Roughly 35 million Americans are living with kidney disease, nearly 1 million Americans are experiencing kidney failure, but only half of this number are on dialysis. (1) Why, you may wonder? The reality is that the process of blood dialysis or Hemodialysis (HD) can be excruciatingly painful, anxiety inducing, and tends to lessen the overall quality of life for its patients. So, the quintessential question is, what measures can be taken to lessen the pain and increase the quality of life for those receiving HD treatment?
The research of a rigorous peer reviewed paper that was published by the National Library of Medicine demonstrates positive potential clinical use of infrared light for HD patients. The results from this study are a marvel to both those receiving HD treatment or considering receiving it, as well as for the medical community at large.
Every day medicine moves closer to understanding and implementing the power of light to heal, as well as to aid in mechanistic medical treatments both for the very ill as well as for those looking to maintain health and wellness.
So, how exactly was the study on HD patients conducted, what were the results, and can any of the findings positively alter the quality of life for those receiving, seeking HD treatments? You may be amazed to discover how infrared light may lessen the impact of pain at incision points, increase circulation, as well as ameliorate overall health for those receiving HD treatments.
If you, or someone you love is currently living with some form of kidney disease and is avoiding HD out of fear of the painful procedure, be sure to talk to your medical practitioner about including infrared light exposure during treatments to lessen discomfort, improve efficacy, as well as to decrease anxiety.
What is Hemodialysis and Who Suffers From It?
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Waiting For Kidney Transplant
- Kidney Failure (1)
If your kidneys are healthy, then there may be a good chance that you rarely think of them or even feel them. More than just urine makers, the reality is that these mighty organs are intricate to human survival. Sitting on the left and right side of your lower back the kidneys have a multitude of functions, but a critical aspect of their role is to clean the waste from the blood, and then detoxify this from the body by removing the unnecessary or harmful substances via the urine.
If anything occurs in life to damage or weaken the kidneys then they are no longer able to clean the blood, in which case the technology of dialysis is used. Hemodialysis (HD) is a form of dialysis and is an artificial way of cleaning the blood. The process in its most simplified manner involves the removal of blood from the body, cleaning it, and then returning the cleaned blood back to the body. In more scientific terms according to a paper published by the Cleveland clinic this is how dialysis is described.
“The dialyzer is the part of the hemodialysis machine that filters your blood. Your blood flows through tiny mesh tubes inside the dialyzer’s core. Waste products and excess fluids in your blood pass through the mesh tubes into dialysate. Dialysate is a fluid that consists of water, salts and electrolytes.Your filtered blood returns to your body. The dialyzer then gets rid of the dialysate. The dialysate has your blood’s waste products and excess fluid.” (1)
For anyone who has experienced kidney failure, is waiting for a kidney transplant, or experiences chronic kidney disease may need to use hemodialysis. Depending on individual circumstances hemodialysis occurs in clinical settings, and sometimes from home. (1)
So, if your kidneys cannot do the work of cleaning the toxins from your blood, then an artificial machine is used, but how does this have anything to do with infrared light?
Find out what the research teaches us about the use of infrared light for patients undergoing hemodialysis.
The Clinical Research Examining Far-Infrared Therapy on the Improvement for Needle Pain in Hemodialysis Patients
- Decrease Needle Pain
- Improve Vascular Access Blood Flow
- Relieve HD Anxiety
Unless you have lived through hemodialysis, you are probably not aware of how damaging needle-related pain can be to the quality of life for these patients. If, however, you have lived through this, or if you know of someone who has, you know the excruciating pain that these individuals must live through just to survive this medical procedure.
The National Library of Medicine published a paper entitled ‘Dialysis Needle-Related Distress: Patient Perspectives on Identification, Prevention, and Management’ (3) describes the details of the experience for HD patients here.
“Needle-related distress is common among people receiving hemodialysis and affects quality of life and treatment decisions, yet little evidence exists to guide management… It is an often-hidden element of the hemodialysis experience. Patients learn to tolerate it as an inevitable part of dialysis for survival.” (3)
There is a strong need to find ways to improve the quality of life for those living through HD treatment, and several scientists embarked on a mission to find out if exposure to infrared light could lessen the experience of needle-related pain, and therefore improve the quality of life for HD patients.
Included in this research paper was cited another study that also focused on HD patients with an emphasis on improved circulation for these individuals as a result of infrared light exposure.
This paper, also published by the National Library of Medicine entitled ‘Clinical utility of far-infrared therapy for improvement of vascular access blood flow and pain control in hemodialysis patients’ (4) performed research on HD patients to find out if infrared light could alleviate distress for these individuals.
Due to the fact that far infrared light increases blood flow to the skin, improves cardiovascular function, and therefore circulation, the researchers were hopeful that exposure to this light frequency may reduce pain levels and needling efficacy for HD patients.
The Study Protocols and Procedures
The original study mentioned followed this protocol. It included a total of fifty subjects who were divided into two separate groups. All of the participants were outpatients who were engaged in HD treatments. Half of the group were exposed to infrared light during the HD process, while the other half were not.
“This prospective clinical trial enrolled 25 outpatients who maintained HD with arteriovenous fistula. The other 25 patients were matched as control with age, sex, and diabetes.” (3)
The study continued for a total of 12 months with exposure to infrared light for forty minutes, three times per week. Some of the patients dropped out of the study, or were transferred to another facility. Most patients remained for the entire year.
The researchers used two types of tests to measure the results of the study: A subjective pain test that was scored by the patients themselves, as well as an objective test called a Qa. (3)
A Qa test measures the vascular access point and is essential for the proper function of HD treatment. With ongoing needling during HD, this is a huge concern for the medical community and for patients undergoing this treatment. (4,5)
*** A Qa measurement is the preferred way to assess vascular access (VA) (4)
So, can exposure to infrared light on a regular basis improve the level of pain experienced by HD patients, and can exposure to this light frequency improve vascular access for needling?
The Results of the Study: Qa Test & Subjective Pain Experienced
For the group of subjects who underwent the infrared therapy during HD, Qa was positively impacted. This is a huge advancement since vascular access points are an intrinsic aspect of HD treatment. Here is what the researchers write about the outcome from Qa testing during the research.
“The change of Qa in patients with FIR therapy was increased by 3 months and maintained this change until 1 year, whereas that in controls was decreased.” (3)
***FIR= Far infrared
Not only was Qa measurement improved with exposure to infrared therapy, but so was the subjective experience of pain. The patients who were receiving infrared therapy during HD reported a 50% reduction in pain compared to their counterparts who were not receiving the infrared light therapy. Here is how the researchers report this data.
“In the present study, FIR therapy decreased the needling pain score from 4 to 2 during 12 months.” (3)
Not only did the infrared therapy help to decrease pain, it also lowered blood pressure for those receiving HD treatments.
“A single session of FIR increased the BT and tended to increase Qa and decrease systolic pressure.”
***BT= Bleeding time
The results of this study demonstrate that the use of infrared light therapy during HD treatments can lessen the experience of pain, improve access points for needling, and even lower blood pressure. This is very important given how excruciating the experience is for patients receiving HD treatment.
“HD patients have a lower quality of life and more stress than patients with chronic kidney disease without dialysis. Fear of needling and pain are major barriers to HD.” (3)
The fear and anxiety surrounding HD is so severe for patients that many will choose to not receive dialysis even if they are living with serious kidney disease. Infrared light is non-invasive, and easily incorporated into many different treatments.
The clinical data suggests that blood flow is so remarkably improved in individuals undergoing HD treatments when they incorporate infrared light, so what might the effects be for someone who is not undergoing treatment, but still does require dialysis?
Based on the Clinical Studies on Patients Living With Hemodialysis How Can Infrared Light Improve Quality of Life?
The inclusion of infrared therapy for patients receiving HD treatments was so remarkable during the research, that it poses a question for the greater population. If blood flow is so dramatically improved in kidney diseased patients, can it also be used in healthy individuals? The answer is yes.
Improving blood circulation is important for everyone no matter what health conditions one may or may not be living with. This study also suggests that exposure to infrared light can also reduce pain, which may be relevant for those living with issues of chronic pain, such as cases of fibromyalgia, or rheumatoid arthritis. Given the severity of pain experienced by HD patients, it can be deduced that the same mechanism that reduces pain for these individuals with exposure to infrared light may also be applied to the population at large.
Furthermore, this study demonstrated that both anxiety and blood pressure was lowered for HD patients when infrared light was included. (3) This could mean that incorporating infrared light into daily life could reduce anxiety and blood pressure.
Certainly, for those undergoing HD treatment, before using infrared light outside of a clinical setting, please consult with your medical provider.
If you are not receiving HD treatment and would like to include infrared light therapy into your lifestyle, consider using an infrared sauna. While there is the possibility of reducing pain, improving circulation, and reducing blood pressure with an infrared sauna, it is also possible to place some stress on the kidneys with excessive sweating if electrolytes, minerals, and fluids are not actively replaced. Therefore, be sure to stay well hydrated at all times if you choose to use a sauna regularly.
If you choose to use an infrared sauna, or even just experience infrared light (which is experienced as heat), please increase your healthy fluid consumption and ensure that you include electrolytes and minerals. Your kidneys need lots of healthy fluids to operate at their maximum capacity.
If you, or someone you love has been putting off HD treatment out of anxiety and fear of the painful experience then please be sure to ask your medical practitioner about the possibility of including infrared light into your treatments.
Sources Cited:
- https://www.kidneyfund.org/all-about-kidneys/quick-kidney-disease-facts-and-stats
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/24472-hemodialysis
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10719600/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4811988/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2974400/
- file:///C:/Users/Windows/Downloads/X2013251408005407.pdf