The Verjú laser system is made up of (6) low level laser beams that sweep the area of concern for the appearance of cellulite treatment period of 15 minutes (15 minutes per area).  The region is then massaged with the Erchonia percussion device for two minutes per area treated.  For body contouring, treatment period of 30 minutes (15 minutes per area front and back).  There is no pain involved, no heating of the tissue, no incisions and patients can continue their daily routines immediately following their session. No diet and exercise is required, but should be encouraged for maximum benefit. The Doctor will determine the number of treatments depending on their assessment of what grade level the cellulite is.

-Most Advanced Treatment for the Appearance of Cellulite.
-Pain Free Procedure with No Downtime Afterwards.
-No Side Effects or Adverse Events.
-Results in as Little as Two Weeks.

 

 

Verju Sizzle Video – Body Contouring from Erchonia Corporation on Vimeo.

Introducing the Newest Line of Cold Lasers from Erchonia®

One revolutionary new handheld laser device with three FDA 510(k)market clearances. This dual-diode laser features an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI), with a sleek new cord-free design. With user definable channels and preset protocols, cold laser has just become more flexible than ever before. Experience the freedom of this incredible new technology— XLR8 your patient’s recovery!

PL5000 Training Video is now available online!

To better serve our customers, the PL5000 Training Video is now available for download on our Vimeo video channel.

 

Erchonia’s new Verjú laser system will be featured on the national syndicated daytime television program, The Doctors. Please check your local listings to tune in. The Verjú laser system will be demonstrated and discussed as the new FDA-cleared, safe and effective solution for the non-invasive treatment of

cellulite on the thighs, buttocks and lower abdomen and for non-invasive body contouring of the waist, hips, and thighs.

For more information on the Verjú laser system, please visit www.verju.com or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/erchonia or to set up an appointment or webinar, please contact us at 888.242.0571.

To find a Verjú laser system Physician, please visit www.verju.com/find-a-provider/

This short testimonial with Dr. John Mainiero reviews the success he has had in selling the R2Ls in his clinic, Mainiero Family Chiropractic and Wellness in Vineland, NJ. Dr. John Mainiero became a distributor for the R2L in June 2015 after using Erchonia’s other proven modalities for over 15 years.
www.doctormainiero.com/

 

Spring is a time for rebirth; a time to look at your health anew. Rejuvenate your health and well-being and flourish as much as the flowers and nature around you with these springtime wellness tips.

Soothe Winter’s Aches

The sun and warm weather of spring are a welcome relief for those suffering from arthritis and rheumatism.

Think of the tissues around a joint as a balloon. When the air pressure is low, as it is in cold weather, the tissue expands, putting extra pressure on the joints. People with arthritis can actually feel changes in atmospheric pressure, which is how some people purportedly predict the weather in their bones.

Spring’s warmer temperatures and higher pressure allow the tissues around your joints to relax. Spring’s sunshine isn’t the only healing light for your pain, though.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) makes use of cold laser light to stimulate healing on a physiological level in your cells. During treatment, a clinician applies a low-intensity laser to the bothersome joints. The photons can penetrate 2 to 5 centimeters into your skin, passing through the dermis, epidermis, and subcutaneous tissues to the joint itself. The cells absorb the laser light. It is believed that the light is converted to usable energy, initiating a series of processes that heal injured tissue and reduce inflammation and pain.

Beat Spring Allergies

The one downside to spring is the sudden upsurge in allergies. An estimated 40 million Americans suffer from  seasonal allergies, which have a variety of symptoms but are usually denoted by a congested nose and watery eyes. Allergies often start in youth, but it’s not uncommon for them to develop later in life.

Spring in particular causes allergies thanks to:

• Pollen from grass, trees, flowers, and weeds
• Mold spores
• Animal dander
• Allergens from dust mites, cockroaches, and other insects

Start by eliminating as many allergens as you can. Make sure you replace the filters of your HVAC system to keep dust and allergens to a minimum. If you plan to mow the grass or perform some manual labor outside, wear a face mask to keep dust and pollen away from your mouth, nose, and eyes. Check your weather for pollen alerts and avoid windy, high-pollen days when you’re planning any outdoor excursions.

For the inevitable allergens that make their way into your system, try some natural remedies. Neti pots flush out mucus and other irritants with a saline solution. This won’t actually eliminate pollen but it can minimize allergy symptoms and congestion. Some people have also found acupuncture to be helpful.

If worse comes to worst, consult an allergist for to update your allergy medication.

Put a Spring in Your Step

Now that the sun is out and the days are longer, there are more opportunities to get fit and have fun while you’re at it. Here are some tips to get back into the habit of working out:

• Take it slow. To avoid injury and discouragement, underestimate your abilities in the beginning and gradually increase intensity, whether it’s mileage, time, or amount of weight.
• Consider cross training. Cross training allows you to maintain a relatively high intensity level while varying your workouts enough to avoid injuries from overuse.
• Train with others. Training with others who are at a similar fitness level can keep you progressing at a steady pace.
• Always remember RICE. RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Combine to relieve muscle soreness in the event that you do go overboard.

Fill up on Seasonal Produce

Spring is best known for the resplendent selection of delicious fruits and vegetables.  Some of spring’s seasonal specialties include:

• Asparagus – These familiar spears are packed with a variety of nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, and K, fiber, folate, and chromium. Asparagus is also one of the top antioxidant-containing foods.
•  Peas – These tiny green spheres are rich in fiber, protein, and lutein, an antioxidant that keeps your eye cells healthy. Cooked peas offer more iron, magnesium, and phosphorous than raw peas.
• Rhubarb – Low in sodium and saturated fat while providing a ton of vitamin C (integral to your immune system) and vitamin K (considered a powerful aid against diabetes), rhubarb is also a surprisingly good source of calcium.
• Strawberries – These bright red beauties have a ton of fiber and manganese, but the most surprising quality is their vitamin C. Just a cup of strawberries offers about 150% your daily vitamin C value.
• Apricots – Apricots are available in late spring. They offer a good source dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Spring is a transitional period signifying love, warmth, and new beginnings. Take advantage of the renewed happiness and beauty around you and shake off the cobwebs of winter. Above all, don’t forget to have fun or smell the roses.

 

E. Solarte¹, A. Reyes¹, J. A. Montoya¹, J. Arroyabe2, R. Neira³

¹Grupo de Optica Cuántica, Departamento de Física 
Universidad del Valle, A. A. 25360, Cali, Colombia 
²Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali 
³Centro Médico Imbanaco, Cali

SUMMARY
Recent studies show an apparent effect of small doses of the irradiation with laser light 635 nm, made immediately before liposculpture interventions, which use the tumescent technique. These effects are macroscopically affirmed by a freely fat extraction and microscopically appear as the disrupture of the cellular membrane, which facilitates the exit of fat. In order to observe the effect in separated adipocytes, dense dissolutions of adipocytes, separated by centrifugalization, were prepared in tumescence solution. The dissolutions were irradiated in vitro with laser light (Laser Diode, 635 nm). Visible light transmission spectra were studied for different dissolution concentrations and different irradiation doses.

INTRODUCTION
Clinical observations [1, 2] made from the end of 1999, presumably show that the external application of laser radiation, previous to interventions of liposuction by the tumescent technique [3] presented very interesting results. Demonstrating that the fat exit was facilitated due to an interaction between the light and the cells. The microscopic observation shown membrane pores and fat drops enter the interstitial space. At the same time, the other structure like interstitial space, connective tissue and capillary cells, are conserved. With the purpose of corroborating a possible irradiation effect on the fat distribution, image studies by MRI were performed [1].

With the purpose of explaining the mentioned effect, and to study the laser radiation pagation through the tissue, we started (2000) a research work in our quantum optics laboratory at the Universidad del Valle. Transmittance studies of visible light in dissolutions of fatty cells have been made [1, 2, 4]; the propagation of the Laser Light through adipose tissue samples has been studied [5] and experiments on laser light diffraction have been made [6] using thin adipose tissue samples. In this work the results of optical transmittance measurements in dissolutions of adipocytes are reported. Transmittance spectra were recorded for different concentration and different irradiation powers and irradiation times.

MATERIALS & METHODS
Dissolutions of centrifuged adipocyte cells are used as a reliable tool and the mixture was prepared for tumescent infiltration. Defined masses of concentrated adipocytes were placed in soft polyethylene flasks that contained given volumes of the infiltration solution. For this case, portions of 1.8 g were taken and then they were dissolved in 40 milliliter of solution. The mixture was remained to rest for 20 minutes and the exudate was extracted with a syringe to the spectrometer cuvettes. The rest time determines the dissolution concentration. A sample of infiltration solution serves as reference for the transmission spectra. The transmittance spectra were taken for the sample without exposure to laser radiation and successive spectra were recorded as it was exposed to the laser radiation during fixed consecutive exposure times by a fixed laser power. The laser used was a semi-conductor clinical laser, emitting at 635 nm, with a power of 3.55 mW.

For the spectra acquisition a miniature diffraction grid, optical fiber spectrometer system with a four-way cuvette holder was used. The include detection system was a linear array of 2048 CCD elements. The spectra were accumulated in a normal PC and they were processed later using a suitable data and graphics processing software.

Two types different types of irradiations procedures were utilized, taking advantage of the four-way cuvette holder. In a first sequence of measurement, low density dissolutions were irradiated in the cuvette, outside the spectrometer cuvette holder, placing the laser beam directly on the liquids upper surface using a laser power of 3.55 mW. The transmittance spectrum was then recorded.

On a second series, an optical fiber was used to directly irradiate dense dissolutions in the cuvette, within the camera of the spectrometer, with a power of 300 microW, observing the transmittance signal simultaneously. The second type of measurements were made with the purpose of observing the behavior of high concentration and the low radiation doses that presumably are within the radiated organism.

RESULTS 
The spectra of samples directly radiated with the laser, have the form shown in Figure 1. It is observed that the transmittance increases with the irradiation time, and saturation is reached, with maximum values of about 27%. This behaviour was observed [ 1, 2, 4 ] previously in dilutions obtained from the tissue exudates, when an adipose tissue block was under hydration in the infiltration solution. All all these cases transmittance changes of about the 10% where obtained.

For the second type of measurements, a behavior similar to the previous one is observed, only that in this case the saturation happens in longer times. Transmittance increasing was also observed during the irradiation period. The main difference comparing with the low density result is in which great variations of the transmittance happened. To detect the changes, the ratios between the transmittance of the irradiated sample to the non-irradiated one where studied.

Figure 2 shows the relative transmittance of a sample radiated with 300 microW of laser power. The transmittance variations reach 3 times the respective value of the non-radiated samples, a change of 300% could be determined.

Figure 1. Transmittance spectra for a low dense dissolution of adipocytes, radiated directly with a laser diode at 635 nm, 3.55 mW.

Figure 2. Relative transmittance for a dense dissolution of adipocytes, laser radiated with an optical fiber, about 635 nm, 300 microW.

DISCUSSION
From the physical point of view, it is to consider that the adipocytes are great cells and of almost spherical form of 100 microns of diameter. Scattering or dispersion effects and absorption can explain the dissolution opacity or turbidity. For the used wavelengths (0.4 to 0.85 microns) the effects of Mie scattering are predominant on those of Rayleigh scatter and therefore the amount. The form and size of the centers of radiation scatterers defines the behavior of the light. If now, by some process, the form or the number of mean points of impact is altered, these alterations appreciably modify the distribution of the light and therefore the average transmittance. Transmission spectroscopy observations indicate that when irradiating the samples, the transmittance increased denoting the variation in the number or the form of the scatterers exist. These observations are consistant with the ones made by electronic microscopy that show morphological changes of the adipocytes induced by irradiation.

CONCLUSION
The results obtained by transmission spectroscopy allow observing an effect of the irradiation adipose cells, which is translated in changes of the optical transmittance of the irradiated dissolutions, measured in relation to the transmittance of the non-radiated dissolutions. Variations until of 300% in the transmittance were observed for dense dilutions and low radiation doses. This fact is an indicator of variations in the size, the form or the number of radiation scatterers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors (ESR, MAR, JAM) thank to the University of the Valley for the support to make this work and to attend the CNF. All the authors thank to the CIAT and the Medical Center Imbanaco for the collaboration for this project, and COLCIENCIAS for the financial support under the 1106-05-10107 project.

REFERENCES
1. R. Neira, J. Arroyave, H. Ramírez, C. Ortiz, Solarte, F. Sequeda, M. I. Gutiérrez. Low Laser Level Assisted Lipoplasty: To new Technique., Presented at the World Congress on Liposuction Surgery, Michigan, October 2000.
2. R. Neira, C. Ortiz, J. Arroyabe, H. Ramírez, M.i. Gutiérrez, To Reyes, And Solarte. 2000. Procc. Vii National Optics Meeting. Sept. 25 -29, 2000, Armenia, Colombia. To be published.
3. J. To Klein. Tumescent Technique. Amj Cosmet Surg 4, 263, (1987).
4. R. Neira, J. Arroyabe, M. To Reyes, And Solarte. Irradiation effects on Adipose cell Dilutions.. Personal for publication to Laser Med. Surg. (2001).
5. M.s To Reyes, F. Rebolledo, J. To Montoya, C. Ortiz, And Solarte, R. Neira. Dispersión de Coherent Luz by Fatty Weave samples. Personal for presentation to XIX the CNF, Manizales, September 2001.
6. To F. Rebolledo, M. To Reyes, J. To Montoya, And Solarte. Difracción and Dispersion of Coherent Light by random difractores and their application to the dispersion by Fatty Weave. Personal for presentation to XIX the CNF, Manizales, September 2001.

Just like humans, dogs and cats are susceptible to a wide range of diseases and disorders. One of the most common ailments in older dogs and cats is arthritis.  A  reported one in five adult dogs suffer from chronic arthritis, while cats older than 14 have an 82 percent chance of having arthritis

Just because your favorite furry friend is suffering from joint aches doesn’t mean he can’t still enjoy a fun, fulfilling life. Let’s look at some ways you can relieve your pet’s joint pains.

Physical Therapy

Many pet owners turn to surgical procedures in hopes of easing their pets’ pains, but invasive surgeries often come at a high cost and lead to a great deal of downtime as your pet heals. Fortunately, there are treatments that can comfort your pup’s aches without a scalpel:

• Low-level laser therapy – Also known as cold laser therapy, this therapy uses low-intensity lasers to relieve joint pains and speed up wound healing. The laser, which is really a concentrated form of light, penetrates your dog or cat’s skin, reaching the achey joints. Cells absorb the light and turn it into usable energy that can go toward reducing pain and inflammation. The therapy has been applied to animals of all shapes, sizes, and species, from guinea pigs to horses.

• Massage – Massage is easy to learn and offers a pleasant experience for you and your pet. Through regular massage, you can slow down joint degeneration, reduce tension in the muscles, and stimulate circulation.

1. Start by warming up your dog’s body with long, gentle strokes from head to tail.

2. “Walk” your fingers down the spine and massage in small circles on both sides of the spine.

3. Knead lightly over tighter muscle groups. Your dog will particularly enjoy kneading around the neck and shoulders.

4. Massage the paws with gentle squeezing. Pull the toes slowly. Some dogs have more sensitive feet than others, so don’t force it if your pup isn’t fond of his paws being touched.

5. Move your way from the feet, up the legs, to the hip and buttocks using long, gentle strokes.

6. Avoid working directly on arthritic joints, instead massaging the muscles around the affected areas. Lightly stretch your pet’s limbs to help their flexibility and mobility.

7. End the massage by rubbing the ears, inside and out.

Exercise

Regular exercise is actually good for arthritis. The less your pet moves, the stiffer his joints get. Sedentary animals are also more likely to be overweight, which can add extra stress on the joints and cause more pain.

Some tips to keep in mind when working out with your pets:

• Warm up a minute or two with a gentle walk to reduce cramps and sprains and to prevent injuries.
• If your pet needs some encouragement to move his joints, try positive incentives—a healthy treat and plenty of affection.
• Watch for any signs of overexertion, which can include panting, abnormal gait, or signs of pain. Stop and let your pet rest.
• Just as important as warming up, cooling down allows your pet to relax and gradually reduce his resting heart rate. Cool down periods also allow for the removal of lactic acid from the muscles. This is a good time to give your pet a massage.
• Avoid any exercises that require your dog or cat to leap, jump, or make sudden, quick turns.

As long as you take it easy, you can generally take your pet on any type of exercise. Some exercises to start with:

• Walking – Just make sure you avoid hills and rough surfaces.
• Hiking – Aim for short hikes on smooth trails.
• Games – Ten minute intervals of fetch, hide-and-seek, or Frisbee tossing offer plenty of fun and exercise.
• Swimming – This is one of the best exercise as the water supports your pet’s weight and prevents sudden movements.

Diet and Nutrition

Your pets need a diet consisting of high-quality foods without artificial preservatives, artificial colors, and other harmful additives. 

 

The main thing to avoid is carbohydrates. Specifically avoid grains and vegetables in the nightshade family. Grains can cause fluctuations in your pet’s blood sugar levels, which can lead to swelling. Nightshade veggies, which include tomatoes, egg plant, and potatoes, contribute to inflammation.

Some nutrients that you should definitely include in your pet’s diet:

• Glucosamine and chondroitin are used by the body to make cartilage, repair damage, and keep the joints lubricated.
• Vitamin C is best known for helping the immune system but it supports the creation of collagen, the protein that forms the structures in cartilage and ligaments.
• Vitamin D allows for the metabolism and absorption of calcium, contributing to the rebuilding of cartilage and joint tissues. Dogs with thicker coats or a lack of adequate sun may suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Sardines packed in water offer an excellent source of the vitamin.
• Omega 3 fatty acids combat the inflammatory effects of omega 6 fatty acids. The best source of omega 3 fatty acids is wild salmon oil.

Before you change or supplement any part of your pet’s diet, talk to your vet.

Life Around the House

Along with some lifestyle changes, you can take several easy steps to turn your pet’s home into a comfortable, inviting environment.

• Elevate water and of food bowls. Bending down to eat or drink causes extra strain to your pet’s neck and shoulders.
• Invest in an orthopedic bed. It should be large enough to give your pet room to stretch, roll, and get comfy. Avoid any beds that could make it hard for your pet to get in or out.
• Beware slick floors. Weak muscles and diminished flexibility can make marble, hardwood, laminates, and other slick floor coverings seem like fresh ice to your pets. Lay rugs, carpet, bath mats, or even yoga mats in areas that your pets frequent. Take special care with slick stairs.

Arthritis can be a big pain, but with love and care, your pet can enjoy all that life has to offer. If your pet could use an extra helping hand with his arthritis, consult your veterinarian.