Cold Laser Therapy Pain Management Treatment
Cold Laser Therapy or Low-Level Laser Therapy is a treatment that utilizes specific wavelengths of light to interact with tissue and is thought to help accelerate the healing process. It can be used of patients who suffer from a variety of acute and chronic conditions in order to help eliminate pain, swelling, reduce spasms and increase functionality.
Cold lasers are handheld devices used by the clinician and are often the size of a flashlight. The laser is placed directly over the injured area for 30 seconds to several minutes depending on the size of the area being treated and the dose provided by the clod laser unit. During this time, the non-thermal photons of light that are emitted from the laser pass through the skin’s layers (the dermis, epidermis, and the subcutaneous tissue or tissue fat under the skin.) This light has the ability to penetrate 2-5 cm below the skin at 90mw and 830nm. Once the light energy passes through the layers of skin and reaches the target area, it is absorbed and interacts with the light sensitive elements in the cell. This process can be compared to photosynthesis in plants – sunlight is absorbed by plants, which is then c converted to usable energy so that the plant can grow. When cells absorb this light energy, it initiates a series of events in the cell that is theorized to eventually result in normalizing damaged or injured tissue, a reduction in pain, inflammation, edema and an overall reduction in healing time by increasing intracellular metabolism.
Types of Conditions Treated by Cold Lasers
Cold laser therapy can stimulate all cell types including muscle, ligament, cartilage, nerves, etc. so a number of conditions can be treated by cold laser therapy. Some of conditions that may typically be treated by cold laser therapy include:
- Arthritis pain
- Back pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Fibromyalgia pain
- Hip/Knee/Ankle pain
- Shoulder/Elbow/Wrist pain
- Neck pain
- Tendonitis
- Neuropathy
- And More