Cold Laser Therapy has been approved for pain management by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 2019. It is also called low-level laser therapy and involves using light to change living tissue and promote healing.
What is Chiropractic Cold Laser Therapy?
Cold Laser Therapy harnesses the power of low-level laser technology to promote healing. These low-level light lasers are at the infrared or near-infrared portion of the spectrum. Although the lasers we use at Vital Wellness Center only slightly warm the skin, they are powerful enough to penetrate it.
Cold lasers penetrate the skin and target Cytochrome C, which is a protein that increases cellular energy. This happens as a series of biochemical reactions that are triggered by the laser, much like the photosynthesis that occurs when plants grow.
The cellular energy created during laser treatment is used to trigger other chemical reactions. One of these chemical events is increasing Nitric Oxide production. Nitric oxide is a powerful biochemical that makes your blood vessels wider so that more oxygen, nutrients, and immune cells can make it to an injury site. It also helps speed up cellular waste removal.
Nitric oxide is so potent that it is given to people with a history of heart attack or pain so their heart can get life-saving oxygen as soon as possible. When nitric oxide is released around your painful knee, elbow, or another body part, it is like opening up the floodgates for healing to arrive.
Nitric oxide isn’t the only powerful biochemical that laser therapy increases. Reactive oxygen species production also gets a boost from laser stimulation. Free radicals, which are famous for causing inflammation, are a type of reactive oxygen species.
In laser therapy, reactive oxygen species produce helpful inflammation that pushes the immune system to respond. Reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide work together to speed up the tissue repair process. These two potent biochemicals work together to increase the growth factor and cell production needed for tissue restoration. In other words, cold laser therapy focuses your body’s natural healing abilities where they are most needed.
What to Expect at a Cold Laser Therapy Treatment Session
When you receive low-level laser treatment, it is administered using a handheld device. Your chiropractor aims the laser at the body part they are treating. The treatment itself is painless. Some individuals being treated feel slight warmth. Others don’t feel anything at all.
You will be comfortably positioned during treatment so our chiropractor, Dr. David Foss, can accurately aim the laser at the body part receiving therapy. He will adjust the laser to release optimal levels and frequencies of light for your condition. These levels are prescribed for optimal healing. Although the laser is powerful enough to deliver therapeutic light levels through clothing, many people chose to remove it so the laser can directly contact their skin. When you’re receiving this treatment, you don’t need to remove or loosen clothing unless it feels uncomfortable to you.
When properly used, low-level lasers don’t have any side effects for most people. If you’re taking medications that make you more sensitive to sunlight or have extremely sun-sensitive skin, then you might develop some mild skin irritation.
Benefits of Chiropractic Cold Laser Therapy
In addition to being non-invasive and comfortable, low-level laser therapy has many benefits. Lasers are a non-toxic alternative to pain and anti-inflammatory medications. This form of treatment can also prevent or delay the need for surgery.
Laser therapy is particularly beneficial for reducing inflammation, lessening swelling, promoting tissue regrowth at a wound site, and providing pain relief. As a result, it can be helpful for sprains, tendon injuries, and soft tissue injuries or wounds.
Recent research on cold laser use shows that it can help the body heal conditions such as TMJ, knees and rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, research participants had between eight and 10 red and infrared laser sessions to treat tendon injuries in their hands. After being treated with lasers, their hands could move much more freely and with less pain. They were also satisfied with the results of Cold Laser Therapy treatment.
This cold laser therapy has also been successfully used on chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts for more than six months. Some people have chronic pain for years, so a non-invasive, non-toxic way to experience relief is a life-enhancing benefit.
A recent study from 2020 looked at non-drug chronic pain treatment for Army veterans. Finding non-drug alternatives to pain management is quite essential for any population. It is critical for veterans who, as a group, have incredibly high levels of prescribed pain medication use disorder and suicide.
In this study, veterans were given a variety of pain management options including low-level laser therapy. After six years, the veterans who had received these treatments had significantly fewer negative life events typically associated with chronic pain.
The scientific community has spoken through these and many more research studies. Even if you’re not an Army veteran, cold laser therapy can provide you with long-term life-promoting benefits that extend beyond better movement and/or less physical pain.
Ready to Investigate Cold Laser Therapy?
If you searched ‘cold laser therapy near me’ on the web, you know there are several other practices for you to choose from. We appreciate you considering Vital Wellness Center and look forward to helping get you and your family out of pain and back to enjoying the things you love.
To make an appointment, you can either schedule an appointment via our Vital Wellness Center homepage or call us at (630) 365-9887.