What is Cold Laser Therapy?
Cold laser or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) entails the application of laser light, instead of traditional acupuncture needles, to influence the flow of current at the acupuncture points. It is also used directly over lesions, burns, injuries and other disorders in order to stimulate healing at the damaged site. Often the preferred treatment for painful conditions, LLLT treats conditions as diverse as tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis of the knee and chronic headache in children. As an alternative to needle-phobic patients, it has been shown that LLLT causes an almost equal response as regular acupuncture done with needles. My personal experience remains that acupuncture is a more widely usable treatment modality than cold laser. that said:
☛ The US Olympic team, New England Patriots and the British Army are among the groups to use cold laser.☛In 2002 the FDA approved a cold laser device for the treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
☛Double bind studies have shown that acupuncture and cold laser had virtually the same effects on brain pattern activity.
A laser acupuncturist typically aims a beam of light from a laser onto a reflex point much as he might with an acupuncture needle. The visible red laser beam stays on a point from between ten seconds to two minutes, the duration being dependent on the density of the tissue. When laser light is absorbed by a living tissue, it triggers biological reactions in the cells. As chemicals are released and carried by blood and lymph throughout the system, cold laser light can have wide systemic effects that can be divided into three categories:
- Pain Reduction
- Laser acupuncture has proven to be highly effective in releasing myofascial pain syndrome and stimulating increased levels of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers.
- Reducing Inflammation
- Following an acute injury, the body initiates a tissue repair process. Laser therapy reduces inflammation, bruising and pain while the body repairs itself. It also reduces inflammatory enzymes often seen in diseases such as Rheumatoid arthritis.
- Accelerating Tissue Repair
- Laser acupuncture has been shown to accelerate the production of ATP, the chemical energy engine for the cell that speeds up its overall activity. This creates an increased rate of repair in cells responsible for repairing tissue, including bone, ligament, muscle, skin and nerves.
- Burns and cuts
- Headaches/Migraines
- Arthritis
- Back, neck and shoulder pain
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Chronic Fatigue
- Sprains
- Knee and elbow pain
- Smoking, and food addictions
- IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
- Fibromyalgia
- Myofascial Pain
Laser light should be kept away from the eyes, away from cancer cells and from the thyroid. Pregnant women should not use Cold Laser Therapy. That said, physicians in England, Canada and Europe have utilized Cold Laser for over 20 years with no documented adverse side effects. Among the patients who have undergone LLLT, the consensus has been extremely positive.