3 min read
Cold laser therapy can be used to treat several types of pain, including joint pain, muscle pain (such as hamstring or back muscle pulls), chronic pain that can be the result of a traumatic injury (such as whiplash from a car accident), or an injury that results from a specific diagnosis (like fibromyalgia or arthritis).
Chiropractors use cold laser therapy to help patients heal faster and feel better so they can get back to doing the things they love. Here's how cold laser therapy works and how it helps get rid of your pain so you can function better.
Cold Lasers - How Do They Work?
Cold laser, also called low level laser, can be used as a standalone treatment, or in combination with other treatments to help relieve pain. These lasers help to reduce inflammation and boost blood flow to an area so it can heal faster. The procedure is referred to as a “cold” treatment because the lasers don’t cause the targeted area to heat up.
Cold laser therapy has been around a long time – over 50 years. But advances over the past 20 years have made it more widely available as part of a treatment plan for relieving pain and promoting cell repair.
Cold laser therapy treatments are given by aiming the laser device a few inches above the targeted area of the body. At Village Chiropractic, we use Class IV MLS cold laser therapy. This treatment has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) since 2003. The affected tissues absorb the light, stimulating the cells for an increased blood flow. The increased volume of blood helps to heal the damaged cells.
Conditions Treated With Cold Laser Therapy
This type of laser therapy has been effective at treating muscles, cartilage, ligaments, and nerves making it a useful treatment option for a variety of injuries or painful issues such as:
- Plantar fasciitis
- Muscle strains
- Ligament strains
- Arthritis
- Bursitis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
Cold laser therapy is a safe and effective treatment for pain relief and can be used in several different areas of the body. Chiropractors tend to have cold laser equipment in their offices because it's part of a drug-free treatment plan that works well to reduce pain and inflammation.
All you need to do is sit or lie down, depending on where your pain is located, and the cold laser machine is placed over the area to be treated. It’s left in place for 10-15 minutes. The patient doesn’t feel anything! But the low level lasers are doing their work to help reduce inflammation.
Top 3 Benefits of Cold Laser for Pain Relief
Some of the things we love about cold laser therapy is that it’s:
- Pain free. There’s no pain when receiving cold laser therapy!
- Works quickly with a few sessions required throughout a few weeks for full healing in most cases. But patients typically feel the effects starting to work after 1 or 2 sessions.
- Drug free. This pain relief comes without the use of medication!
Some patients can delay or avoid surgeries by using chiropractic treatments that include cold laser therapy. Since cold laser therapy is a non-invasive treatment option, patients are able to regain mobility and start living their lives again without the long recovery times that come with surgery. The cold laser helps reduce inflammation while simultaneously promoting healing to improve the overall quality of life.
At Village Chiropractic, we are committed to offering the best chiropractic treatments for our patients. If you’re in or near The Woodlands, make an appointment with our team for an assessment so we can discover more about where you’re having pain and the root cause. From there we can develop a plan to help you feel better!
