Lasers in Chiropractic Treatment

Low energy lasers came into existence in the 1960’s in Europe and Russia. the clinical effects are not from heating up of tissues but come from the low intensities of irradiation.

As the last few decades has progressed, a substantial amount of research has been conducted displaying laser treatment for musculoskeletal conditions to be safe, effective, and non-invasive.

Animal studies have shown laser therapy may help with recovery after acute injury and reduce edema (swelling) along with increasing tissue of healing wounds. In animal studies, healing rates of injured tendons in animals have shown substantial improvement too.

One interesting finding was that wounds that were treated with laser showed increased tensile strength, and wounds on the contralateral side not treated with laser showed an increase as well. This was deemed to be due to a systemic effect of having the laser treatment with some sort of tissue growth factor being increased in the circulation. More research needs to be done in this area to delineate exactly which factor is increased.

Along with studies in animals, human studies have shown lasers to increase collagen production which enhances tendons to heal. Laser irradiation has been shown to decrease wound inflammation by twenty to thirty percent. This occurs partly by decreasing the amount of prostaglandins in the region, which are vital components of inflammation.

Low energy photon laser therapy has shown utility for heel spurs, rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, and shoulder tendonitis. One of the proven mechanisms involved concerns the improvement of local microcirculation, which promotes wound healing. In animals, this may explain why bone fractures treated with laser healed faster than in the control group.

Human studies of people with degenerative joint disease of the spine or knee have shown over a 90% pain reduction with low llevel laser therapy.

Studies in people with RA receiving laser treatment have showed that 2/3 of people benefit, which potentially gives it significant advantages over NSAIDS and steroid injections. For low back pain, low level laser treatment has shown great results for pain coming from a number of sources with few side effects. Compared to control group, laser was twice as helpful and also relapsed only half the time.

Used in conjunction with chiropractic care, lasers may provide excellent results for a broad range of painful conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, tendonitis, and even post-surgical scarring problem areas. Compared with surgical intervention, laser treatment is low cost, outpatient, and does not promote scarring.

Want to find out more about Arizona pain management, then visit Preferred Pain Center’s site on how to choose the best Phoenix chiropractor for your needs.