The Magic of Light

I have had the opportunity to discover for myself just how effective the power of red light therapy can be. When I went to Vermont two years ago to crew for one of the horse/rider teams on the 100 mile endurance ride, I ended up slamming my finger in the door of the pick-up truck first thing in the morning. I almost passed out from pain and an empty stomach. I got it doctored up and went on to tend to the horse I was in charge of, getting the cut wet and dirty multiple times through the day. When I got home my husband assured me it was definitely going to get infected and I should seek medical attention. I decided to try red-lighting it as it was a week-end and I wasn't going to get seen soon anyway. I couldn't believe how well the lights took away the swelling and throbbing in my finger/nail. Every time the finger/nail would start throbbing from the pressure of the trapped blood beneath it, I would use the lights and it would ease the pain. I took pictures that time too, but can't locate them right now. I had also reinjured my finger 2 days after the first event by hurrying out the door because of some horse emergency and closing the door on my injured finger. I almost hit the ground in pain that time and the cut was reopened. Anyways, my finger healed wonderfully and all of the old blood under the nail was reabsorbed, turning from black to purple to light purple to pink and then gone! I did lose my nail as the blood had seperated it from the nail bed but never had to drill a hole in the nail to relieve pressure and no infection in the cut on my finger.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn how to keep my fingers out of the way, and ended up shutting the same finger in my front door just a day after looking at it and thinking how nicely it had healed and and how well the nail had regrown! Same thing, slammed it so hard it cut my finger and gave me a bruise under the nail. I do have pictures of the healing process of this incident, I was confident that the lights would wield their magic on this injury and they certainly did. The first picture is a little gross, but the rest are amazing I think!

The day I reinjured my finger, 3/23/2009

After using the red-light for a week

The next day

Two weeks after injury and mostly healed. You can see the outline of where the old blood was and how it has turned lighter and lighter as the blood was reabsorbed.