November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. It’s an important time to come together and bring attention to diabetes, a disease that occurs when a person’s blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high. Approximately 37 million Americans and 537 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. That’s 1 in 10 people and the number is expected to rise over the coming years to over 780 million by 2045.
Diabetes has a wide range of symptoms and can lead to leg or foot amputations, blindness, kidney failure, strokes and has been linked to some types of cancer.
As we bring our thoughts to diabetes, we think of people currently living with diabetes and focus on the symptoms between diabetes and poor circulation, as CELLIANT is a bioceramic infrared technology that improves local circulation.
Many of the symptoms of diabetes that develop are the result of poor circulation. This is because a high glucose count in the bloodstream for prolonged periods is known to narrow or cause blockages in the arteries. This is known as peripheral artery disease (PAD) and means that less blood oxygen reaches the tissues, especially in the arms, hands, legs and feet, causing further health conditions and is quite painful, greatly affecting quality of life.
Some of the symptoms of poor circulation for people with diabetes include:
These symptoms, especially untreated, can increase in severity over time.
Yes, increasing blood flow is an important part of managing or reducing the symptoms of diabetes and the complications that come from poor circulation and the development of peripheral artery disease.
There are a number of recommendations for people with diabetes to help them increase circulation. These include:
Along with the firmly established recommendations of exercise, diet, medications and quitting smoking, there is also encouraging research suggesting that other therapies, like compression therapy, light therapy and infrared therapy, may also help manage or reduce circulatory symptoms for people with diabetes.
Compression leggings and socks can help people with diabetes to improve circulation in their legs and feet, helping to mitigate the pain and may reduce the risk of ulcers and nerve damage. Compression increases circulation by squeezing your lower legs and feet, helping the veins return blood to your heart and prevent the pooling of blood and swelling.
Along with compression, there is growing evidence to suggest that infrared therapy may help people with diabetes manage circulatory symptoms by increasing circulation in the areas where applied.
Infrared therapy can be thought of as a subset of light therapy that is really beginning to gain traction as people look for ways to boost their health and wellness. Light therapy uses the different wavelengths of light, that the human eye sees as different colors for the visible light spectrum, to achieve results, largely based on how deeply the light energy can penetrate the skin and tissue of people.
Infrared is energy that is on the same light spectrum but has a longer wavelength than visible light so it’s an energy that can’t be seen by the human eye. Within infrared there is near, mid, and far infrared which refers to the wavelength of the infrared energy. Near infrared is closest to red light, while far infrared is furthest from visible light.
CELLIANT is an infrared technology that is used as an ingredient in a wide range of textile products including IR apparel and bedding. CELLIANT works by capturing escaping body heat and converting it into full spectrum infrared energy.
The resulting infrared energy is returned to the body to muscles and tissues, which has been shown to increase local circulation and improve cellular oxygenation. In addition to increased local circulation and improved cellular oxygenation, CELLIANT has also been shown to improve temperature regulation, promote restful sleep, enhance performance and speed recovery.
There is encouraging research exploring the potential for apparel, such as socks, that is infused with CELLIANT infrared technology to positively impact diabetic patients with vascular impairment. Our 10th peer-reviewed published study is one such study and we are working hard to further research the effects CELLIANT can have.
Infrared therapy that is textile based, like CELLIANT, is a perfect fit to enhance the effects of compression therapy. While more research on circulation impacts is needed, both compression therapy and infrared therapy have been demonstrated to improve the local circulation where they are applied, suggesting that combining compression with CELLIANT technology may have an even greater effect at increasing local circulation than either compression or CELLIANT alone.
Several of our brand partners have already created products that combine CELLIANT with compression features, such as Under Armour, KYMIRA, Oxeego, Curad and KT Tape.
CELLIANT has a wide range of applications across multiple industries, but the benefits of infrared are a perfect fit for textile products focused on diabetic care.
Infrared socks in general are one of the most popular applications of infrared with many benefits for the feet. Diabetic socks are specially designed socks, often with extra padding and reduced seams at any points of discomfort from the feet. Diabetic socks are not necessarily compression socks. They may have a looser fit and are primarily designed for comfort. By infusing diabetic socks with CELLIANT, a person with diabetes gets the comfort, quality and fit of a diabetic sock with the added bonus of increased local circulation from the infrared technology.
Our India-based brand partner, Syounna, creates diabetic care socks and have seen extremely positive reviews from people with diabetes with the fusion of comfort-focused sock design and CELLIANT infrared technology.
As we’ve discussed, compression and infrared have great synergy in that they both boost local circulation but in different ways. Compression socks that are designed for people with diabetes are an excellent way to boost the care of the feet and bring an extra level of blood flow.
Discomfort in the hands and feet can cause people with diabetes extreme sleep disturbances. CELLIANT is a great fit for the sleep and bedding industry as it helps promote more restful sleep for anyone by helping regulate body temperature, but the increased local circulation has the potential to be even more beneficial for people with diabetes who are experiencing symptoms of decreased blood flow in their feet and arms.
Compression wraps and sleeves, just like compression socks, help people with diabetes improve circulation in their arms, legs and hands. CELLIANT infrared technology synergizes with these applications, further boosting the local blood flow in those limbs where the wraps and sleeves are worn.
Socks are an important consideration for people with diabetes and so is footwear. CELLIANT can bring the benefits of increased local circulation and temperature regulation to diabetic care footwear by being infused in the insole or in the lining of the shoe.
If you’re interested in partnering with us to create products that could help improve the quality of life for people with diabetes, we’d love to hear from you.
Following encouraging results from our initial study on the potential for CELLIANT to positively impact diabetic people with vascular impairment, we are very interested in expanding the research and science behind infrared and diabetic care. If you are interested in sharing protocol, outcomes, and ideas, or looking to utilize CELLIANT infrared technology as part of your own body of research, we would be happy to collaborate.
To get in touch with our team, please fill out the form below.
Yes. Infrared therapy has been shown to increase local circulation which may help reduce symptoms of poor circulation for people with diabetes.
Infrared therapy is different than compression therapy because infrared does not rely on the physical squeezing of the tissue to increase local circulation. Infrared is a complementary technology that converts body heat into infrared energy that penetrates the tissue and causes increased local circulation without the restriction that compression therapy causes.
Yes. Infrared therapy is possible at home by using functional textiles that are infused with infrared minerals. CELLIANT infrared technology is an ingredient in many popular products like apparel, socks, bedding and mattresses and only needs to be worn or close to the body to get the benefits of increased local circulation.
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