Williamsport, Pa. — Technology developed by NASA, available in just two places in all of Pennsylvania, is now being used in Williamsport to help people "reclaim" their health.
Reclaim Health, Weight Loss & Pain Management Center located at 360 Market Street, Williamsport, offers Trifecta Red Light Therapy to help patients lose weight and reduce pain and inflammation, according to Dr. Denis Gallagher, DC, CFMP.
Dr. Gallagher and his wife Jeanne Gallagher own and operate Reclaim Health, which opened Dec. 1, 2022.
Jeanne Gallagher and Dr. Denis Gallagher, owners of Reclaim Health in Williamsport.
The red light is delivered via a "pod," or bed that looks much like a tanning bed. "Treatment" consists of lying down in the bed for eight to 15 minutes.
It might seem too easy—to lie in a pod for less than a quarter of an hour—and experience results you can both measure and feel after approximately six to eight visits.
(Truly, it feels a bit like laying at the beach in the hot sun, as this writer can attest after giving it a try.)
But according to Dr. Gallagher, a chiropractor and clinical nutritionist, in many ways, it is that easy, and it has everything to do with the technology.
What is red light therapy?
Red light therapy, also called photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT), is the application of red and near infrared light to human tissue.
In simplest terms, light is the therapy to help repair the body's cells. Not just any light, but light of the right color and intensity (red light and light in wavelengths just out of the range of visibility) combined and delivered to the skin to penetrate at a cellular level in the body.
The Trifecta Red Light Therapy pod is only one of two of its kind currently in Pennsylvania. "The only other one is used by the Pittsburgh Steelers," said Dr. Gallagher. "You ever wonder how they get back on the field so quickly?" he joked.
Where other red light therapies use lower intensity bulbs, or require wrapping or technician oversight, the machine at Reclaim Health uses a laser application. Patients are left in solitude to slip into the bed and relax while the light does the work.
"It's a $50,000 bed," said Dr. Gallagher. "This is huge investment I made in community because it works on two different levels. It works in pain management and works on body contouring."
How does it work for weight loss?
"The red light opens up the fat cell, which allows it to drain. It drains about 95% of the contents," Dr. Gallagher explained. After a short amount of time in the pod, a patient steps on a vibration plate, which essentially shakes the fluid out of the lymphatic system, and through the liver.
Many patients want an alternative to surgery, Gallagher said, and this is a non-invasive, nonsurgical, pain-free approach to fat loss.
While patients like to lose pounds, the red light technology is FDA-certified to help people lose inches. "It helps to decrease the circumference of the waist. And it does," he said. "It does the arms, it will do the thighs, too."
The body contouring is permanent, provided the patient also follows a healthy eating and exercise plan. To help keep patients on track, Dr. Gallagher leans on his clinical nutrition background to guide them through lifestyle changes that include diet.
"We have a we have a program called Chirothin. It's a 42-day program, generally followed under doctor's supervision, through myself," Dr. Gallagher said. "I'm with them every day," he said, helping with the nutritional plan. After the 42 days, a patient moves to a maintenance plan.
How does it work for pain management?
Cells that are fatigued from external influences, for example cigarette smoke, poor diets, chemicals, viruses, or injury, are under "oxidative stress," or an imbalance that keeps a cell from naturally detoxifying. Light properly applied to those cells can trigger a reduction in oxidative stress, increase circulation, and increase cellular energy and function, according to Dr. Gallagher.
The Trifecta "pod" resembles a tanning bed, but delivers a type of light therapy that is not offered to consumers anywhere else in Pa. (unless you're a pro football player).
Red light therapy is FDA-approved to address chronic inflammatory conditions including arthritis, fibromyalgia, polymyalgia, and chronic fatigue. Dr. Gallagher said he also recommends it for patients with lyme disease, neuropathy, alopechia, and people recovering from injury.
It seems like the therapy could benefit just about anyone, and that is pretty accurate, said Dr. Gallagher, whose oldest patient currently is 87. However, red light therapy is not recommended for pregnant people, those with epilepsy, cancer, or on medications that cause light sensitivity.
An interest in a relaxed environment
Dr. Gallagher practiced as a chiropractor for 20 years in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area, seeing nearly 100 patients a day. A long-distance relationship with his wife, and the desire to set up in a less busy environment prompted him to relocate to Williamsport.
Reclaim Health is in the Masonic building, suite 202, in Williamsport.
With the office established in the Masonic Building downtown, painted by Jeanne Gallagher in soothing blue tones, the pair are on a roll. They're open seven days a week to accommodate schedules.
"When when a female patient comes in, I take care of them," said Jeanne. "So before they get in the first visit, I measure their neck, their shoulders, their bustline, their waist, their hips, their upper thigh, and then their calf. They get in for 12 minutes. They come out, I measure them again, and usually they lose between a half an inch to two, and we've already seen four, up to five," she said.
Jeanne explained that it's a cumulative measurement, not a full four or five inches off one area at one time. But some patients have lost up to 30 pounds during the six week duration.
In another instance, one of their patients came in seeking treatment for alopecia, or hair loss, and she reported remarkable improvement in her chronic back pain, for which she wasn't actively seeking treatment.
Medical insurance does not cover this type of treatment, which costs $50 per session in the bed. Dr. Gallagher offers the first session for $37.
The business includes a number of testimonials on their Facebook page, including John Young of Williamsport, who said, "Maximum results come with maximum effort. The combination of disciplined eating, exercise, and this technology helped me crack the code of reducing that stubborn mid-section fat that I've struggled with as I aged."
"If pain is the issue, injections don’t get rid of the problem," said Dr. Gallagher, "they only mask it. This targets the cells, and promotes healing."
For more information call 570-419-6266 or visit the Reclaim Health Center website.
