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By Karen Shideler

The Wichita Eagle

Ami English of Derby calls Anodyne Therapy "the miracle medicine" for its effect on her shoulder and arm pain. Dorothy Rindt of Wichita feels much the same after watching the open wounds on her legs heal.

Physical therapist Ann Sundgren, a NovaCare manager, went from thinking the light-emitting device was "hocus-pocus" to singing its praises. And while it's not for everyone, Anodyne Therapy is making big differences in some lives.

Anodyne Therapy is as simple as a small black pad, about the size of a hand, attached by a cord to a black box. The pad has 60 diodes, each about the size of a pencil eraser. The pad, diode side down, is strapped to the patient and the machine is turned on. The diodes emit a form of infrared light. That's it. But one 30-minute treatment often is all it takes for patients to start feeling relief.

What kind of patients? It's almost a case of "you name it." Rindt developed lymphedema and leg ulcers after several surgeries on her legs. One of the wounds went all the way down to her bone. She started treatment Oct. 1 and felt better after three sessions. By mid-November, her left leg was totally healed, as was the back of her right leg. The deep wound was on the road to recovery.

English sought help for pain in her shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist and hand. "Within one treatment, my arm felt better. Within two treatments, a lot better," she says.

Anodyne Therapy also has helped people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a common condition in which the feet feel tingly, numb or painful. Because it increases their sensation, it also increases balance and decreases falls. The therapy also has proved useful with bursitis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia and other conditions.

The Anodyne "black box" comes with eight pads, and all eight were used at once on English. Just a couple were used on Rindt. The light from the diodes is absorbed by hemoglobin in the blood, Sundgren says. That causes the release of nitric oxide, which causes dilation of the blood vessels, much like nitroglycerin does. That increases blood flow to the area, which means more nutrients and oxygen.

Ultimately, Sundgren says, the treatment causes new blood vessels to grow in the area. She started using the machine on a trial basis in June. "When I first saw this, I thought, this looks like hocus-pocus," she says. Her first patient was a man who'd had a non-healing wound for 21 years. It was healed after 16 treatments. "After that, we thought we've got to go ahead and purchase this machine," Sundgren says.

The only sensation the patient feels is a mild warmth beginning about 15 minutes into the treatment. "It's not like a heating pad," English says. "It's deep...It's a completely different feeling."

Her shoulder was treated a year ago with thrice-weekly ultrasound and physical therapy. She had 4 ½ months of treatment then. This time, with the same therapist and the same physical therapy, but with Anodyne, she was fine after four weeks of twice-a-week treatment.

Five NovaCare locations are using Anodyne Therapy. The company's Web site says these other area facilities are using it: Andover Health Care Center, Augusta Health Care, Home Healthcare Connection in Hutchinson and Wichita, Rose Hill Health Services, and Life Care Center in Wichita, Kansas.

Models for home use also are available; they cost about $2,500 to $3,000 or can be rented for $250 to $320. They require a physician's order. Medicare and some insurance plans cover the cost for patients with peripheral neuropathy who meet certain conditions.

Sundgren said Anodyne Therapy can't be used on cancer patients, because of the potential of drawing the cancer to a new site, or on pregnant women, because it hasn't been tested on them. But it can be used on children as well as on people with metal implants or pacemakers. "It's light -- it's not electricity or sound waves." Source: The Wichita Eagle.