Laser Therapy – Take Aim at Chronic Pain

Take Aim at Chronic Pain
Using light as a form of therapy and healing has been around for centuries. Low-level laser therapy is a rapidly growing new field of therapy with which a large volume of research has been gathered to support its validity. You may have heard it under another name such as: cold laser, soft laser, biostimulation or biophotomodulation. These lasers are not the same as the high-powered lasers that are used in surgery for cutting and burning tissue. In fact, the treatment with low level laser is 100% painless. Regardless of the name we give them, today there is little doubt that properly administered laser light therapy has numerous positive effects on inflammation, pain and healing via biological pathways both at the cellular level and to the body as a whole.

Documented beneficial effects of laser therapy in medicine are: reducing inflammation and swelling, accelerating tissue/injury repair and wound healing, bactericidal and anti-fungal effects and pain reduction, particularly chronic pain. To add to the great story of laser therapy, there are next to no limitations to who can benefit and there are even less potential adverse effects or risks.

The physics of light is complex to say the very least. But we should understand a couple of fundamental things about it. The smallest particle of light is the photon. Each has a wavelength that is definitive of its energy. Einstein classified photons as wave particles. For our cells, hence our bodies to benefit from the light energy, these photons must be absorbed. Therein lies the essence of the clinical application of laser light. Laser power, wavelength, light intensity, duration of treatment and location of therapeutic target are all key factors in choosing and adjusting the therapeutic options with laser light.

Laser therapy affects the cells from both biological and physical interactions. Biologically some of the positive effects of laser therapy include: increased blood flow; increased/improved energetics of the cells (ATP production); positive effects on the cell’s chemistry, growth factors and proteins; improved cellular communication and release of the damaging effects of oxidation.

NMR utilizes the Erchonia FX635 laser, the only Class 2 laser that has been FDA cleared for all chronic musculoskeletal pain problems, including but not limited to: low back pain, neck pain, shoulder and knee pain and plantar fasciitis/heal and foot pain.  This non-invasive, pain-free therapy improves quality of life without surgery, downtime or side effects.  With this option patients avoid opioids and the long term effects of pain medications.

To learn more about how low level laser therapy can be an important part of your plan to combat chronic pain, take advantage of our complimentary consultation.