from the usual ms read, reminds me of my thesis
"Certain compound medicines were also called by this name, such as anodyne balsam, made of castile soap, camphor, saffron, and spirit of wine, and digested in a sand heat. It was recommended not only for easing extreme pain, but for assisting in discharging the peccant matter that occurred with the pain."

"Sometimes, during the first days of the disease, the peccant matter is so exuberant, that one foot is insufficient for its discharge. It then attacks both, and that with equal violence." on gout, 1859.

"One of the purposes of blood letting was to reduce fever, which was indicated by a drop in the pulse after phlebotomy was accomplished. Another was to aid nature, that is to help the body rid itself of ‘peccant’ or harmful matter that was causing inflammation at a particular site. Medieval Islamic physicians advocated what is generally called ‘revulsive’ bleeding — blood letting at a place remote from the site of inflammation, in order to draw the peccant matter back into the body where it could be ‘digested’ normally."

"Anodyne Therapy is a type of near infrared light therapy marketed as an adjunct to physical therapy to certain physical conditions. Its FDA approved product commonly known infrared therapy device often used in the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain."

"Infrared light therapy has been represented and used by the medical profession for about 20 years to reduce pain as well as to increase the body's circulation. In point of fact, infrared light treatments are utilized as a heat modality for many areas of physical therapy, nowadays believed to be a medical necessity. An ageold practice, the increased acceptance of it today has effectuated several new changes in the use of light emitting diodes, or LEDs, also called Monochromatic Infrared Energy."

doesn't look like it would do any harm. reactive though, rather than proactive.

Glad you found a partner in healing with your nurse pract. friend, Mark!

New word of the day....anodyne- soothing, placating. Nice.
Found a study with anodyne light therapy which healed diabetic foot ulcers. Diabetic ulcers are a bit different than purely venous ulcers, but this paragraph on nitric oxide caught my eye....
http://www.josonline.org/pdf/v15i3p361.pdf

DISCUSSION
NO is an endogenous vasodilator produced by endothelial NO synthetase during the oxidation of L-arginine to L-citrulline and NO.3 Patients with diabetes often lack bioavailable NO due to reduced production of NO by NO synthetase and inactivation of NO by reactive oxygen speciesproduced by glycated proteins or from vascular endothelium.3,4 A small proportion of NO released into the vascular lumen is also transported in blood in the form of S- Nitrosothiol attached to haemoglobin.4,7 In diabetic patients with elevated levels of glycated red blood cells, an increase in NO binding to red blood cells decreases delivery of vasoactive NO to hypoxic tissues.4 Monochromatic infrared energy (MIRE) treatment may increase local and systemic levels of NO in diabetic patients. NO has been found to be liberated from haemoglobin on exposure to various wavelengths of energy.8 Plasma NO in non-diabetic subjects increased after MIRE application to the skin for 30 minutes.5 The exact mechanism is still unknown. Far infrared therapy (FIR) in a rat model stimulated skin blood flow, which was maintained for a period afterward. This increase in circulation was mainly due to an increase in NO synthetase activity, rather than a hyperthermic effect, as this post-FIR enhancement of skin blood flow can be inhibited by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, an inhibitor of NO synthetase activity.9,10 The foot circulation increased in diabetic patients with microangiopathy after treatment with visible redmonochromatic energy, and this was sustained even after the treatment discontinued.11 Hence, anodyne therapy is useful for patients with diabetic foot ulcers and poor blood supply; it has successfully healed wounds that have become stagnant or deteriorated.5,12,13

This would explain why it helps relieve neuropathic pain and helps ulcers to heal. Don't think I could get hubby to sit still for treatments. Very time intensive therapy. The pics are a bit gross...but they do show healing in ulcers.
Thanks, Mark. Will read up some more. Magic fingers are heading out for the day. Waving, later!
AC

DOn't use it on the head though! Too much heat, and it warms deeper tissues. NOT GOOD for that area

The brain cools itself differently and people with MS have particularly poor cooling ability. If you use a far infrared sauna or some such they always keep the head out of the portable units, and most of the handheld units have a caution on that.

It does work for diabetic ulcers

You are one lucky guy with the NP connection Mark! Good for you!

Thanks you guys for the feedback. I can attest to the heat not being good as I am extremely heat intolerant. But what it could help with is the soreness from stretching spastic muscles and possibly some joint pain. I certainly do not need it to heal wounds. That is what I seem to do best. Maybe to well thus the MS from the overactive immune system. It does have a future I would think as technology improves. My thought orthoscopic on areas that need a stimulus to get the healing process going again. Might be a next step in treating SP and PPMS. i KNOW !! Way out of the box thinking but ... Gotta dream big. As for blood letting been bleeding my whole active life. I will read further into the NO connections. Keep on Keeping on Mark

ha the blood letting thing is just the history of anodyne, interesting blood flow links from past to present