It’s easy to think lasers belong only in science fiction. But that’s not true. Lasers are used every day in modern medicine – and they can even help you improve your health.
Read on to find out how laser therapy can boost your wellbeing by combatting inflammation and speeding healing.
What is Laser Therapy?
Therapeutic lasers rely on red and infrared light, which is transmitted to select parts of the body via a handheld device applied to the skin’s surface. The emitted low-level light promotes blood flow to the area and stimulates cells that encourage tissue repair and regeneration.
Examples of Laser Treatment in Action
Laser therapy can be used to treat many different ailments, from sports injuries to back pain, carpal tunnel, and more.
Below are a few examples of how laser treatment is used to help patients.
Car Accident Injury
Back and neck pain are common after a car accident. Whiplash, for instance, often occurs when a person has been rear-ended, due to the head shooting back forcefully and then snapping forward.
This quick action causes the vertebrae of the spine to move further apart and then jam back together, damaging surrounding muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Lasers decrease inflammation and speed tissue healing after this car accident injury.
Tendonitis
Laser therapy is also effective in treating ailments that aren’t caused by sudden trauma, like a car accident, but conditions that result from repeated motions. Tendonitis is a common example. It occurs when the tendon – the fibrous cord of tissue that attaches muscle to bone – becomes inflamed due to repetitive movement.
Common types of tendonitis include tennis elbow, swimmer’s shoulder, and jumper’s knee. Athletes often turn to laser care to speed healing and get them back into the game more quickly.
Benefits of Therapeutic Laser Treatment
Here are some of the reasons patients opt for this therapeutic treatment:
- Safe: The Food & Drug Administration has approved medical lasers as a means of boosting circulation, reducing inflammation, minimizing pain, and speeding tissue healing.
- Non-invasive: Lasers are popular among patients and chiropractors alike because they’re non-invasive. You can avoid the recovery time that comes with going under the knife.
- No anesthesia needed: You also don’t have to deal with the potential risks that surgery brings with it, such as the potential complications that come with general anesthesia.
Want to tap into these benefits? A chiropractic care professional can advise whether you are a good candidate for laser therapy.
What are Chiropractic Adjustments?