A horse named Sport initiated a whole new direction for Arizona native Kay Aubrey-Chimene.
While competing in an endurance event 37 years ago, Aubrey-Chimene’s horse Sport bowed both front tendons, a serious condition that occurs when a tendon swells along the back of a horse’s leg after an injury. The tendon tissue tears and heals with scar tissue, giving it a bowed appearance.
Veterinarians monitoring the competition recommended immediate euthanasia, saying Sport would never recover or be sound again. Aubrey-Chimene decided to take Sport home to have him evaluated by her own vet. The vet recommended a new treatment, a system based on LED light therapy that purported to lower pain, increase circulation and stimulate new cell growth. “That is about 90% of what healing is,” Aubrey-Chimene said.
She put light therapy wraps—flexible pads with small LED lights embedded in them—on Sport’s front legs twice a day. In 30 days, the bowed tendons had healed, Aubrey-Chimene said, and in 90 days she was riding him again. Nine months later Sport was able to compete in, and win, another endurance race. “He is sound and energetic at 40 years old and still teases the neighbor’s mares over the fence,” she said.
The success of this treatment spurred Aubrey-Chimene, a self-proclaimed “science geek,” to research the science behind the therapy and she eventually became a promoter and instructor of the system. This LED light therapy system—which, by the way, does not use lasers—was the first of its kind to be approved by the FDA for use in humans, and is recognized as an alternative to the pharmaceuticals that are frequently prescribed.
Aubrey-Chimene now operates The EnLIGHTen Clinic in Sonoita, offering targeted light therapy for pain relief, anti-aging and brain reactivation and revitalization for animals, as well as humans. Although horses are a specialty, as she is a lifelong horsewoman, she has successfully treated dogs, cats and even alpacas and iguanas.
LED light therapy works by “shifting the body into a parasympathetic state,” Aubrey-Chimene said. “We don’t ‘cure’ anything, we give the body what it needs to come back into balance.” Unlike many pharmaceutical treatments, LED light therapy is “completely safe and there are no adverse side effects,” she said. LED light therapy is commonly used by dermatologists and aestheticians. According to the Cleveland Clinic, NASA began studying LED’s effects in the 1990s as an aid to healing wounds in astronauts by helping cells and tissues grow.
Although Aubrey-Chimene sees clients, both human and animal, at her Sonoita clinic, her primary focus is on education, “growing practitioners and empowering people to take care of their general health needs.” She teaches five to ten hours per week through webinars, and has students onsite to intern with her. She has developed certified light therapy courses that she teaches to students from all parts of the globe.
Her “science geek” knowledge allows her, she said, to “translate scientific research papers into general basic language for her students.” Many of her students, however, already have the scientific language skills as they are often doctors, chiropractors, veterinarians and other healthcare practitioners looking to incorporate this therapy into their treatment protocols.
Aubrey-Chimene is very clear that she is not a licensed medical professional. She earned a BA in Animal Health Science from the University of Arizona with an eye on veterinary school. “Marriage, life and finances” got in the way of that pursuit but she did continue to study in the biochemistry department at the university.
The EnLIGHTen Clinic is located on the west side of the COOP building at 3266 Hwy 82 in Sonoita, AZ. For more information or appointments contact Info@PhotonicTherapyInstitute.com, or 304-805-4448.