New Recruit (who made a boo boo in ordering her boards)

[betty]

I finally decided to give LLLT a pop after weeks of uncertainty and ordered 2 all red (660nm) LED boards from www.heelspurs.com. I was really pleased when communicating with the man that makes the arrays to learn that I could have both boards from one power supply if I would find this convenient. I presumed (stupidly) that each board would come off the power supply in a similar fashion to how speakers are connected to a stereo and therefore would give me a great amount of flexibility in how I arranged each box in relation to each cheek…

…however, I was miffed to learn today when they were delivered that they are connected like this:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/betty7020/ledarray2.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/betty7020/ledarray3.jpg

..with only about a 2” gap between each board. I am so dense when it comes to these types of things and had a big flush as I was so angry with myself for being such a dope and not specifying the importance of the boards being flexible. I would prefer if this gap could be lengthened and wonder would it be possible to get somebody trained in electronics to do this?

If that’s not possible and I have to use it the way it is, I’m worried that as the arrays won’t be directly shining onto the area between my ear and cheekbone, will I not see any effect in this part of my face? Would it be better to do one cheek at a time and make sure the whole cheek had lights shining on it? Or does the surrounding tissue get affected by the lights also?

Another concern I have, and this sounds a bit neurotic, is that although I clearly specified that the boards be all-red (660nm) that there may have been a mistake in assembly and infra-red LEDS were used also (the original product is a mixture). I feel like it’d be insulting if I e-mailed heelpsurs to double double check, but I am a bit concerned. I can’t use the boards for a few days as I’m waiting for a step-down voltage converter to be delivered, but is there a way of telling when an LED unit is on if it’s red or infra-red?

I apologise for my silly questions, and will be sure to update on my progress when using the boards (when I work out how I'm going to use them or course!)

Betty. X

(PS: the original product looks more professional as below, but I chose the option to have them without the boxes as I need to travel with them and wanted them to be as light as posible. I have no complaint with heelspurs at all, so far I think they are very good. If you could clearly specify the design you wanted, I think you could come up with quite a handy, light and inexpensive product = £112 postage and packing to the UK.)

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/betty7020/originalarray.jpg

[Twickle Purple]

Hi Betty,

This fellow has very economical units, and does sell them with and without cases. I believe that small gap is to allow flexibility over a non flat surface only. He does tend to focus more on other body parts and is just beginning to consider application for facial units.

Judging from the size of your boards I think you would need to do each side independently as the LEDs will need to be close to the area needing treatment. You may want to fabricate something and hot glue/affix the boards to something that will be convenient for you during application. Perhaps you could repurpose the cover from a hardcover book?

A way to determine if there are NIR LEDs in the mix is to turn it on. Angle the boards away from you (so you don't look directly into it) and see if ALL the little LEDs look lit up. If they do, then your fine. NIR don't look like they are turned on because the wavelength is invisible to the naked eye.

All your questions are very good and I am sure will be helpful to those looking to try this.

Best wishes,
Twickle Purple.

[Capri]

Hey Betty, first of all good luck with the treatment, I hope you see some real improvements from it!

As for your electrics problem, it should be dead simple to rectify. All you will need is to cut the wires in two, expose the copper and insert a length of wire to suit your needs to join the two up. Ideally you should solder the wires together, but failing that you can probably buy some plastic-connectors where you insert the wire and then screw them tight. Alternatively, you could inter-twine the copper wires together with some insulating tape round them but they might break if your putting them in bags.

You can buy a role of wire for a few pence from Wilkinsons or failing that, and a little dearer, Halfords. The back of my adaptor says output 12w, I guess yours will be similar, if it is then 3amp wire is more then enough. I can't imagine a red light box needed anything more.

I've probably made this out to be 100 times more complicated then it is, its really a 10 minute DIY job at most.

As for your other problem, I think NIR lights are invisible? So if when switched on they are red, then thats fine! I maybe wrong on this, I've never tried NIR.

[betty]

Thank-you both Twickle Purple and Capri,

I am relieved to know that I will be able to tell if the lights are NIR or not (I'm sure they won't be, I'm just assuming everyone daydreams as much as I do when doing their work!)

That's a fantastic idea about using a hardbacked book Twickle, I dug out some stick on velcro earlier this evening which may work to attach the boards. I shall experiment tomorrow.

Oh I'm glad to hear it seems possible to lengthen the wire between the boards, although I think I will leave that job to somebody who knows what they are doing, I think re-wiring a plug is the most I could manage. We've got a family friend who's an electrician who I'll ask to make sure it's done properly (I hope I don't go too red explaining to him what the contraption is for though...).

Here's hoping that I'll be able to update in a good few weeks with small but positive improvements.

Betty. X