A study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine notes that it takes an average of 17 years for health research evidence to translate into patient benefits. Although this statistic refers only to conventional medical research and not to promising self-care interventions such as the latest wellness technologies, it offers some insight into why thousands of individuals don’t bother waiting for standard medical approval to explore self-care strategies, instead finding relief in acupuncture, nutrition/food as medicine, homeopathy, hyperbaric medicine, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, light therapy and detoxification therapies such as an ozone sauna.

The high costs of conventional healthcare also help to explain why such easily accessible modalities have become “the people’s medicine” even though most continue to be called quackery. Although few have ever made it into any conventional physician’s office, all of them are offered in Southwest Florida. To keep readers up-to-date on several of the latest alternatives offered, Natural Awakenings turned to the local energy practitioners and technicians who provide them. 

Life Energy Balance (LEB) Therapy 

Maggie Wang’s LEB treatments at Miracle Massage Therapy, in Naples, combine quantum healing, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) principles of meridians, bioelectrical technology and detoxification. She uses a device which generates a microcurrent at frequencies ranging from 5 to 8 Hz that flows through her body from foot to fingers and into the body of a client. 

Maggie’s development and research has created a way for her to identify and clear a person’s blocked meridians, clearing trigger points, restoring the flow of qi, and improving blood circulation. It also releases turbid air in addition to helping to adjust the acidity level of the body. The treatment begins with the client receiving an application of a special topical cream infused with Chinese healing herbs. Additional herb-infused oils are added when needed.

“The combination of the microcurrent flowing through my hands and the Chinese herbs help the client’s body to detox and heal itself. The proper pH of the body encourages the flow of qi and blood throughout the body without the use of drugs. LEB therapy provides the benefits of acupuncture without the needles, body massage, scraping and cupping. It is safe, reliable and painless,” says Wang.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF)

 Bio-electro-magnetic-energy-regulation (BEMER) is one of the most popular PEMF systems, produced in Switzerland and sold in the U.S. to private individuals and healthcare professionals that include Jennifer Alvarez, owner of Purely You Spa, in Naples, Robyn Filkill-Berry, owner of R B Institute, in Fort Myers, and Susan Mahaney, owner of Spark Health Technologies, in Naples. 

BEMER is changing the way we think about our health, challenging our understanding of the human body, and empowering us to reach optimal physical condition in a natural, non-invasive way. Proper blood flow plays a critical role in our general health and BEMER can stimulate and improve circulation naturally in just eight minutes twice a day. For more than 20 years benefits of BEMER have impacted millions of people around the world. The FDA and Health Canada registered consumer medical device is easy-to-use, non-invasive and can improve microcirculatory blood flow by up to 30 percent.

PEMF increases the oxygen supply and nutrients to damaged cells. Low-frequency PEMF therapy has been demonstrated to improve performance, reduce pain, and decrease fatigue. BEMER therapy helps to boost the immune system, reduces stress/anxiety, cell detoxification, and improves the quality of sleep. “Additionally, this technology helps with speeding up the healing process with sports injuries, which is why professional athletes use it,” says Alvarez. 

Cardiac function, physical fitness, endurance, strength and energy, as well as concentration, mental acuity, stress reduction, relaxation and sleep all benefit from PEMF.

BioCharger

 Looking like something out of the 1985 film My Science Project, the BioCharger’s technologies actually date back to Royal Raymond Rife and Nikola Tesla. For more than 30 years, BioCharger inventor Jim Girard continued to perfect their technologies and build them into a hybrid subtle energy revitalization platform that wirelessly transmits a precisely controlled radiant energy field energy, stimulating and invigorating the entire body to balance the body, optimize and improve potential health, wellness and athletic performance. Non-invasive, it’s the world’s first software-based, solid state, mobile and cloud-compatible, high-voltage, multi-frequency resonant transformer (modified Tesla coil) that wirelessly and simultaneously transmits pulsed waves of electromagnetic, electrodynamic and photonic energy. 

“At BKS Yoga Studio, in Naples, owner Barbara King advises, “Our BioCharger uses recipes that are frequency and harmonic programs to target various areas of the body. Each recipe, including the Wuhan Assist recipe for the COVID-19 virus, features a very specific pulsed static field and provides a full spectrum of healthy frequencies while also bathing the body in multiple forms of subtle energy, including electromagnetic, light and voltage. Our library contains more than 800 recipes created to address a wide range of symptoms experienced by anyone suffering with illness, a chronic condition, or an injury.  Some examples include muscle, joint and nerve soreness, sleeping difficulties, swelling of the joints, low energy/fatigue, mental clarity, memory issues and many more.”

Whole Body Detoxification

Preventative self-care detoxification is the specialty of Susan Mahany, owner of Spark Health Technologies, in Naples, where non-medical technologies clean and recharge the body’s cells. Mahany offers a client supervised HOCATT ozone sauna, BEMER microcirculation mat and hydrogen inhalation therapy. “When these three technologies are used in sequence, they can purify the blood, circulate it at the critical microcirculatory level, and then replenish the body with hydrogen gas to reduce oxidative stress and support mitochondrial function,” says Mahany. 

The HOCATT ozone sauna boosts energy, improves performance, stimulates the immune system and enhances organ function by using eight technologies to clean cells, inactivating many viruses, bacteria and molds. Ozonated steam floods the body with super oxygen which binds to toxins and makes it easier for the body to excrete them. The HOCATT also purifies blood and lymph.

“Hydrogen gas acts as an antioxidant, reducing inflammation. You just breathe in the gas produced by the machine,” advises Mahany, noting that the hydrogen molecule is extremely small and lipid-soluble, so it can cross cell membranes and scavenge oxygen radicals protecting DNA, RNA and mitochondria. 

HBOT Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber (HBOT)

 HBOT is a simple, non-invasive and painless treatment modality that facilitates the body’s natural healing process by providing inhalation of 100 percent oxygen instead of the 20 percent concentration in the air around us. In a hyperbaric chamber, the atmospheric pressure can be increased by a factor of one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half, ensuring that the extra oxygen reaches any damaged tissue and support the body’s own healing process.

“Oxygen is almost exclusively carried by red blood cells. However, during HBOT therapy, there is not only a substantial increase in the level of oxygen, but also in its distribution throughout the body in all fluids, including plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, lymph and intracellular fluids,” explains Robyn Filkill-Berry. “This produces important, long-term therapeutic benefits that encompass hyper-oxygenation of tissues, enhanced growth of new blood vessels, increased growth of wound healing cells called fibroblasts, enhanced white blood cell activity to remove debris and bacteria and enhanced metabolic activity of previously marginally functioning cells such as brain neurons. Researchers at Tel Aviv University, in Israel, found that HBOT seems to help in restoring brain activity by offering a significant energy boost to brain cells.”

HBOT, also offered at Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine, in Fort Myers, is used in a variety of conditions, including wound healing, post-concussion symptoms, neuropathic pain, chronic stroke, toxicity, tick-borne illnesses, traumatic brain injury, consequences of cancer, sports injuries, autism and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and birth injuries.  

LED Light Therapy

 Anyone looking for an alternative way to heal the body naturally without prescription drugs and surgery might consider light therapy as an excellent option. “My AARC Pod provides photobiomodulation, (PBM Therapy) with a full body spectrum system consisting of near-infrared, red and green light. The photons of energy delivered and absorbed into the body help modulate its life processes,” notes Dona Parker, owner of Tree of Light Whole Body Rejuvenation, in Naples.  

Since 1967, more than 100 clinical trials have been conducted. Published results in PubMed note positive outcomes on pathologies as diverse as osteoarthritis, wounds, back pain, muscle fatigue, peripheral nerve injuries and strokes. “On a lighter note, research studies have also confirmed LED light therapy can improve both the thickness and elasticity of the skin cells, reducing wrinkles and cell damage. Studies have also found it helps rebuild collagen,” says Parker.

PBM Therapy helps build mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouse. As we age, our body produces fewer mitochondria. They begin to break down due to free radicals, heavy metals, oxidative stress and other reasons. “Mitochondria are one of the most important components of our cells, supplying more than 90 percent of our body’s energy needs by converting what we eat and the air we breathe into usable energy. The loss of mitochondria in our cells is what causes us to age. 

Neuro-Algorithms

 At Access Holistic Healing, in Naples, individuals can enjoy BrainTap’s neuro-algorithms that produce brainwave entrainment—the synchronization of brainwaves to a specialized sound—with no user effort. “Different than meditation, which can put the brain in an alpha state, the technology of BrainTap provides a complete spectrum of brainwave activity with calming and rejuvenating effects in 10 to 20 minutes. This serves to balance the nervous system and inoculate individuals against everyday life stressors,” says owner Michele Durham.  

Each of BrainTap’s sessions is encoded differently to ensure maximum neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, resulting in a flexible and resilient brain. The science behind this brainwave entrainment technology relies on four key elements—binaural beats (two different tones, separated in frequency by only a few Hertz, one in each ear), guided visualization, 10-cycle holographic music (sonic technology that produces a 360-degree sound environment), isochronic tones (equal intensity pulses of sound separated by an interval of silence), and gentle light pulses in the headset that travel through the retina and ear meridians, sending direct signals to the brain. 

 

Celluma Light Therapy

 Celluma Light Therapy is a LED device that improves cellular health by using light energy to improve cellular health by accelerating the repair and replenishment of compromised tissue cells. The non-invasive treatment can be used anywhere on the body, including the face, to address specific, age-related challenges, including wrinkles. “Think of it as a battery charger for compromised cells,” says Durham, who adds that the device can also be used on pets.

Celluma is also used for reducing arthritic pain, muscle and joint pain, muscle spasm and poor blood circulation. The blue light penetrates through the epidermis to subcutaneous tissue and kills acne-causing bacteria. 

Biofeedback

Blue Star Biofeedback owner Lisa Doyle-Mitchel, a certified biofeedback specialist, is trained in the L.I.F.E System, which scans nearly 7,000 energy patterns in the body. “Biofeedback is a mind–body technique in which individuals learn how to modify their physiology for the purpose of improving physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. We know that the universe is 98 percent energy and everything found within it has its own dynamic energy. Our entire body continually vibrates at a subtle level, moving energy and information through the connective tissues that encase us,” says Doyle-Mitchell who discovered the L.I.F.E. system in 2005 while searching for modalities she could use as a key part of her personal recovery from a serious illness. “It brought a voice to my subconscious relative to the underlying cause and lead me to a breakthrough. Even now, I continue to use biofeedback to maintain my well-being,” she says. 

Bio Intelligence

 Biological intelligence is concerned with how the body creates and uses knowledge to function properly and constantly teach itself how to adapt its systems to survive in an ever changing and more toxic environment while geointelligence, used by the Nexus Infinity device, refers to information derived by energetic geointelligence sound waves that retrieve images and data associated with the body. “Think of this technology like you do invisible radio waves containing information. The device uses algorithms. It can receive and send energy and frequencies to balance, harmonize and reset the body’s organs and systems,” says Ursula Kaiser. The trained Nexus Infinity expert is co-owner of two businesses, the Power of Health Center and Wave of Energies. 

“While this kind technology has totally been dismissed by conventional medicine, I know it’s worthy of consideration for individuals seeking nontraditional treatments. I used a similar device, along with food as medicine and other alternative therapies, to restore my health when I was diagnosed in 1999 with advanced ovarian and uterine cancers that spread to my lymphatic system,” says the author of My Journey to Wellness. 

In addition to these new self-care wellness technologies which involve devices that use light, energy and frequencies, let us not forget to continue using other tried and true alternatives such as homeopathy, powerful low-level laser therapy and hands-on therapies such as reiki, massage, healing touch and essential oils which have served us so well for so long. 

Local Resources:

Access Holistic Healing, 9583 Tamiami Tr. N., Ste. 215, Naples. 239-776-2211. AccessHolisticHealing.com.

BKS Yoga Studio, 2900 Tamiami Tr. N., Naples. 844-339-6230. BKSYogaStudio.com.

Blue Star Biofeedback, 239-851-4729. BlueStarBioFeedback.com.

Miracle Massage Therapy, Pebblebrooke Shopping center, 15205 Collier Blvd., Ste. 206, Naples. 239-331-7987. MiracleMassageTherapyLLC.org.

R B Institute, 13550 Reflections Pkwy., Ste. 5-502-503, Fort Myers. 

RobynBerry.com. 239-939-4646.

Root Causes Holistic Health & Medicine, 12734 Kenwood Ln Unit #84, Fort Myers. 

239-425-2900. RtCausesMd.com. 

Power of Health and Wave of Energies. 239-910-9601. PowerOfHealth.org. WaveOfEnergies.com.

Purely You Spa, 3066 Tamiami Tr. N., Ste. 302, Naples. 239-331-8266. PurelyYouSpa.com.

Spark Health Technologies, 11983 N. Tamiami Trl., Ste. 150, Naples. 802-752-6342. 

Tree of Light Whole Body Rejuvenation, 806 Neapolitan Way, Naples. 239-692-9367. TreeOfLightCenter.com.