Cold laser therapy, also known as low level laser therapy, is a safe, non-invasive, painless, and drug-free treatment that utilizes light energy to stimulate the body’s natural healing processes to occur in an accelerated manner, thereby resulting in faster relief of pain, functional improvement, and tissue healing.
This treatment has been FDA approved in the United States for various conditions for over 12 years, and has been utilized in Europe and Asia for over 25 years. As a Class IIIb laser, it promotes healing without the generation of heat or destruction of tissue, making it extremely safe, with no long-term or irreversible side effects ever having been reported.
Cold laser therapy projects non-thermal photons of light energy to the body utilizing light waves of the near infrared ranges (830nm being the wavelength utilized by the instrument used at Westgate Chiropractic, a wavelength which studies have shown to provide maximum tissue penetration.) This projection of light energy results in the following physiological benefits:
- Relief of acute and chronic pains
- Reduced inflammation
- Stimulates immune system
- Develops collagen and muscle tissue
- Promotes faster wound healing
- Increases the speed, quality, and tensile strength of tissue repair
Undergoing treatment with the cold laser, most patients feel nothing. Some report a slight tingling of a nerve or mild heat, but this is rare. 75-80% of patients feel an immediate degree of improvement, and most will feel a marked improvement within 3-4 sessions. Acute conditions usually respond more quickly (5-8 treatments) and chronic conditions usually require a longer treatment period (12-20.) Of course, treatment duration and patient response will vary depending on the individual and severity of the condition.
