LymphaCare and Healthlight Infrared Therapy to Exhibit at National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) 25th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD

(PRWEB) October 6, 2006 -- The NAHC conference scheduled for October 15th-17th will help attendees in their efforts to reinvent home care and hospice and position themselves to provide services to an increasing number of patients. The use of pulsed infrared light or Near Infrared Therapeutic Energy (NITE™) is backed by clinical studies, as in the May 2006 issue of Acta Diabetologica. The implementation of an infrared therapy program in a home health care agency may include several stages, beginning with research and implementation to the evaluation of patient outcomes.



Diabetic neuropathy, chronic pain and wound management are common issues in home health care. With Lyrica, Cymbalta, and other medications not consistently providing relief, these conditions end up being some of the costliest to the Medicare system. With the increasing use of non-invasive NITE™ treatments and the positive results, it is accepted that the "home health care and the medical community are increasingly embracing therapeutic interventions such as Healthlight™ and other infrared therapy." Professional Healthlight users include chiropractic, physical therapy, chronic pain management, and diabetes specialists. Podiatrists often incorporate Healthlight infrared therapy as part of a diabetic foot or plantar fasciitis treatment program.

Healthlight emits infrared and visible red light energy which is FDA cleared to increase circulation and temporarily reduce pain. The Healthlight treatment typically lasts about 30 minutes, and most people describe a warm, soothing sensation. Patients using the Healthlight brand benefit from built in timers and auto shut-off safety features. While other infrared pads are known to cause superficial burns, the Healthlight system puts out minimal heat, with powerful infrared energy.

Scientists believe that the mechanism of action of near infrared light stimulation results in a process thought to restore production of ATP, which provides energy for cellular function. When this occurs, more normal regulation of the sympathetic nervous system may result in an increase of blood flow to injured tissues via the release of nitric oxide in the blood vessels. This bio-mechanism restores nourishment to the blood-starved cells of injured tissues and supports the return of normal tissue function. This can be documented by the thermography, which is the study of heat patterns at the body surface that are regulated by the sympathetic nervous system. There is an association of specific heat patterns with different clinical disorders. These thermographic patterns correlate with patients’ subjective improvement and can be measured in real time with the use of infrared scanning cameras.

Because of the safety, simplicity, and affordability of Healthlight infrared light therapy, Healthlight™ believes it is inevitable that NITE™ technology and other near infrared modalities will soon become the first choice in the management of painful neuropathies. The majority of neuropathy patients respond well to attended home health infrared treatments. However, personal home infrared therapy pads are classified under Medicare code E-0221, and unfortunately Medicare policies like Cigna Medicare consider them a non-covered item under any condition. LymphaCare is a national supplier of specialty devices for lymphedema, chronic pain, neuropathy and related nervous system and circulation disorders. LymphaCare and Healthlight are working towards an improved national reimbursement policy regarding infrared therapy devices. Healthlight home or professional units balance available output power with affordable costs to consistently outshine and outperform the competition. Systems are available for purchase starting at under $1000.00.

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