Patient Education
Add us on
Facebook
What Is Low Level Laser Therapy?
The word LASER, an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, is the name of a device projecting intense radiation of the visible, ultraviolet, or infrared portions of the light spectrum. The laser instrument produces a very thin beam of light in which high energies are concentrated. The laser light, when reduced in its energy output to a low level, can be utilized for:
- Reduces pain through the production of endorphins
- Reduces inflammation by suppressing inflammatory enzymes andenhancing the release of anti-inflammatory enzymes
- Increases circulation by enhancing lymphatic drainage
- Increases ATP production by electron donation providing cells with useful energy
- Releases tight muscles (both smooth and striated)
- Speeds bone repair by stimulating fibroblastic and osteoblastic proliferation
The application of this technology is called “Low Level Laser Therapy.”
Low-level lasers today are manufactured using semi-conductors, which are computer-like chips grown from various pure elements or combinations thereof. Combining the elements of InGaAlP makes visible light in the range of 630 to 685 nm; combining GaAlAs produces light in the range of 780 to 870 nm; and, combining GaAs produces infrared laser diodes in the 900nm range. Because the amplification of light by the stimulated emission of radiation (the definition of a laser) occurs as an open system, it provokes completely new structure and sensitivity in the living tissue of an organism to which the light is beamed.
How Low Level Lasers Operate
The stimulated emission of a laser is obtained by controlling the instrument’s energy in its excited state and introducing the correct radiation to trigger it. The laser’s excitation occurs from collisions of its atoms of light with electrons discharging from the instrument’s power source. Laser beam buildup occurs and photons pass through the instrument’s extraction mirror so that the laser beam gets reflected back into the laser’s active medium.
Beneficial Applications of Low Level Laser Therapy
Advantageous actions of low level laser therapy take place in all organs and tissues of the body for the creation of good cellular
functioning once again. Listing their antipathological and prophysiological internal and external benefits would proudce a very long series of human conditions and treatment results—maybe several hundred. They include:
- A reduction of pain by the body’s production of endorphins
- The diminishing of inflammation from suppression of tissue excitation
- The stopping of a tissue’s influx of fluids
- The disappearance of swelling, redness, and heat
- The elimination of pain
- The elevation of lymphatic drainage
- The increase of blood circulation
- The flow of healing enzymes into a traumatized area
- The measurable showing of up to 75 percent increase in enzymes
- The spasm release of tight muscles (both smooth and striated) which had been creating chronic pain, joint stiffness, and decreased mobility
- The speeding up of bone repair from the stimulation offered by fibroblastic and osteoblastic proliferation
- The canceling wave effect of viruses, fungi, bacteria, and a variety of parasites so that they fail to survive as pathological organisms
Since the biostimulative, regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic characteristics of low level laser therapy had begun during the past half-century, a massive number of laboratory and clinical studies have been conducted. Perhaps upwards of 2500 published pieces have appeared in the medical literature in the form of clinical journal articles, magazine articles, letters to the editor, official reports, lectures, books, and more.
Clinical Case Studies Prove Low Level Laser Therapy’s Effectiveness
Blood Pressure – Umeda tested the effects of a low level laser on the control of blood pressure via energy administered via the medulla oblongata. The results from a group of 30 patients suffering from hypertension were positive in 80% of the patients. Laser Therapy. 1990; 2(2): 59
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Low level laser therapy has been approved by the FDA as an adjunct treatment method for this
condition.
Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) – Simunovic treated 324 patients . . . complete pain relief and restored functional ability were achieved in 82% of the acute patients and 66% of the chronic cases. wJ Clin Laser Med & Surg. 1998; 16 (3): 145-151
Fibromyalgia – Longo treated 846 patients with fibromyositic rheumatism during a 15 year period. About 2/3 benefited from the treatment with regard to local pain, hypomobility and phlogosis. J Clin Laser Med Surg. 1997; 15 (5): 217-220
Headache/Migraine – Wong treated 20 patients with migraine or symptoms resembling migraine. The pain disappeared after 1-5 minutes. Proc 9th Congress Soc Laser Surgery and Medicine, Anaheim, CA: 2-6 Nov. 1991
Low Back Pain – Soriano performed a double-blind trail with elderly people suffering from chronic low back pain. Treatment was effective in 71% of the laser group and 36% of the sham group. The pain disappeared completely in 45% of the laser group and 15% of the sham group. Lasers Surg Med. 1998 Suppl 10, p. 6
Pain – low level laser therapy has been approved by the FDA as an adjunct treatment method for pain related to shoulder
injuries.
Rheumatism/Osteoarthritis – Palmgren conducted a controlled double-blind study on 35 patients with rheumatoid arthritis of the hand. In the experimental group, grip strength and movement were improved while swelling, pain and morning stiffness were reduced. Lasers in Medical Science, 1989; 4: 193.
Wound Healing – Palmgren investigated the effect of low level laser therapy on infected abdominal wounds after surgery.
Healing time to half wound size was 6.8 days in the laser group compared to 14 days in the placebo group. Lasers Surg Med 1991; Suppl 3:11
Acupuncture - ... In addition, laser light can be used to stimulate acupuncture points in a non-invasive, pain-free manner. Low Level Laser Therapy Provides New Treatment Possiblities, Dr. Melyni Worth, Ph.D., World Equine Veterinary Review, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1998
Allergic Rhinitis – Neuman & Finkelstein studied 50 patients in a double-blind randomized study. Following treatment with a 660 nm red laser 72% of the treatment group reported improvement of symptoms as compared to 24% of the placebo group. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 1997;78:399-406
Bacterial Infection - …in research led by Michael Hamblin of Mass. Gen. Hospital and Harvard Medical School, mice with
surgically induced wounds were dosed with bioluminescent bacteria to create potentially lethal infections. Utilizing a 665 nm laser diode photodynamic therapy (low level laser therapy) the researchers found that “infected wounds healed significantly faster with the PDT method. PDT shows promise as a topical antimicrobial alternative that may work even faster than antibiotics.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, June 1, 2003, PP 1717-1725.
Is Low Level Laser Therapy Safe?
There are over 1500 published studies and not one of them mentions any negative side effects of semi-conductor diode lasers at the 5mW range. Low Level Lasers are safe, non-toxic and non-invasive; there has not been a recorded side effect in over 1700 publications.
There are many advantages with low level laser therapy:
1. It is risk free.
2. It is non-invasive.
3. It is painless.
4. It can not cause cancer.
5. It does not enhance tumor growth.
6. It can be combined with other treatments.
7. And, side effects are rare.
The FDA defines Class I low level lasers as non-significant risk devices. The Q1000 is a Class I non-significant risk laser devices.
Information courtesy of QLaser Solutions.