Low Laser Light Therapy

[Crystalbowl]

Has anyone tried Low Laser Light Therapy for PHN pain? Someone has suggested it to me. I am in the UK and can't find any practitioners listed on Google. Advice please.

[Bananas5]

perfectbalanceclinic.com/se...

[Crystalbowl in reply to Bananas5]

Thanks for the link, Bananas5. Unfortunately it is not very practical for me as I live in the NW of England. However, it is useful to know that LLLT is being used in this country. I really wanted to know if anyone had used it for PHN and whether it had given them any relief.

[Bananas5 in reply to Crystalbowl]

I've certainly not heard of anyone using it on this forum but that could mean they just haven't discussed it!!

PHN usually goes within 12 months or so. Drugs mixed correctly can help although that can take time to get correct mix.

Have you been in pain a long time?

x

[Crystalbowl in reply to Bananas5]

The shingles out break started just a year ago but there are people posting on this and a Facebook forum who have had PHN for much longer. I have tried a whole variety of therapies, drugs, topical creams, lotions, etc. but nothing has worked so far and my GP says there is no cure you just have to learn to manage the pain until it goes....or it doesn't. I keep on looking and trying things probably just to prove him wrong but mainly to get myself free of the pain.

[Baileydog in reply to Crystalbowl]

Hi crystalbowl, whereabouts in nw England are you? I’m in Cumbria

[Crystalbowl in reply to Baileydog]

Hi Baileydog, I’m in Lancaster. Where are you in Cumbria?

[Baileydog in reply to Crystalbowl]

Maryport XX

[hosbay]

Hi Crystalbowl

have you had your OP2G session yet and, if so, did it help?

[Crystalbowl in reply to hosbay]

Hello Hosbay. Yes, I went last Wednesday for my oldpain2go session. It was quite interesting though not really anything I didn’t know before. I arrived somewhat stressed as I had some difficulty finding the venue (the therapist’s home) and it was a rather foggy, murky day so driving was a bit tricky. We spent about an hour discussing what had happened re the shingles and looking for reasons why I might ‘want it’ in my life. I have thought about this long and hard and can see no benefit at all. Rather the reverse, it seems to have wrecked my life. She then took me through a short, sort of visualisation process after which I did feel more relaxed and more positive. However, it was quite an expensive exercise so not one I would repeat, although this was not suggested. I have been trying to remain upbeat and positive but the pain persists. Am now looking at Low Light Laser Therapy (LLLT) which someone has suggested. Do you know anything about this?

[hosbay in reply to Crystalbowl]

Thanks for replying and letting me know your outcome. Sounds very much like what I experienced with similar lack of benefits other than to re-enforce the benefits of positive thinking, mindfulness, relaxation, exercise, rest, etc. As you say rather expensive just to remind you about those. I see that the therapist investigated/enquired whether you might have a subconscious, or other, reason to "keep the pain in your life". My therapist explored this concept with me as well. I think that possibly most of their successes come from patients who fit this criteria because if they can make them aware of this there is a good probability that there will be a successful outcome.

I am sorry I have no experience of LLLT but, reading about it, I get the impression that it is similar to other treatments like acupuncture and TENS, etc. which tend to offer temporary relief.

I do not know about , or have experience of , your condition so I do not know if the pain has reduced since the initial onset or how it varies with time.

In my own journey these past few years I have come to believe that if the source of the pain is very active then probably medication is the only real solution but, as often happens, if the source of the pain settles down a bit (usually with time and healing) then it can become manageable and bearable applying the techniques I mentioned earlier.

I fortunately I am now in a situation whereby I can control certain things and manage to live with my constant companion PAIN.

I wish you well in your quest for relief.

[Crystalbowl in reply to hosbay]

Hi again, Hosbay. Thanks for your response. I was talking to my sister the other day on the phone. She is having problems with her leg and we were discussing what the benefit could be to either of us as we have been interested in such ideas for a long time but we are both stumped on this occasion. My main aim at the moment is to deal with Post Herpetic Neuralgia pain which started after a bout of shingles about this time last year on my RH trunk. The rash went from my belly button to under my right breast and round to my spine and the pain now feels as if it is in that whole area but mainly around my waist, in my belly button and in my spine. However, it does vary quite a lot with different types of pain sensation and does get worse as the day wears on. I was taking a max dose of paracetamol plus 30 mg Amitriptyline daily. I am limited in what painkillers I can take as I also have AF and HF and had a Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Pacemaker implanted at the end of October so I am on meds for my heart. I recently stopped taking the paracetamol as I didn't think it was doing much for the pain and was probably not doing me much good longterm. I am continuing with the Amitriptyline as although I'm not sure that is doing much for the pain either, I think it does help me to sleep which is a blessing as I have been a lifelong insomniac so getting a decent night's sleep is the best thing to come out of this. But if that is my "benefit" it is rather a high price to pay for the rest of my life becoming a car crash. Someone did send me a post about a group of Osteopaths who offer LLLT but they are in London/Hertfordshire area and I live in the north west so not very practical. However, I remembered that I do know someone who has worked with light therapeutically over a long period so I contacted her and I am collecting something from her on Friday which she thinks could help which I can self-administer so we shall see. The journey continues!

[hosbay in reply to Crystalbowl]

Wow!

Didn't know about the heart problem. You really have had a lot to contend with.

I suppose the "light at the end of the tunnel" might be the possibility that the post herpes pain may yet resolve itself.

Amitriptyline does appear to assist sleeping. Other medications used to treat neurological conditions also appear to have some success with reducing neuropathic pain, for example Gabapentin or Pregabalin. In the early stages of my severe neuropathic pain I had many medications including Amitriptyline and Gabapentin but nothing seemed to help very much. I believe that many people do get some relief from Gabapentin or Pregabalin, however, so it might be worth a try.

During the time I was on these medications, however, I did find that my cognitive facilities were being compromised so I stopped them and eventually stopped all medication.

Once again I wish you success in your journey.

[Crystalbowl in reply to hosbay]

Hello again, Hosbay. Do you still have neuropathic pain and, if so, how do you manage it without meds? In my most recent discussion with my GP

about the PHN he said I could try Gabapentin, Pregabalin or Duloxetine but to a) look them up first and read up about them and b) talk to the Cardiac GP I see. Have done both now. Cardiac GP said he would be OK about me taking Gabapentin but, having read up on them and seeng on this site what people say, I think I am going to manage without them. I watched Easy Ways to Live Well on BBC1 at 8 pm last night as it was about pain and finding different ways to deal with it. They went to a garden centre and divided the 18 staff who, between them, were taking 249 pain pills (mainly, I think, paracetamol or Ibuprofen although this was not very clear) into 2 groups of 9. One Group did singing for 15 minutes together every day for 8 weeks and the other group were given placebo pills. I think 2 a day for 8 weeks also, and told they were just that, pills with no pain killing substance in them. I was very surprised about this as I know about the placebo effect but I thought it only worked if you didn’t know it was a placebo but it seems there is new research which shows it still works if you do know which seems quite amazing. Anyway, the results of this were quite impressive although, of course, we don’t know what happened after the 8 weeks. If you didn’t see the programme, it will be on iPlayer for a while. Up until the shingles last year, I used to sing in 2 choirs but I have not felt able to go to them since but I think I will seriously consider starting again to see if it does help.

[hosbay in reply to Crystalbowl]

Hi again Crystalbowl

Fist of all apologies for a couple of errors in my last hastily written reply to you. I should have said cognitive faculties not facilities and I referred to post herpes pain when I should have said post herpetic neuralgia (it was shingles you had and not herpes.

Anyway, I have damaged nerves which have not fully repaired/re-grown so I still have neuropathic pain but the intensity is variable. Generally it is almost non-existent first thing in the morning and normally increases as the day goes on. It never gets to the excruciating levels it was at when the damage first occurred. I have "listened" to my body and have come to understand the things which exacerbate the pain and learned to manage my activities, techniques, etc such that the pain build up is minimised. Everyone is different in terms of damage, physiology and behaviour, etc so what works for me might not work for others.

I am fully aware that I have damage areas in my body but, although I pay attention to my pain signals, I do not dwell on it because I have come to realise the benefit of focussing my mind on other things. Our brain "computer", although very powerful, can only deal with a finite amount of processes at any instant so keeping it busy with positive, feel-good non pain computations means that the pain computations are minimised. I am sure that you that you have found if something distracts you suddenly for a short time you will be aware afterwards that you were not conscious of pain during that time. The programme you have mentioned about a group singing is a form of this phenomenon (keeping the mind busy/distracted with feel-good activities).

Based on my own experiences I think it is a wise decision to avoid Gabapentin or Pregabalin but I do not know the nature, duration and intensity of your pain. Perhaps impairment of cognitive faculties is a reasonable price to pay for some pain reduction. Only you know.

If you click on my picture you can see earlier posts I made which may or may not be helpful.

Feel free to ask me any other questions.

Good Luck

Bob