What is a Cold Laser?
Cold laser therapy is a type of treatment that uses low levels of light to promote healing for different conditions, such as arthritis, joint pain, and muscle strains.
Doctors call it a cold laser as it uses low intensity light to treat inflamed tissue and does not generate heat.
Researchers believe that this treatment helps blood flow and ease pain.
Cold laser therapy also has other names, including:
- low level laser therapy
- low power laser therapy
- soft laser biostimulation
- photobiomodulation
Cold laser therapy beams light energy at your skin. The device uses low levels of energy, or photons. Unlike higher-frequency lasers used for surgery, they don’t heat or cut your skin. Photons penetrate deep into a painful joint. The light triggers chemical changes that help damaged cells and tissues heal and regrow.
During treatment, your doctor aims the cold laser device directly on your skin. It will either touch your skin or be very close to it.
The device sends a quick light pulse into your knee that lasts from 30 to 60 seconds. You’ll need more than one treatment to get results. It can take several treatments for a benefit to be obtained.
Why is Cold Laser performed?
Treatment of Pain
Cold laser may help reduce pain in people with:
- Tendonitis
- Osteoarthritis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Acute, chronic or long lasting pain
What can you expect during a Cold Laser visit?
No sensation is felt when a cold laser is applied to the skin. Individuals may have to undergo more than one session for positive results. Cold laser therapy may not work for everyone. A healthcare professional may stop treatment if they believe it is not yielding any improvements
What are the potential risks for Cold Laser?
Non drug alternative. Cold laser therapy is a drug-free alternative to opioids for pain. Opioids can be highly addictive when used for chronic pain, and they can cause side effects like constipation and nausea or drowsiness.
Noninvasive. Cold laser therapy doesn’t cut into your skin to treat knee pain, so it isn’t invasive like surgery.
Few side effects. Cold laser therapy for pain has no side effects.
