Pain Management and Relief with Laser Therapy

You wake up with it. You go to sleep with this. Chronic pain, by definition, does not go away. Millions of people live with chronic back or neck pain every day. Chronic pain is technically defined as pain that persists for 12 weeks or even longer, even after the injury has healed. Thankfully, while many individuals with chronic pain might feel hopeless about attaining relief, there are a variety of treatments that may help manage the pain, such as laser treatment.

How does laser therapy benefit chronic pain?

The idea that light energy can accelerate recovery in tissues can, reduce inflammation and pain, relax muscles, and stimulate nerve-wracking with the use of a lase appears to be farfetched. Science, however, tells us these effects may be true. To what extent does this work, and is this based on power and wavelength?

“Wavelength and power determine the capacity of this laser to penetrate the body. Once you are in the infrared spectrum and above 800 nanometers in wavelength, laser power penetrates like x-rays, but to attain depth, you need significant energy or power,” Dr. Bruce Coren states.

Two Classes of Lasers Used for Chronic Pain

There are two classes of lasers being used as a part of physical therapy for chronic pain management and relief; class 3 and 4. “Class 3 lasers are significantly less than 500 milliwatts (mw) in electricity while class 4 lasers are higher than 500 mw,” Dr. Coren stated. Class 3 lasers are occasionally referred to as cold capsules, and the treatment might be known as LLLT for low-level laser treatment. In contrast, class 4 laser therapy is sometimes called HPLT for high-power laser treatment.

“The vast majority of neuro-musculoskeletal conditions respond better to some higher power and a higher dosage, which can be a function of energy output and time,” Dr. Coren commented. “The top results will be obtained using a laser with 30 watts of electricity or more. A 10-minute treatment using a 30-watt laser can produce 18,000 joules, which gives a significant pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory, and healing impact.”

Patients usually begin to feel better after one or two treatments, even though 5 or more might be needed to solve the issue. “The more persistent and extensive the injury, the more treatments are often needed,” he added.

Properties of High-Power Laser Therapy

Dr. Coren spoke about the valuable properties of laser therapy and described their unique benefits and effects:

• Pain Relief: “Laser therapy decreases nerve sensitivity by decreasing bradykinin, a pain-eliciting compound. It normalizes ion channels, known as the gatekeepers. And releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever, and enkephalins related to endorphins. It also has a pain-blocking effect on certain nerve fibers.”
• Anti-inflammatory/Healing: “Laser therapy increases ATP, which can be stored energy (ATP is the acronym for adenosine triphosphate). The cells also regenerate faster. Laser therapy causes a widening of veins and the arteries around the injury, which helps to remove mobile debris and increase oxygen and nutrients. White blood cell action is enhanced, which leads to a more rapid repair procedure. Some molecules that increase inflammation have been reduced, and antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase are increased with laser therapy.
• Accelerated Tissue Repair and Cellular Growth: “Photons of light from lasers penetrate deeply into tissues and accelerate mobile reproduction and development. As a result of exposure to laser light therapy, the tissues of both ligaments, tendons, nerves, and muscles are repaired faster”, as stated above.
• Improved Vascular Activity: “Laser light raises the formation of new cells in damaged tissue, which speeds up the recovery process and closes wounds quickly.”
• Trigger and Acupuncture Points: “Laser is particularly helpful in extinguishing painful trigger points. It’s also an effective way of stimulating acupuncture points without the distress related to needling.”
• Reduced Fibrous Tissue Formation: “Laser treatment lowers the formation of scar tissue after tissue damage from repetitive motion injuries, cuts, wounds, scrapes or surgery.”
• Faster Wound Healing: “Laser light stimulates the building blocks of collagen, which is important for the wound healing damaged tissues. Collagen is the essential protein needed to replace tissue or repair injuries. Consequently, the laser is powerful on open wounds and burns.”
• Stem Cell Activation: “Laser therapy raises the number of stem cells, which enhances healing.”

Where is Laser Therapy Administered?

High-power lasers are typically found in physical therapy clinics and chiropractic offices. Neck, back or joint pain usually responds positively to laser therapy.

“Lasers are also very powerful for inflammatory conditions, including peripheral neuropathy, tendonitis, bursitis, and capsulitis. Strains, sprains, and repetitive movement injuries all have an inflammatory component and can be successfully treated with laser,” he remarked. “There is no particular condition that reacts more quickly to the laser. But some patients react faster than others for exactly the same state as individual healing rates can vary.”

Laser therapy can be used as a stand-alone or rehabilitative exercise treatment. “Rehabilitative exercises and laser treatment complement each other nicely,” explained Dr. Coren.

Laser Therapy Precautions

There are a few precautions with laser therapy. Eye protection is needed for both the therapist and patient, and a laser shouldn’t be performed over malignancies, pacemakers, spinal stimulators, or the midsection of pregnant women.

Recommendations

High-power laser therapy is one of the quickest; most productive modalities therapists now have to deal with inflammation and pain. “Regrettably, laser therapy isn’t covered by insurance, and high-power lasers can be hard to find as they are expensive. Most importantly, results are achieved by the amount of energy generated, 18,000-30,000 joules per treatment being the sweet spot,” Dr. Coren concluded.

Additional Topics: Wellness

Overall, health and wellness are essential to maintaining the proper mental and physical balance in the body. From eating balanced nutrition, exercising, and participating in physical activities to sleeping a healthy amount of time regularly, following the best health and wellness tips can ultimately help maintain overall well-being. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can go a long way toward helping people become healthy.

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Low-Level Laser Therapy