BY LAUREN MAULDIN
"No" isn't a word that stops Kat Chrysostom, owner and designer of Benefab®. It didn't stop her from beginning riding lessons on her 4th birthday, even though the barn's official starting age was five, and it didn't stop her when a riding accident fractured her C2 vertebrae.
"I spent a little over three months in a halo traction device... bedridden for most of those three months, and in an out of paralysis. My right side was immobile," Chrysostom said about her injuries from that fall. When these symptoms, plus excruciating migraines, lingered long after the halo device was removed, a neurosurgeon from Dartmouth College suggested she try a holistic approach - infrared light therapy.
Commonly known as red light therapy, this Eastern based all natural treatment vibrates the Oxygen atoms within water molecules in the body, helping to reduce swelling in joints, tendons and ligaments. When this non-invasive, holistic treatment reduced the inflammation on her spinal cord and helped free Chrysostom from crippling migraines and partial paralysis, she headed to Shanghai to learn more. After a year of intensively researching ceramic-infused fabrics, which mimic the effects of red light therapy, the first Benefab® product line launched in 2012.
Commonly known as red light therapy, this Eastern based all natural treatment vibrates the Oxygen atoms within water molecules in the body, helping to reduce swelling in joints, tendons and ligaments. When this non-invasive, holistic treatment reduced the inflammation on her spinal cord and helped free Chrysostom from crippling migraines and partial paralysis, she headed to Shanghai to learn more. After a year of intensively researching ceramic-infused fabrics, which mimic the effects of red light therapy, the first Benefab® product line launched in 2012.
With offerings ranging from boots & wraps to sheets & saddle pads, Benefab® offers a wide variety of ways to reduce inflammation and benefit your horse's overall health. Products are created from permanently infused ceramic fabric, all sourced from the same certified manufacturer. They're machine washable, and never lose therapeutic value. While ceramic fabric products mimic the effects of red light therapy, Benefab®'s "Smart" combination line imitates another form of Eastern medicine - acupuncture.
In acupuncture, many times, a needle is used to draw blood out of the body and that same blood is injected over pre-determined points. That blood serves as a stimulant to those areas to relieve inflammation, reduce pain and provide an array of other benefits. You will see this same philosophy replicated with Vitamin B12, also. By placing medical grade, neodymium magnets over acupuncture points in items like the Rejuvenate SmartScrim, Benefab® gives horses benefits from both infrared therapy and targeting acupuncture points in a completely non invasive way with no harmful side effects. "Our customer promise is increased mobility and less pain in three weeks, guaranteed," Chrysostom stated about the products.
In 2015, Benefab® formed a partnership with Arenus®, the makers of Sore-No-More®. It's an ideal pairing, and together the two provide a comprehensive customer service experience for their clients. "You're not going to call us and get a generic answer. If you have a specific case, we really can look at the whole horse and be able to recommend things from a standpoint of totality," Chrysostom said.
With a veterinarian and animal nutritionist on the team, Benefab® by Sore-No-More® is a company with a strong foundation of research and science. Recently, they completed a six-week clinical trial studying the SmartScrim's effect on back soreness in horses with comprehensive results to be published in early 2018. "We're a research backed company," Chrysostom stated regarding the trial. "Just because it's natural, doesn't mean it's hocus pocus."
Chrysostom is a strong believer in her own products, using them in her daily routine at the barn where she enjoys bringing up young horses. "I use every product. With young horses, they're constantly in and out of growth spurts and they get a little bit body sore here and there, so I use the SmartScrim a lot and the Poll Pad is just an everyday necessity," Chrysostom said of her routine. She's not the only one enjoying the benefits. In their four years on the market, Benefab® has been growing in popularity across a variety of disciplines. Positive reviews from customers continue to roll in, praising leg wraps for reducing stiffness and poll pads for creating happier, more relaxed horses.
With new items launching this November including Smart hock boots, pastern wraps and an additional size for the SmartScrim, Benefab® by Sore-No-More® maintains their commitment to holistic horse health. "Western medicine is wonderful for treating symptoms. Eastern medicine is wonderful treating the cause. If you combine the two, you're going to have a happy, healthy horse," Chrysostom said. To see how Benefab® by Sore-No-More® can help your horse, visit www.benefabproducts.com to shop online or find a local tack shop near you.
This article was featured in The Plaid Horse Magazine, October/November Equitation 2017 Issue. To read more, or view their magazine online, click here.
