Low Level (Cold) Laser Therapy Spinal Nerve Regeneration

It is a great way to promote healing and reduce inflamation. I would use that in combination with acupuncture, as I have. Stay Strong

What kind of results have you had using a laser? Any gain in function or sensation? What type of laser do you have?

Both Laser and acupuncture are the right direction. Everyone's get different result. My experience from a C6-C7 the sooner you start the more chance of improvement or decreasing any future complication. Last soak in warm water 30 minutes a day. WARMING CHECK WATER TEMPERATURE BEFORE SOAKING. This help the blood flow to the legs. God speed, Keep up the hope.

Low level laser therapy (LLLT) definitely has potential, but the sooner you start after a SCI, the greater the potential results (based on the reported results I've heard of. But even old injuries often have benefitted from the technology.

Damage from spinal cord injuries seems to occur because of a combination of factors. Apparently very few spinal cord injuries involve situations where there is a complete separation of the spinal cord. Instead there is either a partial separation (with inflammation to the surrounding nerves and other tissue), or an injury to the cord where there is some damage to the nerves and surrounding tissue, and the resulting inflammation. If appropriate inflammation reducing techniques are used immediately after the injury (which seldom occurs to an optimal level), the potential for permanent damage and paralysis is greatly reduced. Some of the most effective techniques I've heard of to control inflammation are seldom used. DMSO, an inexpensive natural product, is reported to have substantially reduced or prevented inflammation, reducing or preventing damage and paralysis when used immediately after injury (the reported case I heard of occurred in an emergency room). The Russians have reports of significant spinal cord injuries where scenar / cosmodic technology was used right after the injury, with no inflammation and no paralysis. And the same type of results have been reported using a low level resonating laser immediately after injury. All these techniques reduce and / or control the inflammation process. But none of these techniques are currently used, or hospital approved, for treatment of acute SCI. The closest standard medicine appears to have, when they are enlightened enough to use it, is a steroid injection at the point of injury, which apparently helps to some degree, but apparently not as much as the other methods mentioned. I suspect the difference has to do with how the process is interfered with, and how the other methods also work with the body's steps in normal injury recovery and healing. Steroids can reduce inflammation, but do not appear to help with the other steps, and may in fact interfere with them.

Spinal cord injuries begin with the injury and inflammation. Then comes the more damaging steps.

The spinal cord is a confined area, so there is no space to expand when there is inflammation. As a result of inflammation, blood supply to the nerves can be reduced (since there is less space left inside the vertebrae), which can result in more nerve cell damage, injury, or death than initially occurred in the injury (by starving the nerve cells - depriving them of both oxygen and essential nutrients). This may be an extra step where appropriate LLLT immediately after injury can help, since LLLT helps with both lymph drainage and micro-circulation. Other methods may also help encourage circulation, reducing or preventing damage.

Once the nerve cells are damaged or die, and inflammation eventually goes down. that is only the start of the nerve damage. This is because, as blood supply is restored to an area, the body's clean-up crew (the Macrophages, etc) begin their work. They come in remove dead and badly damaged cells, and often do their job too well, sometimes apparently even removing only slightly damaged cells. Because this process with spinal cord injuries does not happen immediately, even treatment 4 months or so later can help reduce the permanent paralysis. How various forms of electronic medicine (lasers, scenars / Cosmodics, magnetic pulse devices, etc) help with this hasn't been documented, but they do seem to help. What these technologies do is to increase the photons and / or electrons in the cells, boosting their energy levels and in the short term making them healthier (though still damaged) cells. This may be part of how and why the technologies seem to help early in the injury cycle for SCI. If cells have more energy, they should be less susceptible to being removed by the body's clean-up crews.

Depending on what is going on inside the body, another natural supplement, CMO (CetylMristoleate), may also help. Dr. Len Sands and his research crew, spring-boarding from the work and discovery of Harry Diehl, discovered that a key part of the arthritis damage cycle was an over-aggressive group of macrophages which cleaned up both the damaged cells (which they were there to clean-up) and also cells with little if any damage (very similar to what happens in SCI). They discovered that this overaggressive clean-up process appeared to be governed by the body's memory T cells (which apparently control the macrophages), with the memory T cells continuing to think that clean-up was needed long after the clean-up had occurred from the initial injury. In their case, this continuing clean-up (which was no longer beneficial) seemed to be under the control and direction of the memory T cells, and caused continual pain and degeneration with arthritis suffers. CMO apparently helps reset the memory T cells and the continuing clean-up process stops. It has been proven to help with arthritis, and I know folks who have benefitted from it. And one 30 day cycle seems to be sufficient to reset the memory in the memory T cells. The least expensive effective version I've seen is Jarrow's "True CMO". If it helps stop the excess macrophage clean-up for arthritis, I suspect it should stop the same process with other injuries where that is a factor, including SCI (within the time frame when the macrophages are still doing their excessive clean-up).

Once the clean-up crew finally finishes its clean-up, the damage is done (unless for some reason the macrophages start cleaning up again, causing even more damage), and the question becomes whether and to what extent it is possible for repairs to occur.

In theory, the body has the ability to repair or regenerate any damaged or injured parts, though traditionally the only part that is viewed as regenerating in the human is the liver. The liver is part of the body where the cells are replaced on a very regular basis. I understand the liver is completely replaced by the body every four to six weeks. It is one of the organs in the body with a higher than normal access to the body's energy supply since the blood filters through it on an ongoing basis. Robert Becker, in his experiments, showed that the body's ability to regenerate was far greater than simply replacing the liver, provided adequate energy was present. In a laboratory setting, they have been able to get nerve cells to replicate, and in animal experiments they have been able to get nerve cells to lengthen and bridge gaps when adequate energy and stimulation were present. The question is what is necessary to accomplish this within the body. Different forms of energy medicine, including laser and scenar, have apparently helped.

Normally the body repairs itself by making new cells, not by repairing damaged cells. Some of the experiments with stem cells are examples, but only examples. An article reported at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134871.php is just one example. The article quoted one researcher as saying "The body repairs itself all the time. We know that the skin heals over when we cut ourselves and, similarly, inside the body there are stem cells patrolling around and carrying out repair where it's needed. However, when the damage is severe, there are limits to what the body can do of its own accord". That is why they were looking at methods for stimulating the body to make new stem cells itself for self-repair. Some of the experiments with lasers appear to have encouraged cells to step back and act like stem cells in a laboratory setting, and this may partly explain the success in some of the reported rat experiments also (though no recent reports - either positive or negative - none since it appears commercial entities became involved in the research to try to come up with a proprietary "for profit" version).

To repair itself, the body normally makes new cells, rather than repair existing cells. Dr Jerry Tennant, an MD who practices integrated medicine, including the use of energy in helping the body heal itself, and has gotten better than normal results by helping his patients with steps which encourage their bodies to heal themselves, goes through this in his talks (which are available on the internet), and in his book "Healing is Voltage" (which is available on Amazon and thru other internet book retailers - current version is the 2nd edition). This also seems to be part of what is behind the results Dr Lytle describes in his video seminar and book (both titled "Healing Light".

With nerve cells, replacement is slower than any cells other than perhaps bone cells. There was a time many years ago when they felt that the nerve cells did not regenerate, but they have now discovered that this is not the case. Nerves cells are replaced by the body about every eight months. There are several problems, though, for SCI situations.

First, the body’s repair process apparently is a replacement process, not a make from scratch situation. And repair is done usually by making new cells (as replacements), rather than fixing the old cells.

Second, to make healthy new cells, the body requires both proper raw materials, and adequate pH / voltage. For raw materials to get to the site, they need to be consumed and there needs to be a good blood supply to the area. And to make new cells, the injured area needs a pH of 7.8 (i.e. voltage of -50 MV in the cells in the area). The problem with this is that often the body runs short of energy where there is an injury and pH / voltage drops, especially where there is a more significant chronic injury. The body will often keep it's energy reserves for core operations and for things it feels it can more easily repair.

Also, when energy is restored to the cells, the body's DNA software may also need to be reset before the cells begin processing properly. This can be attempted with some of the essential oils, or with some herbs and homeopathic remedies. Dr Tennant has a mixture called Soreness which is designed for muscles, ligaments, nerves, etc., which may be an option. Since DMSO is a natural product, this may also be part of what it does. And there may be other methods to remind the body of its proper cellular programming. It appears part of the problem here is that normally when a damaged cell is replaced, it is replaced by a similar damaged cell. This may relate to inadequate proper raw materials, inadequate voltage, or damaged DNA programming.

Third, even when there is adequate energy in an area to begin the repair process, the body's defence system, including the macrophages, is on high alert any time the spinal column or other enclosed area is involved. The bottom line seems to be that the defence cells in the spinal column area have been programmed, or hard wired, not to allow new cell growth within the spinal column, apparently to prevent growth there which could put on extra pressure and cut off blood flow to the neurons. The result is that, even when the spinal column neuron mass is reduced by prior clean-up, unless something is done to put the defence system on hold, the defence system (including the macrophages) may again start the cleaning up process, removing the beginnings of any neuron expansion or growth of further neurons, and sometimes even removing remaining damaged cells. One key to any potential recovery is coming up with a method of putting this defence process on hold for long enough so proper neuron connections can be made.

There are a number of basic theories for how spinal cord injuries can improve.

One traditional view was that it was not possible to make new neurons in the spinal column, but that the recovery they sometimes saw (especially when there was adequate stimulation) was due to the stimulation reviving "dormant" slightly injured neurons into a state where they were once again processing or passing information.

A second traditional theory was similar to the first, but felt that the regaining of some movement or control (when motivated by adequate stimulation) was due to the body, motivated by the appropriate stimulation, somehow re-routed the connecting signals over existing undamaged, or lesser damaged, neuron routes, sort of like the power or phone company shifting delivery of services to an undamaged route.

A third explanation (since they discovered that nerve cells replace themselves) felt that, because of the body's defence system, it was not possible to grow new cells, but is that was still possible for the body to replace damaged neurons with new ones, and if they could provide adequate stimulation, they might be able to get the body to replace the neurons with ones closer to the original, and the stimulation might get the cells connecting again.

A forth theory, based on some of the animal studies, feels that, if the defence system can be suppressed in the area of injury (by drugs or other methods), it is not possible for new growth to occur in the spinal column, but that it is possible for the existing neurons to substantially lengthen and, if they lengthen enough, to bridge past the point of injury. This lengthening has been shown in laboratory settings, and appears to have occurred in some of the lab animal experiments (i.e. rats).

A fifth theory feels that new cell growth is possible if the defence system can be put on hold and an adequate environment is created for new cells to grow. External stem cells have been used in some of the experiments, but there are a number of problems with this, not the least being problems with the body rejecting the cells (a similar problem to what occurs with organ donations) - the body sees the new cells as being a type of foreign invader and goes to remove them. Another problem is that stem cells at times, without proper direction by the body, appear to differentiate into cancer cells, leading to a higher than normal cancer percentage in some of the stem cell recipients. There has apparently been some experimentation with the use of analogous stem cells (cells from the person's own body which are taken back to the stem cell state), and those haven't had the same rejection problems. And there has been some indication in the research that, with appropriate stimulation, cells within the body may be able to on their own differentiate back to the stem cell status, and from there, with appropriate stimulation, to help the body recover.

There have been some reported successes from using lasers, scenar / cosmodic units, and some of the PEMF (pulsed electro-magnetic frequency) devices, but most have been antidotal. Dr Anders (with the hospital and research center in Bethesda, MD) reported on a series of rat experiments using 810 nm laser light, with the final article (from about 2005) showing some real promise, then it appeared the project was taken over by a private research group hoping to turn it into a proprietary process, and nothing further has been reported. Stephen Coleman (from England) had some reported success in reversing SCI symptoms in using a combination of scenar therapy and exercise (reported in 2003 - nothing further since then, and I haven't been able to locate Coleman, and even his ex-wife doesn't know where he might be, and didn't offer any further details beyond what was reported). There are antidotal reports of improvement using a Q1000 laser with enhancers. And there have apparently been antidotal reports (from Russia) of improvements using scenars and lasers. There are also reports on the Klemens Electro Magnetic Pulser (out of Australia) where it helped supercharge the cells, reduce inflammation, and help neuron recovery.

There was one case of quadriplegia where the person had significant enough improvement using DMSO that he was described as "cured" in the naturopathic press, and another where the person began getting severe nerve tingling (sometimes a precursor to improvement) before he stopped. DMSO, if tried, should be applied and rubbed directly above where the nerve damage is located, and because it will dehydrate the skin, after about 15 minutes water should be sprayed on the area.

So options are available which may help. This includes laser (I would prefer a resonating laser due to its penetration and gentle approach, plus a 808 to 810 nm laser to dump in energy), scenar / cosmodic technology (what you use would depend on what you are trying to accomplish - for direct regeneration stimulation I would suggest cosmodic, for a longer duration pad type stimulation a basic scenar might do), pulsed magnetic might help (including Dr Tennant's Biomodulator, which is a gentle frequency based approach). With electronic medicine, and other related natural possibilities (like DMSO), the key is to encourage the body to control the inflammation and to heal itself. The key with most of the technologies is to tap into the principle of subtle energy, adding energy to the cells. To do this, it is necessary not to overload the body, since when the body is overloaded it will shut down reception of the energy. Overload is often good in acute situations, since it may help control the immediate inflammation, but in chronic problems you want to work with the body, not have the body put up its defenses and shut down reception.

For more discussion on Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and scenar / cosmodic use in SCI situations, do a look-up on the upper right corner of the Paralysis Research web site (i.e. the top of this page). Look up under terms like "Laser" and "LLLT". I put in some comments about what I had seen and heard before. One example is a friend who has a SCI, about a T10 (complete). It was 20 years after his injury when he used a basic 808 nm laser, and the simplest of cosmodics (the 705 mini). Before he had a hard time sitting outside his chair without falling over. After using a number of months he was able to sit outside his chair without falling over. He had a lot more muscle control, which to him was a big improvement. Exactly what the trigger was for his improvement, but he did get some even that long after his injury. And there are other reported improvements also.

In my last post I forgot to mention why all the detail on what causes SCI, and why the explanations for how SCI can improve. The explanation is because, to reverse any condition, it helps to understand the causes and impediments to recovery. In anything in natural health, the goal is to stop the degeneration or injury process, and to reverse it. To do this, it helps to understand the causes or triggers. This seems to be a key factor that is not present in most critical care based health care models (the system those who have SCI have gone through in their initial treatment). From understanding the inflammation process and the clean-up process, it helps explain why results are better, or faster, if reversal or control techniques are begun sooner. If inflammation can be limited or stopped sooner, less damage is done. If the body’s clean-up process can be stopped before extra damage results, less recovery is necessary. And if the goal is to prompt the body to begin to work on the healing process, it helps to understand the steps you are trying to prompt.

In summarizing how SCI occurs, and the theories for how SCI can improve, I ran out of time for answering your initial question - actual reported cases of improvement. I'll try to provide what I can here, pulling many of the comments and examples from earlier comments (mostly mine) posted a couple years ago on the LLLT discussion started by Tiger93. I hope I don't overwhelm you with the volume of this posting, but it should summarize most of what I've seen and heard on the topic - a topic I started looking into after I started to see potential health benefits from the technologies, and I saw a potential for something which might help a friend.

In my mind trying the various versions of energy medicine can't hurt and can only help, whether it is with SCI or other problems or health issues. It clearly helps bedsores recover, and helps with numerous musculo-skeletal problems. I've also heard of a number of situations where the assorted technologies have help the body improve from internal organ problems, and they have even helped improve status with autism. As with any situation with significant injuries or health problems, there are no guarantees. What lasers and other forms of electronic medicine do is help add photons and electrons to the cells, giving the cells more energy, which helps in the healing process. As previously explained, there needs to be adequate energy present in the cells for the body to make healthy new cells, and recovery needs healthy cells. From the few studies done, and the antidotal reports, it appears that appropriate LLLT and other energy medicine techniques may somehow, in at least some circumstances, create an environment where the body is not the defensive to the same extent, allowing the body to work on repairing even in the spinal cord area. And Scenar and Cosmodic technology somehow seems to remind the body of the need to work on and repair injured areas. But any improvement with spinal cord or other nerve injuries take time, possibly because of the time it takes for the body to replace nerve cells (the normal replacement cycle is apparently 8 months).

I already mentioned my friend who has T10 complete, who using a basic 808 nm laser (2 - 66 2/3 mw diodes), plus a little 705 mini cosmodic, starting over 20 years after his injury, has gained senses going further down his body, and now can sit outside of his chair without falling over, which he couldn’t do before.

What I’ve done below is pull some earlier comments (mostly mine, as already mentioned) from the LLLT posting that Tiger93 started back in 2009, with the last posting in early 2010. Hope you find the information to be helpful:

1 - May 14, 2009 - There are at least two recorded success stories using a Q1000 resonating laser (a high tech, very low level laser, which uses scalar wave technology rather than power to get penetration) on spinal cord injuries. These are related by Dr. Larry Lytle on his Healing Light Seminar videos. Both were incidents which he was surprised to hear about. One was an injury which had occurred several years before. In one case the young man recovered enough to go to college. In the other, the lady was able to move on her own with a walker. He also relates the story of a bear cub with hind leg paralysis that fully recovered after regular use of the laser on him, and was ultimately released to the wild the next spring because he no longer had any noticeable impairment. While it appears there was a complete paralysis in all three cases, it sounds as if none of the three cases involved complete spinal cord separations.

2 - May 16, 2009 - a book titled "Alternative Medicine and Spinal Cord Injury" by Laurance Johnston, published in 2005. Johnson Chapter 3 deals with Laser and Laserpuncture therapy. A decade before the writing of the book, Johnston had been director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America's Spinal Cord Research Foundation. A therapist called him and told him of a quadriplegia patient she had been treating with laser therapy who had regained considerable function. Johnston is convinced that laser therapy has considerable potential for treating spinal cord injuries.

3 - May 16, 2009 - "Paralysis Cured Without Surgery". See: http://www.editinternational.com/read.php?id=47ddbb42c6178 (appears article was copyrighted in 2008, showing it is recent information) This is the title of an article I just ran across, and it shows that lasers can take recovery substantially further than anything previously done, and should be an encouragement for anybody with a spinal separation (the type of problem which previously did not have a treatment). The situation was one where "After their spinal cord was partially cut their feet splayed awkwardly in different directions". Do it was not a complete separation, just a complete paralysis. but with laser use, the rat had a complete healing of its spine.

4 - May 17, 2009 - One of the research studies with rats actually cut out and removed a small portion of the spinal column. The researchers then surgically inserted some type of a polymer bridge material which had imbedded stem cells, and used lasers to enhance or speed the healing. Somehow the bridge apparently was enough to get the spinal column to grow and reconnect. Sounds like a complex process, but it apparently worked. The interesting thing about the article "Paralysis cured without Surgery" is that the progress made was totally WITHOUT SURGERY. Yes, the spinal cord was not fully severed, but there had been complete paralysis, and they got it to re-grow without surgery. Just had regular low level (apparently very low level) laser use. This is unlike the other progress (with stem cells etc) where progress was made by combining technologies with surgery etc. And some of the studies have shown that stem cells can be adult stem cells, not just embryonic ones. It sounds like the embryonic ones may be more effective, but adult stem cells also work. An interesting aside is that Dr. Larry Lytle (the inventor of the Q1000) thinks, based on materials that he's read, that part of why the laser works like it does is that it stimulates the body to call on its natural stem cell supply and use those for healing. Another technology to get into later is Cosmodic, an advanced version of Scenar, which has gotten into various types of regeneration. Scenar research grew out of TENS (starting in 1973), progressed into more advanced technology, and was subsequently funded by the Russian space program for a number of years because of its potential to provide a compact complete treatment program, avoiding the need for medicines, while in space. While Scenar and Cosmodic have been used primarily in Russia, and is even used in a number of the Russian hospitals, it is available in the west as well, and a number of doctors and therapists in England and Europe are using the earlier Scenar devices, and a few are using the leading edge Cosmodic devices. The inventor of Cosmodic (who also came up with the Russian version of Tens, then Scenar) firmly believes that it will help stimulate the body to even regenerate nerves in the spinal cord. Other types of regeneration, including spinal discs, have apparently been documented. Earlier generation scenars were used in at least one study in Britain in 2002, and was combined with exercise therapy (so the test subjects apparently didn't have a complete severing even though many had complete paralysis). Even basic Scenar use created more advancement than the exercise therapy alone. Earlier scenar devices were very much motion oriented, but the Cosmodics are very automated and computer controlled. You simply pick the place to put it and let it work away. Dr. Karasev, the inventor of both Scenar and Cosmodic, was asked whether his devices had been used to treat spinal injuries. His response pointed to several treatment areas: "..; will heal the bedsores and normalize the intestine work and other organs and systems functioning; another ... will provide regeneration of the damaged nerve fibres; and the third ... is meant specially for restoration of atrophied muscles. Such method can also be used for elimination of conditions after unsuccessful surgery. One more thing – such treatment requires long time, about one year." His office says that the most advanced Cosmodic chips are the ones that would have the most benefit for spinal cord regeneration, and the earlier, more aggressive VX cosmodic chip is probably the best one for restoration of atrophied muscles once treatment gets to that point. The impression I get is that Dr. Karasev believes that cosmodic technology should be able to even get the body to bridge complete spinal separations. I've asked his office if they have heard of any cases in Russia where complete spinal separations have been bridged, but have yet to receive a response. If someone wanted to try a basic cosmodic, I suspect that their newest personal model might be one to consider. It is their PS705miniAg. It apparently uses a more advanced and finely tuned chip (their 715), has silver electrodes with magnets in them (which apparently helps trigger the body's healing), and is a lot more affordable than their professional models (which have basically the same resonances or frequencies). And it can be used for other aches and pains and problems also.

5 - May 19, 2009 - From Juanita Anders' page at the Uniformed Services University ( http://www.usuhs.mil/nes/anders.html ) you go to the bottom of the page to "PubMed Search" and click on that. While she has written a number (31) papers, there are two key papers related to SCI that are summarized in the search. One was done in 2005 titled "Light promotes regeneration and functional recovery and alters the immune response after spinal cord injury." The other was a JANUARY 2009 article titled "810 nm Wavelength light: an effective therapy for transected or contused rat spinal cord" What is interesting to note in both articles is that it was an 810 nm laser diode that was used - a very common laser wave length. This is what both abstracts say about treatment method:

810 nm - 150 mW diode laser (dosage = 1,589 J/cm2).

810 nm - applied transcutaneously [on the skin] at the lesion site immediately after injury and daily for 14 consecutive days. A laser diode with an output power of 150 mW was used for the treatment. The daily dosage at the surface of the skin overlying the lesion site was 1,589 J/cm(2) (0.3 cm(2) spot area, 2,997 seconds).

6 - May 19, 2009 - Lasers and similar technologies are forms of what is loosely termed as "Energy Medicine". One of the things pointed out in energy medicine is that when there is a chronic injury or condition (one that has been around for a long time and has not resolved itself), the body eventually learns to ignore the problem. Scenar theory (one of the branches of energy medicine), which was developed by a well known Russian neurologist, Dr. Revenko, calls this an energy cyst - an area that the body has learned to ignore. This may help account for greater success with recovery in the immediate period after an injury than later times, even though they physical damage from the swelling may be the same. The problem is that there really isn't much published, especially in English, related to SCI and Scenar / Cosmodic. One of the few articles in English (regarding a fresh injury) was an incident related by a Russian doctor (posted in August 2008) who was also a Scenar therapist, related at: http://www.scenar-therapy.com/publications/neck/. The bottom line was that his patient fell from the 2nd story at a construction site and fell onto a pile of rocks. When the man was brought to the doctor in the back of a car, the doctor's first reaction, based on symptoms, was that the man's neck was broken - no unconsciousness, but limbs wouldn't obey, etc. He began treating the man right in the car, focusing Scenar treatment on the neck, and he began to respond and pupils went back to normal. When things began to improve he got the man up to his office, and his complete neck was blue, and he treated further. He worked on him for 3 hr with the VX735, and all his signs became normal. He then sent the man to the hospital to get X-Rays for peace of mind. The fellow's co-workers took their time, got him an insurance policy, then went to the hospital. According to the doctor, the "the X-ray doctors were shocked: 'displaced fracture of the spinous process of the C3'. And all that without any neurological issues and with the patient being in satisfactory condition!!! Just slight pain syndrome." (Note: the VX735 was the first Cosmodic unit, an advancement beyond regular Scenar). The only reported Scenar study was done in about 2002 by a British physiotherapist who was also Scenar therapist (his name is Stephen Coleman), probably using a RITM device (the stable and dependable original version of the Scenar, which is still used by and promoted by Dr. Revenko), and the study combined Scenar with exercise therapy. The conclusion of the study was "the combination of SCENAR and Exercise Therapy has shown to be extremely beneficial in improving a wide range of human physiological functions, even after over 28 years of paralysis." This study was published on a number of RITM and other scenar sites. I haven't been able to locate the therapist who ran this study to get an update, etc, but did track down his ex-wife, who says that he's moved and she doesn't know how he can be contacted.

7 - May 20, 2009 - the antidotal cases from the Indiana area where laser use helped the people involved make substantial progress. ... Dr. Gawain discussed the two people who were helped by their beautician in Indiana (summarized earlier) but I can't find the links today - at least one of those seems very close to your situation. I'll post the links later if I can find them. One link of interest, from a conversation about 2 years ago between Glen (who had just begun working with a C-6 injury), and Dr. Irina Kossovoskaia (who at the time apparently didn't know of the 2002 scenar study), is here. Dr. Irina explains the scenar theory, i.e. that it should help, and that there were a number of antidotal cases she had heard of, especially for more recent injuries.

http://www.truescenar.com/media/audio/laserscenar/cosmoqa.mp3

And the story of the little bear which was paralyzed by a fall, apparently treated by laser within hours of his fall - http://www.laserscenarfusion.com/videos2.html

The links I had been looking for:

http://www.truescenar.com/media/audio/gardenwithin/quadra.mp3 and

http://www.truescenar.com/media/audio/gardenwithin/quadra2.mp3

From his initial comments, it appears that Dr. Gawain, a naturopath, may have known his devices but at the time recorded (about 2 years ago) did not fully understand the nature of SCI, since he described the injury as a "C-4 completely severed", but the boy still had his autonomic nervous system working, just no sensation otherwise. The one study from about 2002 can now be downloaded from a number of places, including:

http://www.scenarinstitute.org/images/DATA/content/scenar_rehabilitation_pa ralysis.pdf and http://www.scenarhealth.us/pdfs/scenar_rehabilitation_paralysis.pdf, http://www.tomatex.com/Texts/Publ1.pdf

A 2004 comment by Stephen Coleman, posted at:

http://www.scenar-revenko.ru/en/magazine/bulgaria.htm

"Steven Coleman: 'I’m helping people, who are considered to be hopeless!'

I’ve been treating paralyzed people with Scenar for four years. Even in the university I was looking for some ways to help those people and I was lucky: one of my professors had been on Zulia Frost’s seminar. That path brought me to Scenar. My patients come to see me twice a day. Beside a standard course of treatments I recommend an individual exercise program. For example, my wife and I have managed to get sufficient results with one patient, ex mountain climber. She had been paralyzed for five years by the moment we met her. Reflexes in her legs were broken, urino-genital functions impaired. About movements she couldn’t even dream. Now she has pressure in her bladder, reflexes are getting better, she even tries to walk using sticks. Tests show she has recovered for 10 percent. And this is not the only case among my patients, mostly sportsmen, paralyzed in result of serious traumas. I treat them with great enthusiasm, and their every step gives me more confidence and faith in absolute power of Scenar." Another article, with a few more details (and includes some of his background - it says he had about "6 years of experience in Spinal Cord Injury

Rehabilitation having been trained in the Dikoul Institute form of exercise therapy" at the time) is at:

http://scenarnews.com/acrobat/scenar-therapy.pdf and gives one of Coleman's success stories. This site says "This article appeared in a British publication called Spinal Injuries Association in August 2002", so when this study was done, Coleman had about 2 years of experience in working with scenars (based on the 2004 article).

8 - May 20, 2011 - About 3 years ago, Dr. Karasev was asked: "Have the Professional 735v5 units (or any other type of devices that have been developed or under development) ever been used to treat spinal injuries with complete or partial paralysis? Have you had any success in restoring complete or partial mobility in patients who had spinal chord injuries resulting in complete or partial paralysis?" His response at the time was "Such disorders can be successfully treated with our devices, but require complex application using three models: one model will heal the bedsores and normalize the intestine work and other organs and systems functioning; another model will provide regeneration of the damaged nerve fibres; and the third model is meant specially for restoration of atrophied muscles. Such method can also be used for elimination of conditions after unsuccessful surgery. One more thing – such treatment requires long time, about one year." Dr. Karasev, because he is an engineer, not a therapist and not a medical doctor (both of whom can cite prior successes) is very limited in what he can say and the claims he can make, so getting an answer from him is hard unless he has a specific documented case he can point to. I recently asked his office for an update. They indicated that what had been said previously was still true, but that the best device now for regeneration is the EX735Ag (which wasn't available then) since it has the most refined signal and has the full range of resonances. This device is also both Scenar and Cosmodic, and can switch back and forth between modes, depending on what the body needs. I had also asked about treatment methods to use. The essence of their response was that with the Cosmodic devices, specific techniques were not so important, but the device used was. [This is because these devices are very automated, and the most advanced are able to read the body better, and adapt to the body's needs better - they are highly refined biofeedback devices which work best when put in one spot and allowed to work. This is different from the earlier devices, where techniques are the key to success]. The did say that what you want to do is to move down from the point of injury (apparently to help trigger the body's healing process). And that when nerve re-growth begins and you want to begin to work on the atrophied muscles, it will probably work best using the VX735 on the muscles (since it has a much more aggressive signal, which can help the atrophied muscles).

9 - June 19, 2009 - Other associated research holds a lot of hope for SCI regeneration. Gary Wade, a physicist, ran an interesting experiment using pulsed magnetic therapy, done at the CCID lab, where he showed that scar tissue could be converted to embryonic like tissue with the right stimulation. http://www.rifeenergymedicine.com/spinalrepair.html He suggests that this is an area that should be researched for SCI scar tissue. An article that mentions what triggered the thought for the research is at http://www.horsemagneticpulser.com/HMPstory.pdf. Basically the trigger was somebody who had used a magnetic pulser for other problems (to recover from an infection), and ended up having his shoulder / rotator cuff heal in the process, with the result that he no longer needed scheduled surgery. The physicist who did this research, eventually came up with a more powerful pulser for horses to help with their healing. There is an interview with him on his original research and the horse magnetic pulser at: http://www.horsemagneticpulser.com/HMPvideointerview.html. Dr. Anders has been involved with some recent similar but unrelated laser research into similar types of cells and has apparently, in a research setting, had similar results using laser technology. She has a published paper on this research. The findings described by Wade, and in Dr. Anders' paper on the laser research, may explain part of what was behind the recovery / regeneration in the 2005 (timing approximate) rate experiments which had results.

10 - June 23, 2009 - One thing I've heard about using lasers (from Dr. Larry Lytle), especially for using the more powerful ones, is that your body responds in a bell curve style. As you initially use the laser, you get more and more benefit. Then improvement gets so it seems to stop, and if you continue to use it, you will seem to either stall or seem to lose the ground you thought you were beginning to gain. What it means if that happens is that your cells have all the energy the can use for a while and they need time to recovery. From an example Dr. Lytle gave, recovery actually started again a little while after stopping use of the laser, as the body had time to begin to process what had been done, and to fix itself. That seems to be what Dr. Anders did with her rat experiment. She used the laser extensively for 2 weeks, then stopped to see if healing would begin to occur. It sounds like the real healing began a little while after the use of the laser stopped, and the big progress was around the 6 week mark after stopping. It sounds like lasers can do several things. They can reduce swelling and, at least with regular scar tissue, help make it more congruent and easier to pass energy through. They can add energy to the neurons, and help stimulate the neurons, to help wake up dormant ones. And if I am guessing the basis for the recovery of the rats right, it appears that the high laser dosage either affected the spinal cord scar tissue, possibly turning it to embryonic like tissue (which is what could create regeneration - this is what basic magnetic pulse therapy apparently can do to regular scar tissue - spinal scar tissue is a different kind of cell, but might respond in a similar way to something like the laser stimulation), or it created an inhibitor for the chemicals in the spinal cord which prevent regeneration, or both of these things together. With these things in mind, depending on how long you are using it, you might be getting progress from awakening dormant cells, or it might be something more. If you seem to stall in your progress, you can either try taking a break and seeing if your body will begin to heal itself, or if you think you have not done the kind of overload that Dr. Anders used in her experiment, you might try going for longer for a couple weeks, then taking a break. The thing I've seen with any of the methods is trying to get some extra stimulation - something to begin trying to work those nerves that you are trying to wake up or get to regenerate. And that fits with what I even heard years ago - nerves and brain cells work because connections are made. And those connections are made because the body is trying to communicate between points, or has some information to store. That was part of how they used scenars with exercise therapy in the one published study that looked into that in Britain in around 2002, that is what seems to be suggested with the pulsed magnetic therapy studies that got some form of results, and that seemed to be what Dr. Karasev suggests doing if you are trying for improvement using the Cosmodic devices (the leading edge scenar-like Russian units that have apparently gotten results, including regeneration, in other situations, and apparently have helped SCI situations also, in Russia. So getting stimulation, and concentrating to get the body to try to communicate to those areas, can only help.

11 - June 25, 2009 - An interesting British study from 5 years ago was one where pulsed magnetic therapy was use on the back of the scalp to stimulate the cerebral cortex, with the result being that "It may work like physiotherapy but instead of repeating a physical task, the machine activates the surviving nerves to strengthen their connections." The study is at: http://HTTP://WWW.IMPERIAL.AC.UK/COLLEGE.ASP?P=5155, and was done on "incomplete spinal cord injuries" , which they defined as "a type of spinal injury where the spinal cord has not been entirely severed, but the patient has still lost the ability to move or feel properly below the injury point," which is most of the SCI out there, even some of significant injuries.

12 - June 30, 2009 - I think there is clearly hope in this technology. The animal experiments clearly show that there is a physical affect with it, and Christopher Reeve's example of not giving up, where virtually his only stimulation was exercise, getting his first movement 5 year post accident, and still making progress 4 years later, shows there is no end time for potential improvement. And he made his progress without benefit from the advancements available today. As I understand the story, shortly before his death 5 years ago, he was told by the laser researchers in Israel that they were only a year of so from a breakthrough which should be able to help his condition (and he had a C1-2 injury, and was on a respirator).

Is this real? Yes, it clearly seems to be. Whether we are at a point yet or not to get the results, I can give no guarantees, but I think something should be possible, even though it may not yet be as much as will eventually be possible, when techniques, timing, methods, etc, are proven. The examples that I heard second hand (links to the recordings previously posted) seem to indicate that something should be able to be done now by individuals, even before formal progress and formal approval. And Tiger's progress seems to confirm this. As well, the animal experiments show this, as do the the http://www.laserponcture.com and the Israeli laser studies. What works the best simply has not yet been proven, and what methods work for specific types of problems is still to be determined.

A few side points to consider for anybody who is thinking about trying the technologies include:

1. Standard Low Level Lasers are not something that will damage you unless you look into the laser diodes when they are on, when they could injure your eyes because they are a bright light, yet you cannot see it. This means that, according to all the studies done, it is a non-harmful technology. The worst that can happen is that you go to the far side of the bell curve and lose the potential benefit you might have gained if you had stayed within normal usage levels.

2. I suspect that, while a resonating laser may be a good starting point to get the body on stream and moving (as used by the Nappanee beautician), but ultimate progress seems to have been made using an 808 to 810 nm laser, and lots of power / time (more than standard laser treatments of the spinal column). And much of the same initial stimulation seems to be possible with a higher power laser - you just need to watch your timing. I'm not sure what the cost was a commercial laser like the Tiger's Thor lasers, or the experimental one that Dr. Anders used in her animal experiments. but I expect it was more expensive than a Q1000 package, including an 808nm-300mw enhancer (the list for a Q1000 plus 808 is $5,500, but it might be possible to get up to a 10% discount on this pricing). Since nothing is proven yet, I suspect that the most cost effective experimental option would be the little laser from http://www.vetrolaser.com, where you can get 2 - 808 nm - 200 mw lasers (3 diodes with 66 2/3 mw per diode) for $900, or 1 for $525. The key difference would be the amount of time the laser needs to be used for if you are using a single 200 mw laser.

3. Other energy medicine methods may also help. For example, one study from England in 2004 showed that pulsed magnetic therapy on the skull (stimulating the cerebellum), for about an hour a time, for 5 or 6 days in a row, followed by a break to allow the neurons to process the progress, seemed to have made some progress in waking up neurons with the 4 people it was tried on, similar to extensive physiotherapy. If the pulsed magnetic therapy works for an individual, I suspect that even a simple pulser, even something as simple as the little Sota magnetic pulser (which sells for around $300 on the internet) should get the process started [or may at least help]. Luminita, from Romania, is trying one, and should be reporting her results. [Note: Apparently Luminita did not get the results she was hoping for in trying the Sota pulser and stopped using it. This may have been due to her situation being a more challenging one, complicated by a prior stem cell implant that did not work. Or it might relate to a factor not included in the Sota pulser (which is just a basic pulser, adding energy, but with no imbedded frequencies. Both Klemens, in his research in Australia (supercharging the cells, reducing inflammation, and helping neuron recovery), and Gary Wade in his laboratory research (changing scar tissue cells back into stem cell like cells) apparently used some form of frequency pulsing in their experiments, which may bring better results than a simple pulser like the Sota one developed by Beck, which does not include frequencies].

4. Scenar / laser technology should also help, but with that you would need to watch what it was combined with. It apparently works well with exercise programs, it works well at the same time with resonating laser, and works properly when alternated with use of higher amounts of laser energy.

5. The question is just how things are put together for what is effective. There is a recent post on the Chris Reeve Foundation site which indicates that it may be counter productive to run both extensive physiotherapy and the experimental spinal injection of the chemical which helps the body reduce spinal cord scarring (or which somehow makes the scarring more permeable), allowing neurons to bridge past the scarring. Basically, it seems that the injection therapy, if done, should have a gap of at least a couple weeks with no activity to allow it to work before the exercise is restarted. If started too soon, it appears to cause the wrong links to be formed, losing the potential progress which might otherwise be made. The same principle, but with a much shorter duration for the loss of benefits, has been noted between normal scenar or cosmodic therapy, and standard higher energy low level laser therapy, requiring a gap in time between the different treatments. That type of gap is apparently not needed if a resonating laser is used, probably because the cells are not overloaded (maxed out) with energy.

13 - July 2, 2009 - You ask "how realistic is the laser program for SCI". First, there does not seem to be a formal laser program yet in North America (see details below). But there have been encouraging antidotal cases where people tried on their own. And given the simplicity of lasers, and their safety if only a few basic procedures are followed, there is nothing preventing somebody from trying on their own.

As a formal program, the only ones I have heard about are the French one (with a few branch locations), referenced under http://www.laserponcture.com (which focusses its attention on laser-puncture - a type of laser acupuncture), and Dr. Simon Rochkind's experimental program in Israel, which I understand (from comments made by Laurance Johnston) probably works with some people in addition to the animal experiments. Everything else, other than individual antidotal cases where people have tried lasers themselves (outside formal test situations), has been done with experimental animals. The 2005 article on the current state of laser research says "Dr Jackson Streeter’s firm, PhotoThera, of San Diego, is likely to carry out the very first clinical trials. Dr. Streeter will be concentrating initially on treatment of strokes but is aiming for the beginning of 2005 to start the first ever repair of human spinal cord injuries." I have not heard anything since then about those trials.

The Christopher Reeves Foundation site makes no mention of laser therapy that I could find, even though the the Thor laser website at http://www.thorlaser.com/nerve/index.htm confirms that Reeve "visited with leading laser clinicians in Israel" before his death. A news article, located at: http://www.editinternational.com/read.php?id=47ddbb42c6178, which appears to have first been published in 2005 (though the electronic publication date was 2008) says "Israel has long been a leader in laser therapy and last summer Christopher Reeve flew there to see the progress the scientists and doctors there were making on spinal cord injury. He had private meetings with the specialists as well as public visits to the labs and hospitals. One of the leading doctors Semion Rochkind, of Tel Aviv University, told me he had informed Mr. Reeve that a cure for his paralysis could be as little as two years away - using a combination of laser and stem cell technology." So the suggested method at the time for a C1-2 fracture like Reeve had was a combination treatment, one which created a bridge around the damaged area, then enhanced growth. This type of treatment is one that would need high tech medical intervention.

The Thor site has a brief write-up about Dr. Simon Rochkind's research, and about the research that is being done by Dr. Anders and her staff. And Laurance Johnston has an online book that has a section that also mentions Dr Rochkind's research (see: http://www.sci-therapies.info/laser.htm), as well as Dr. Anders' research and the work being done by the French laserpuncture laser clinic.

Part of Thor's comments about Dr. Anders' research says it includes: "The use of low power laser irradiation (LPLI) to promote regeneration of acutely transected corticospinal tract axons. The regeneration of corticospinal tract axons through and beyond the lesion site is determined quantitatively and re-innervation of the target tissue is determined by behavioral testing." More details of Dr. Anders' biggest animal research experiment success is at: http://www.editinternational.com/read.php?id=47ddbb42c6178.

14 - July 3, 2009 - from Dr. Lytle's comments (Dr. Lytle was the idea person behind the Q laser systems, including the Q1000, and is still their key researcher - he is a neuro-muscular dentist who also has a PhD in nutrition and is a naturopath, in addition to getting into healing lasers, starting out with dental lasers, then getting into and developing healing related lasers), as much as they would like them to be, frequencies on laser diodes are not exact. They are within a few nanometers of what they claim to be, but there can be some deviation (and he has worked extensively with the engineers who actually designed the QLaser system from Dr. Lytle's initial ideas). The nm rating of the laser diodes gives the light frequencies the diodes put out. Apparently cells are fairly forgiving in the light they respond to, so the nm rating does not need to be exact. What is important is getting the energy to the cells. Different wave lengths have different penetration. For example, the infrared range (i.e. that used by laser pointers, etc - in the 630 to 670 nm range), is used for acupoint therapy and in treating shallower muscles and skin conditions, and has fairly shallow effective penetration before most of the energy is lost (usually around 1/2 to 1 cm). Near infrared lasers used for treating deeper points, bones, joints, cartilage, etc, (also used by Dr. Anders in her spinal cord experiments) usually range from 790 to 820 nm, with the normal ones being 808 and 810 nm (because they have deeper penetration and also are well received by the parts being treated). While most of the diodes used out there seem to be the 808's, a few laser companies, to try to separate themselves, run with something else (like Thor's 810 nm instead of using 808 nm). These are rated as having an effective treatment depth of between 1.5 and 2 inches deep, though from one of Dr. Anders' experiments, it seems that only 6% of the energy made to the far side of the rat's spinal column even with a 810 nm laser.

Where hitting exact frequencies becomes important is where you are using pulsed laser (pulsed to frequencies), or other types of frequency based treatments. To date the Spinal Cord research, including Dr. Anders' research, does not sound like it has included frequencies. Both Dr. Anders' successful experiments, and the successful antidotal cases, used constant beam lasers (no pulsing).

The Q1000 has a number of very specific frequencies built in for pulsing, to accomplish specific things, to enhance that the laser is accomplishing. For example, they have one mode designed for pain and similar problems, another for calming and working with the brain, a couple for healing, one for bacteria and fungi, etc, and one to stimulate serotonin and dopamine. And there are a number of frequencies found by Rife and others that can be programmed into lasers, or used on other devices, to accomplish certain things, including neutralizing various pathogens, etc. And with the devices that work in the full Rife frequencies, they have even had success exploding various cells and pathogens with frequencies. When dealing with side issues like that, those are the frequencies that have to be exact. But even then, the frequencies have to be adjusted to account for how they are changed within the human body.

15 - comments by Creekwater and his wife, alcole - July 2, 2009 (on a different post), July 8, 2009, July 12, 2009, August 27, 2009 and February 14, 2010 - regarding use of a low watt type of resonating laser along with a probe which appear to be a 808 nm laser: “The "professionals" state that the body is in shock for about a year after a SCI. They also state that you can get return up to 5 yrs post. I've been injured nearly 30 yrs and the other nite I was washing my back and felt the brush in an area I've not been able to feel since day.” "I have one and it is amazing. It retrains new cells not to have the "damaged" memory. I've been injured nearly 30 years and like I posted the other day I felt a spot on my back the other night that I've not felt in a very long time." “I've had a shoulder issue that w/ the direct probes from the Scalar held on the site resulted in amazing relief. I also had a dime size pressure wound which healed up in two weeks time. this thing has many, many settings all kinds of applications even for sleep and is an amazing piece of technology." And "I started w/ the base and then the dio. there is two colored ones for two different purposes. I used the "red" one to get through scar tissue to start the wake up process then and that was when I started getting return to an area that I've not felt in many years." And his wife's comment: "My husband is the one with the SCI but both of us have use LLT for about 6 years now. He first went in and had it on his vertabrectomy scar on his neck. It had hurt for years. After about 4-5 sessions he no longer knows the scar is there. It is great on scars. He also used it on rotator cup issues as he used a manual chair for years until going to an electric one. Great for that too as well has hand/wrist weakness issues from over use."

16 – August 13, 2009 - There are no hard and fast guidelines for SCI, and the ideas for applying come from Dr. Anders' experiments with rats, plus other laser applications, and some other SCI treatment comments and other electronic medicine concepts. The two week time frame is what Dr. Anders ran her experiment for, and the time they used the drug that seemed to help with getting past scar tissue (mentioned on the Christopher Reeves Foundation site). Laser use might also work if run longer. My impression is that Tiger may be trying without a break, but he can shed more light on this. I suspect that part of the reason for the experiments stopping at 2 weeks in the experiments was because of the time intensive nature of the treatment, and for some type of experiment parameters, and with the drug therapy, you don't want to use that type of drugs any longer than you have to for beginning to get results, at least for the initial trials. Laser seems to do more what drugs do, in that it also seems to provide a stimulation for helping neuron growth. If you choose to go longer, and if benefits are achieved, then stop laser use at that point when the benefits stop. It probably means that the body has achieved optimum energy at that point, and the body needs a time to absorb and use what it has, and needs time to regroup. At that point, you can look at working on, and stimulating, a different part of the body to see if you can begin getting the body to call for neuron growth. If you start getting benefit, and after a break of laser use at the point the benefits seem to stop, it is probably time to start looking at using it again. It sounds like the initial results with Dr. Anders' experiments started showing up around 2 weeks later. Whether they would have occurred if the laser use had continued, I don't know, since that wasn't run as part of the experiment. As I read it, with the rats, they kept trying to move after their laser treatment (they were not immobilized), so it was not a period of total inactivity, or totally no stimulation, but it was not an active program of extra stimulation. The idea of a possible two week break comes from the Christopher Reeves Foundation site, where it is suggested that there be about a 2 week gap between the end of drug treatment (done to reduce the scar tissue and the body's defence mechanisms that normally prevent SCI healing) and intense physio / exercise programs (done to help grow neurons through the area), to avoid some type of cross growth which would defeat the purpose of the scar tissue reduction. From what I've heard, I'm not sure if this type of break is helpful or not when laser is used. Laser more natural and more gentle, and if done right, you are also going beyond the point of injury to stimulate areas below, even going down the spine a bit after the direct use on the areas of injury, and possibly used on the feet for a few minutes also (to try to provide some stimulation calling for the nerves to grow - with a bit of massage on the feet, etc). Based on the ideas out there, once something is done which reduces the scar tissue and temporarily inhibits the body's natural defence mechanisms (which prevent SCI re-growth naturally), it sounds like it takes some form of stimulation to get the neurons to begin growing, lengthening, etc, past the scar tissue area. The stimulation can be by physio / exercise, or it can be by other means. One experiment in about 2002 used a scenar and seemed to help. The Chinese seem to have used some type of TENS stimulation. A French SCI clinic seems to use acupoint therapy as part of their stimulation. Massage also seems to be something that may help. And it sounds like one of the things that helps with laser or scenar is working down the back a bit, and on the feet, and possibly on the legs. Another stimulation that helped in one London study was cranial magnetic pulse therapy, where they thought that the brain sent signals up to three times as strong as normal down to the point of injury, pushing the body to improve neuron connections - in that experiment they felt it was probably as effective for this stimulation as extensive physio / exercise therapy. ... After I began seeing benefits from laser use, I heard the comments in the short audio excerpts (links posted earlier on this site) about SCI improvements when a beautician / barber tried an 808 on a couple of her customers and they had improvements. I thought about a friend with SCI and started digging to see if I could find out more so I could help him. Eventually, after I became comfortable with the potential for it being able to help, I shared the basics with my friend, and he is now trying a Vetrolaser, and he seems to be beginning to get some initial small improvements 17 years after his injury (and years without any improvement). I also ran across Tiger's blog here, and his question, shared what I knew, and Tiger decided to try a laser also. It sounds like Tiger is also beginning to notice some things. I understand that Tiger is using his laser on both sides of his spine, and on the injury site, for a total of 20 minutes per day. His laser is 1000 mw total, so the same power with a Vetrolaser would be 100 minutes per day.

17 - August 31, 2009 and October 22, 2009 - An informal report from my friend with SCI (the person who got me looking at, and responding to, this site -complete - approx T12 - injured 17 years ago). I had lunch with him today and got a brief update. He's been trying a little laser (a Vetro laser - what seems to be the most cost effective 808 nm laser out there), using it regularly on the spinal cord, in his injury site, for what must be close to two months. He didn't supply the exact times or locations used, but it sounds like, when he has the time, he's trying to use it regularly, probably close to an hour or so a day. He says that he's now getting some changes in feeling - the changes so far are little ones, but they seem to be coming. And for no improvements in years, he's happy to see some progress finally, even the little ones he's seeing. Before he wasn't able to feel his toes at all. Now he can feel them a little. He also often had trouble sitting away from his chair. He says he now can sit better outside his chair, and he doesn't tend fall over the same way, and seems to have more strength in that area. He has Harrington rods in place to support the area, and they don't seem to interfere with the laser.

Another brief update. Had lunch again with my friend with SCI. I had thought his injury was around T12 area, actually turned out to be T9-T10, complete, one vertebrae fractured, the other crushed, with Harrington rods in place for support, injury from about 17 years ago. As reported previously, he was able to sit better outside his chair, and began to feel his toes a little after using a Vetrolaser for a couple months or so. He used it for another month or so after that, and with that, he doesn't slide forward in his chair like he used to, and he has feeling going a bit lower down his back than he's had for the past 17 years. A couple weeks ago he stopped using it for a bit, and for the past week or so he's been using a little Cosmodic device, a 705 mini (the smallest current vintage cosmodic produced by LET Medical) on his back, hoping to stimulate more neuron growth. He says that leg spasms seemed to increase a little, along with his progress otherwise. To work on the muscle spasms he's going to be trying a little very basic scenar (a RITM home scenar) on his legs and points of spasms, etc, and working to try to overcome years of muscle atrophy. He's also trying an inexpensive vibration plate to try to begin to overcome some of the leg atrophy (something recommended by an exercise physiologist I know in Colorado). Basic info on vibration plate use for non-SCI situations is at http://www.anti-aging-vibes.com under "vibration exercise". His suggestion was that someone with SCI can sit beside it and put their feet on it, or even sit on it. A less expensive version ($199 US) is available from Showcase, and that's what my friend is trying.

18 - November 3, 2009 - Laser and other energy medicine related technologies work by assisting the body to try to heal itself. They do not do the healing. Lasers work at the cellular level, adding energy (photons) to the cells, adding strength to the body's ability to heal. They also increase micro-circulation, increase lymph drainage. Somehow they aid in healing and normally speed up the healing process. With laser and other energy medicine items, it is not specifically the cause of the injury, but the resulting damage that determines the challenges present. Sometimes it helps to identify the cause, though, to see what ideas might help reverse the issues. ... With spinal cord injuries, something damages the spinal cord, whether a physical injury or some type of allergic (or similar) reaction. This causes an inflammation in the spinal column area. The body sees injured cells and the defence mechanism kicks in and starts cleaning house, removing the injured or damaged cells. This takes time. If the inflammation can be reduced or controlled immediately, in some cases paralysis has been prevented. Apparently lasers, scenars, Cosmodics, and some drugs, can help prevent or reduce the inflammation if used immediately. If there is a delay, the body's clean-up system goes to work, and needed cells are removed, increasing the degree of resulting paralysis.

To the extent that key communication cells (neurons) remain after the injury, and are not removed by the body's clean-up system, once inflammation goes down, and initial recovery occurs, things often improve somewhat. This seems to be what has happened with your granddaughter. She has regained some functionality, which is very good. The challenge is trying to encourage the body to go beyond what is possible initially.

Because of how the body's protection system works, and the confined nature of the spinal column, the body has several built in processes which under normal circumstances prevent cell growth in the spinal column. Basically, the body does not want extra cells growing in this confined area, since in a healty body, this would cause major problems. For some reason, this continues to be the case even after a spinal cord injury. One thing that they have discovered in the last few years is that even the cells in the spinal column are replaced on a regular basis (though the spinal column and brain are the slowest areas for replacing, maybe once every 10 years or so). The problem is that, after an injury, the blue-print that seems to be used for replacing the cells over time is the damaged / injured state that existed after the injury, rather than the original status that existed before it, so under normal circumstances, the injured status is carried forward even though cells are replaced.

From the few published studies (and there are not a lot on spinal cord or nerve injuries), it appears that extensive use of a low level laser on the injury site may, under the right circumstances, inhibit the defence mechanism which prevents neuron re-growth, and allow the body to make progress in trying to bridge the gap. There are apparently a few drugs they have tried (by injection) which may to some extent accomplish the same thing. The exact parameters for what is needed to accomplish this have not been defined, and anything right now is just a guess. Once the defence mechanism is put on hold, and neurons begin to grow, it appears that neuron growth is somehow dependent on some form of stimulation, basically the body's call for a working connection.

... Will this technology work? From what I've seen and read, it has already helped some people who were well past the time when the doctors said they should have improvement. Will it work for everybody? Only time will tell. Part of the situations where it seems to have helped is regular use. But some have reported extra muscle spasms also. To date we don't know if the muscle spasms are related to what they are trying, if they are part of the recovery process, and if there is a connection, what that connection is. To date, it appears that with the less severe paralysis, the minor muscle spasms may be a good sign, since improvement has occurred after the spasms. Those with more significant, higher up, paralysis may at times have more or greater spasms (from those who have reported results), and with some there are not yet any reported results otherwise.

Thanks for the amazing info...you went above and beyond. It would have taken me hours to to research this so thoroughly.

I hope the information helps.

There seems to be a lot of potential in electronic medicine (lasers, scenars, cosmodics, and pulsed magnetic), with some antedotal reports of improvement, although no guarantees for anything. Even the less expensive end of the technology is not cheap. But with SCI, there are no guarantees anyway, little improvements are big for the individuals involved, and any non-standard approaches are expensive.

What makes the situation more difficult is the limitations built into our medical system which has a great reliance on expensive drugs and medical procedures (where they have lots of money for studies). Part of this problem is that there is little mention or focus on side effects, and alternatives outside the medical and surgical realm are scoffed at or downplayed. This is done by those who are under the influence of the drug companies or the medical association (each which is out to protect its own special interest, or who have as their source of instruction those who are out for their special interests). Anti-holistic entities like "QuackWatch" appear to be funded by special interest groups out to run down anything that does not keep the money flowing into the coffers of their sponsors (i.e. these entities have refused to disclose their sources of funding, even though they claim to be "unbiased"). Only situations where there are expensive double blind studies are believed. Antedotal reports, even when in the abundance, are downplayed as having no value even when non-harmful (double blind studies only are normally only funded when there is a potential for patents and making big money, so more generic methods never get that far). And when studies show benefits that are contrary to the interest

Worse yet, the very government entities that are supposed to be out there to protect the consumers, the FDA and FTA, are heavily influenced by special interest groups (different trade organizations, etc). Some reports indicate that half the people who work for the FDA are actually on drug company payrolls. The infuence and pressure is so strong that these government entities have raided, at gunpoint, offices of holistic doctors, dairy farms that would dare to offer unpasturized milk (which, when properly raised, is far healthier and safer than pasturized milk) and others where there are healthy, non-toxic, alternatives, all in the name of protecting the public.

As a result, especially in North America, there is little done in formal studies related to safe, non-toxic, alternatives. A very high percentage of research funding comes directly or indirectly from the the drug industry and special interest groups in the food industry, and they are not likely to support research which would negatively affect their sales or profits. And even if studies are done, their likelihood of being published and available in the medical indexes is just as remote, given the high dollar support the publications receive from these special interest groups.

The profit motive also seems to be a disincentive. It seems that, especially in the West, every time someone reaches beyond the norm and comes up with a small potential point of progress, the profit motive seems to become predominant, and the point suddenly becomes a trade secret and information sharing stops The result is that benefits that could come from the synergistic effect that would happen if each niche would share their small points of progress, and have so the whole becomes more than the sum of the parts. Examples of this include the laser acupuncture clinic in France that has had some success with treating SCI (whose techniques aren't published and don't seem to be available), and how Dr Anders' research appears to have gone private and nothing has been reported since 2005.

Part of this may also be because of the dampening effect of the government agencies (like the FDA and FTA). These government entities, and similar entities in other countries, severly limit what information manufacturers and distributors can share, pass along, etc, even when they do hear antedotal results and techniques. The standard for sharing this information requires double blind studies (costing millions of dollars in documented research) before information on benefits of devices or techniques can be passed along by the sources who would be in a position to hear the most (and as already mentioned, the typical funding sources are not there when what is being studied could impact income).

By the way - one other tidbit of information related to nerve injury and inflammation is another to keep consider. Researchers have discovered that, with brain injuries, a big factor behind the inflammation and associated nerve cell death is something called a "Glutamate Storm". This has not been directly linked to SCI, but all neurons contain and use glutamate, and what they describe as the process that occurs with neuron damage leading to greater brain damage seems to be part of the process that occurs with SCI. As neurons die, they release glutamates (a substance used in all neurons for nerve signal transmission). Excess glutamates in an area causes inflammation, which in a confined area (like the brain or spinal column) restricts blood flow, and restults in even more cell death. What they are working on is ways to reduce this glutamate storm, and reduce the swelling. An article on this is at: " http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=7376&p=1 ". Even after an injury, it is important to watch glutamate levels because of how they could cause further damage. Glutamate is in things like MSG (and its family of products, like textured vegetable protein, etc), and aspartame.

A few more thoughts that may help explain both the potential for electronic medicine (lasers, scenar / cosmodic, and PEMF) helping with SCI, and some of the challenges faced in applying it, especially since there don't seem to be any ongoing studies applying the technologies (at least not ones where the ongoing results are public).

One of the theories behind how progress can be made with SCI is that, under the right conditions, with the right stimulus, existing, living, but dorman neurons can be awakened and brought back to functional status. A Medical Doctor from Germany does a lot with Scenar technology in his practice, Dr Gerd Raetzel, was brought to Australia by Enlightened Therapies [a company that handles Scenar (and their own line of home scenar devices named Enar), and provides Scenar training] to put on a training session. Part of that training session involved some of the advanced multi-device techniques Dr Raetzel had developed where he used strategically located conductive pads, connected to scenar type devices, to stimulate the nerve system generally, when at the same time working on specific trigger points / connection points otherwise. A video Enlightened Therapies made (which is available to those who purchase their equipment from them) covers that portion of the seminar. In the video Dr Raetzel took a man who had strong tinnitus (ringing in the ear) on one side, and no hearing on the other side (and doctors could do nothing about that), and in 45 minutes to an hour of treatment reduced the ringing in the ear that could hear, and re-awakened the nerves connecting the other ear (the one which couldn't hear before), with that ear being able to hear at about 50% of the volume that the other ear could hear at. Dr Raetzel apparently uses this technique in his office regularly, getting the same results. This seems to confirm that, when dormant nerves exist, with appropriate stimulation they can be revived. This seems to be part of what the exercise stimulation programs for SCI attempt to do.

If awakening existing dormant nerves is to be attempted, it would take identifying the appropriate connecting points on the skin to be able to stimulate the nervous system. Someone familiar with the nervous system and its connecting points on the skin might have to identify these. Or it may take a lot of experimenting. Some of the scenar / cosmodic techniques can help identify active points. Also, some of the electro-acupuncture techniques and locations (i.e. those on some of the professional model scenars, cosmodics, and the Biomodulator, or the energy reading methods taught by Nakatani and Voll) may help identify points to attempt working with.

Another point not understood or considered by most doctors is the fact that the body has two communication systems for passing signals and energy, not one. The system doctors are taught, and concentrate on, is the nervous system. The system they don't consider, and don't understand, is the meridian system (used by oriental medicine in methodologies like acupuncture, acupressure, etc). In recent years, a medical doctor, Dr Langevin, has researched this system and documented that the fascial planes (the sheaths that cover the muscles, etc) of the body are actually conducting surfaces that line up in placement exactly with the acupuncture charts and points. The material in the fascial planes of the body act like semi-conductors, allowing the transmission of energy in one direction. This system may be how energy (from Dr Raetzel's techniques) may get to the dormant areas to help revive them. If so, a good acupuncturist may be able to help identity points to stimulate, whether with Scenar (and pads), Cosmodic (i.e. directly on those points), laser (i.e. laser use normally, or laser acupuncture), pressure (i.e. acupressure techniques), electrical stimulation (electrical acupuncture, etc), or even regular acupuncture (with needles).

Depending on the type of injury involved, there may be scarring. This can be an issue both in the nervous system, and in the meridian system. Scars can hinder energy transmission, stop it, or short circuit it, so the signal does not get to where it is supposed to. Part of overcoming scar tissue is to give the body what it needs in the area to reduce the scars, then to re-establish the proper connections. Things like iodine and vitamin E placed over the area, then given energy (with laser, scenar type device, or appropriate frequencies of PEMF) apparently can help reduce the physical scar size. Once this happens, the body's program reconnecting the points needs to be reset (sort of like resetting software on a computer) so the DNA remembers the proper connections. There are apparently some bio-energetic medicine techniques that can help with this, and some of the essential oils can also help - both of these are apparently amplified in benefits and speed when driven in (or applied in conjunction with) appropriate energy devices (i.e. scenar, biomodulator, frequency based PEMF, and probably the appropriate laser frequencies). Ultimately, if there is scar tissue in an area, it needs to be bridged past. Part of what is discussed with neuron damage, and potential for SCI recovery, is stimulating neurons to stretch, or grow past, scar tissue blockages. Techniques which are used in normal energy medicine settings (those already mentioned) may help in SCI situations.

In natural healing, some of the key principles are contained in Herrings Laws. A couple of these, paraphrased, are ones which need to be considered for any SCI situation.

One law basically says that to recover things need to get worse before they get better. Over time, part of acute problems (i.e. ones that do not resolve) is that the body basically gives up on trying to resolve the issue because of the lack of progress / lack of adequate energy in the area, etc, and concentrates its limited energy on its more critical and core functions (hearts, lungs, etc). The normal healing process, if not interrupted, would result in increased blood flow, discomfort, etc, for a period of time as the body works thru the healing process. If this process in interrupted, or stops because of inadequate energy to fix or heal the problem, healing comes to a stand-still. If the body is stimulated and again begins to focus on the area that needs attention, the same symptoms will re-occur as part of the body's attempt to help that area recover. The difference between a chronic problem (where the cellular pH in the area is lower), and one that has been brought back to an active healing status (where the cellular pH is higher), is usually the energy in the area. If the body's voltage is low (using measurement techniques like Voll, Nakatani, the biomodulator, etc), the area is still in a chronic condition, but if the voltage is higher, the area probably has been raised to a state where the body is once again trying to work on healing the area.

In SCI, it appears many of the doctors argue against muscle spasms, etc., feeling there is little if any documentation to indicate that increased muscle spasms are a potential positive development. As a result, they take what steps they can to stop or prevent these spasms. Yet there has to be some trigger behind increased muscle spasms. One of the things reported by some who try forms of electronic medicine, in SCI situations, is an increase in muscle spasms.

Yet is it automatically a bad or negative thing? My friend, with SCI at approximately the T10 level, noticed this before he began to have more control in sitting, and feelings going down lower in his body. If he had stopped too early, I suspect he would not have seen the progress he gained. One of the points I saw a couple years ago, in one of the reports on the rat studies, said that they observed that neurons grew FROM BOTH ENDS of the spinal cord injury. This may explain some of the muscle spasms. If the stimulation is present on the side where there is limited or no connection via the normal awake nerves, the stimulation may be causing the neurons to reach out and connect (at least if, at the same time, the body's defence system which prevents the expansion / growth in the limited confines of the spinal cord, is put on hold, using techniques like the laser). Stimulation and reaching out from the core of the body would not cause muscle spasms, but stimulation (and potential reaching out) from the side with no connection may be one of the causes of muscle spasms. Are all muscle spasms good? Probably not, especially when the body's defence system in the spinal cord area is on high alert. Also, if there is too big a gap to bridge, and no potential cells in the area to revive, there may be substantially reduced potential for increased benefit. Trying energetic medicine techniques is taking a chance - to date nothing is proven, and it is possible that increased spasms may be triggered. But for some people, spasms may be an indicator that the body is reaching out trying to bridge the gap and re-establish a connection, and if spasms are stopped at that point, any hope of potential benefit may also be stopped. Something to consider.

Another of Herring's laws is that the body will work on repairing or maintaining the most critical functions first. Meaning, for those with SCI, that energy will be focused on maintaining and / or fixing core operating functions first. If there are heart, lung, or other key organ functions which are compromised, the body will divert energy to fixing those functions first. So even though the attempt is to work on stimulating or improving the spinal cord status, core functions override this until they are adequately taken care of. Once those are dealt with, the body can then begin to supply energy to the place you had intended it to go.

Knowledge of these things is still in its infancy. There are some things we do know. Neurons, on a cellular level, are regularly replaced by the body about every 8 months. Good cells can be made to replace injured or damaged cells if there is adequate nutrition (building blocks) and adequate energy / stimulation. In a laboratory setting, with appropriate stimulation, neurons will regenerate. From both the exercise studies with SCI, and the rat studies, they have shown that neurons will grow and substantially lengthen when there is appropriate stimulation and when the body's defence system within the spinal cord (which normally inhibits or prevents growth or change beyond simply replacing damaged cells). Part of what lasers seem to do, when used for adequate amount of time etc, is to inhibit the defence system which otherwise would prevent neuron growth or extension (beyond simply replacing existing cells). From some of the exercise studies, it appears there are a few chemicals that they feel may do the same thing, but side effects from these are not known. This seems to be the starting point, or foundation, for any approach to improvement.

It would be ideal if there was an organized program which tried these techniques, and shared results, on an ongoing basis, but few programs exist, and none seem to be currently sharing techniques and locations that work, and things that have problems or don't seem to work. Dr Anders' work appears to have gone to private industry and may eventually surface when there is an expensive device or expensive procedure available. There is no report of Dr. Simon Rochkind's experimental program in Israel other than a passing comments in news articles several years ago, and the reference in Laurence's book on Alternative Spinal Cord techniques. And the French laser acupuncture program (possibly with a few branch locations), referenced under http://www.laserponcture.com, seems to do no information sharing either (even when contacted by a leading acupuncturist from England who also does a lot with energy medicine). So until something is made public, it is all guessing, based upon applying the techniques which have been discovered which apply with other injuries and in the laboratory for neuron and animal based SCI type experiments. Until this information is made public, knowledge will only grow as people try different techniques and report (anecdotally) on what works and what doesn't. If that occurs, an informal approach can develop, and to the degree possible, improvement can occur.