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Wednesday, August 19, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Hummel offers laser therapy
Correspondent
Last summer Sisters
Elementary School nurse
Beth Hummel took a leap of
faith and bought a class IV
heat laser, a powerful thera-
peutic instrument that uses
focused light to stimulate a
process called photobiomod-
ulation (PBM). It marked the
launch of her new business,
Hummel Massage and Laser
Therapy.
With 23 years in nursing
and 15 years as a massage
therapist, Hummel was eager
to begin a new chapter using
the healing light source that
changed her life, moving her
on the road to recovery from
chronic back pain.
<I was working in a hos-
pital setting over 20 years
ago when a patient fell on
me,= Hummel told The
Nugget. <It hurt my back and
I was in chronic pain. Then
a couple of years ago when
I was working as the school
nurse at SES, a district phys-
ical therapist saw how pain-
ful it can be for me to get out
of my chair and said I should
try deep tissue heat laser.=
Hummel made an
appointment with the physi-
cal therapist9s friend in
Central Oregon who uses
laser therapy.
She said, <I had tried
everything else. I did a series
of treatments, and after that I
was pain free. The laser ther-
apist taught me about how
the laser worked and that
piqued my interest.=
She added, <The laser is
amazing. It simply is a light
source. The light goes into
the cells, and this being a
deep penetrating laser, gets
through into the deeper areas
where the cells are typically
dormant due to an injury,
lack of blood flow, inflam-
mation, and old or acute
injuries.=
Laser therapy generates
a photochemical response
in damaged tissue with the
PBM process, which then
stimulates healing on a cellu-
lar level by enabling cells to
more rapidly produce energy
(ATP).
<Simply put: The light
goes into the cells, wakes
those cells up and gets the
cells active again,= Hummel
explained. <The cells then
start producing ATP, which
is like cellular gasoline. The
cell is now a happy healthy
and productive cell that can
heal our bodies, which it is
meant to do, yet the injury
has held the cells back.
<The big key factor is
increased range of motion
and decreased inflammation.
It9s noninvasive and drug
free.=
Hummel and her husband
Rich moved to Sisters from
Washington in 2001 with
their first child. Rich worked
at Sisters Athletic Club as a
personal trainer and Hummel
worked as a pediatric nurse
in Bend. Rich is now a
Licensed Massage Therapist
(LMT) at Green Ridge
Physical Therapy in Sisters.
Hummel noted, <In 2005
I attended Central Oregon
Community College and got
licensed as a message thera-
pist. I left nursing for a while
and worked at Shibui Spa
when it was first built.=
In 2014 after working as
a massage therapist at Green
Ridge Physical Therapy for
seven years Hummel reen-
tered the world of nursing.
<I felt like I wasn9t done
with that part of my life,=
she said. <But I was strug-
gling about this for a while.
There9s a piece of me that
has been in that tug of war
between eastern theory
medicine vs. the western
medicine, nursing, and how
I can find that sweet spot in
between.=
Hummel9s job as the
school nurse transitioned to
working remotely at home
when the pandemic struck,
and she had time to think
about a career shift.
She said, <I got side-
swiped because that eastern
side of me that9s all about
healing was still calling to
me. I want to be in Sisters
without working in a clinical
setting. I love helping people
and love getting people back
to doing what they love.
That9s what really resonates
with me. I wanted to find the
right niche for myself and
live in this amazingly active
community.=
Hummel went ahead and
got certified for class IV heat
laser treatments.
<I knew I wanted to
launch my new full-time
laser business this summer,=
Hummel said, <All the laser
therapy I have done so far
has been word of mouth.
But I would like the commu-
nity to know about my new
business.=
<I stick by the COVID-19
regulations and am very cau-
tious. All the equipment and
everything in the laser ther-
apy room in my home gets
sanitized before each client.
Masks are required. Sessions
last anywhere from 7 to 30
minutes=
Hummel began treating
a few people for free such
as family and friends to see
how it worked and for her to
get more comfortable using
the laser. She continues some
massage but wants to empha-
size her laser therapy.
<Laser therapy some-
times seems intimidating and
people are kind of mystified
by it. However, it9s really
comfortable, pleasant, and
warm,= she said.
Hummel Massage &
Laser Therapy hours are
Monday through Friday, with
flexibility. Call 541-550-
6234 for an appointment.
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Beth Hummel’s experience with heat laser treatments led her into a new
practice in Sisters.
be ideal but I will take an
evening appointment if nec-
essary. It9s usually 6 to 12
treatments depending on the
body part and how much
they use it,= Hummel said.
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