For three years, Knollwood Village resident Donald Gehring has dealt with lack of coordination due to neuropathy, damage to the peripheral nervous system that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord to every other part of the body.

He had almost no feeling in his left foot and lower leg, which made it difficult for him to walk steadily--or to walk at all.

"I had to use a cane and my wife for support," he says. "I also took the long way around to avoid steps and curbs."

After just one outpatient Anodyne Therapy treatment at the FirstHealth Center for Rehabilitation, Gehring noticed a difference. After eight Anodyne treatments paired with balance exercises, the improvement was significant.

"I have more feeling in my left foot and leg, the bad leg, than I have in my right foot and leg, the good leg," Gehring says. "I am able to go places and do things without unsteadiness and fear. I seldom use my cane or rely on my wife for support."

Anodyne Therapy (Monochro-matic Infrared Photo Energy) is a non-invasive, drug-free way to increase local circulation to nerves and tissues and to reduce neuropathic pain. The treatment program typically consists of three therapy sessions per week over four weeks, although some patients may need more treatments.

Therapy involves a small black pad--about the size of a hand--that is 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. When the machine is turned on, the diodes emit a form of infrared light that is absorbed by hemoglobin in the blood. That causes the release of nitric oxide, which causes the blood vessels to dilate, increasing the blood flow to the area.

Ultimately, the treatment causes new blood vessels to grow in the area.

The only sensation that the patient feels is a mild warmth beginning about 15 minutes into the treatment. Karin Wacker, P.T., is the physical therapist who treats Donald Gehring. "When we use Anodyne Therapy, the patient experiences a comfortable warmth," she says. "This warmth and the infrared light itself help us reduce pain and increase circulation locally wherever the therapy pads are placed."

At first, a patient may experience some tingling or burning, a sign that blood flow is getting to the nerves. "The pain usually improves within three to six treatments as more and more blood flow returns to the area," Wacker says. "Completing therapy is the most important thing that a patient can do."

According to Wacker, patients who would be most appropriate for Anodyne Therapy are those who have been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, or balance or gait disorders associated to peripheral neuropathy. It is not appropriate for cancer patients, because of the potential for drawing the cancer to a new site, or for pregnant women. However, it can be used on children as well as on people with metal implants or pacemakers.

The treatment is now used in more than 4,000 medical facilities nationwide, including hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, physician offices and physical therapy clinics.

"This therapy has been a miracle for me," says Gehring.

For more information on First-Health Centers for Rehabilitation or Anodyne Therapy, you can call 715-1600.