If you’ve ever dealt with constant pain in your back, neck, knee, or anywhere else on your body, you know that it can be very difficult to find any sort of treatment to provide you with relief from your pain. At Advanced Chiropractic & Rehab, we offer a treatment option that many people may have never considered for their chronic pain…Low Level Laser Therapy. Laser Therapy can be used to treat pain in the back, neck, knee, and ankles, in addition to treating pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel, and tendonitis.
Cold Laser Therapy or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is a treatment that utilizes specific wavelengths of light to interact with tissue and expedite the healing process. Laser Therapy is often used on patients who suffer from a variety of acute and chronic conditions in order to help eliminate pain and swelling, reduce spasms, and increase functionality. The cold lasers used for Low Level Laser Therapy are handheld devices which are used by the clinician. These devices are often no larger than the size of a flashlight. The laser is positioned directly above the area that is being treated and remains there for a time period of 30 seconds up to several minutes, depending on the size of the area and the dosage being applied.
During the time that the laser is being applied to the treatment area, non-thermal photons of light are emitted from the laser and pass through the layers of skin. Once the light energy of the laser passes through the skin, it is absorbed and interacts with the light-sensitive elements of the cells. When the energy is absorbed by the cells, it begins a series of events within the cell that can result in restoring damaged or injured tissue thus resulting in a reduction in pain, inflammation, and overall healing time.
The use of cold lasers is not a new concept in the medical community. Since 1967, there have been over 2,500 clinical studies conducted on the use of cold lasers as a treatment option. Many of these double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies have concluded cold lasers to be an effective treatment for pain relief. In March of 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP) published new guidelines for the treatment of low back pain, expanding their nonpharmacological focus. The ACP’s recommendation for treating low back pain urges physicians to exclude the use of medications in the initial stages of treatment and instead use options such as exercise, acupuncture, and low level laser therapy. The ACP stated in their guidelines that treatments such as these have been found to be much more successful in relieving back pain than the use of prescription medications.
Cold laser therapy is a non-invasive procedure, meaning that it does not require a surgical incision. This means that there is no prolonged recovery time. Laser therapy also does not involve taking any medications, something many patients prefer to avoid. Studies thus far have found that cold laser therapy does not have any side effects when used properly by a doctor.
We have been servicing the Youngstown and Mahoning Valley area since 2001 with convenient locations in Boardman and Hubbard. At Advanced Chiropractic & Rehab we are multi-disciplinary rehabilitation group that treats work comp injuries, whiplash, sports injuries and specializes in much more than just low back pain. For a free consultation, call our office at (330) 726-7404.