For people suffering from neuropathy—those who feel like their feet are on fire; or numb, like they are walking barefoot in the snow—Greg Cox, physical therapist and owner of the Light Therapy Center, can help.

According to Cox, neuropathy is common. About 20 percent of senior citizens experience this condition in which sensory and motor nerves to the feet stop functioning. The result is pain or numbness, as well as trips, stumbles and falls. Traditional treatments, Cox says, have been prescription medications, “that only reduced the perception of symptoms; like a pain medication, but did not regenerate the needed nerve function. That was the only choice."

But now there’s light therapy. Light therapy, also known as cold laser therapy, “utilizes light waves that are therapeutic, penetrate tissues and actually stimulate cellular metabolism,” Cox said.

The process uses focused beams of light in an FDA-approved device to address the condition on a cellular level and stimulate nerve regeneration and repair.

The therapy, which Cox says is safe and totally painless, has been used for almost 20 years in Europe and Canada, and for the last six to seven years in the United States.

Some patients may be reluctant to try the treatment, Cox says, because they mistakenly perceive a laser as a cutting device. “Lasers can also be therapeutic,” Cox said. “Once patients try light therapy, they start to feel the benefits in return in sensation, and how soothing it is.”

Cox decided to start the Light Therapy Center after working with patients with balance disorders and neuropathy for the past 12 years. “Many of these seniors have neuropathy that contributes to their balance problem. So I decided to focus on neuropathy because it’s been fairly neglected in the medical scope of treatable conditions.”

While most of Cox’s patients are baby boomers on up to seniors, he does have some young patients who are suffering neuropathy as the result of chemical exposure, or a toxic drug reaction, as from chemotherapy.

Also about a third of all types of neuropathy is related to diabetes — now considered an epidemic because of increasing rates of obesity.

In addition to laser therapy, the center also uses other modalities, like micro-current electrical stimulation, which helps keep muscles strong; and exercise to help restore balance that’s lost from neuropathy.

For more information on the Medicare-certified rehabilitation clinic, call 310-860-9646.