Cold Laser Therapy Provides New Relief for Injuries

Regardless of whether you're playing badminton on the weekends or ice hockey for the pro leagues, sports injuries are a calculated risk for athletes. Treatments of injuries vary based on the type and severity of the injury, but a relatively new treatment is finding universal success. And it is doing so at the speed of light.

Cold laser therapy, which uses laser light to speed the healing process, is finding widespread use among pain management specialists, including chiropractors, physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons and rehabilitation clinics. Although relatively new, the results have been so strong that doctors who use laser therapy are singing its praises. The laser therapy can speed the body's healing by as much as 10 times its normal rate.

"Laser light stimulates photo receptors on the cell, which causes a cascade of biochemical reactions," explains Dr. Jean Achterberg of the LaserHealth Pain Center in Dallas. "These chemicals facilitate the anti-inflammatory process and provide pain-relieving effects through the release of endorphins."

Cold laser therapy is done without drugs, as the laser provides accelerated healing without burning or cutting. The process has been used in Europe for many years, but only received FDA approval in the U.S. in 2002.

Since then, it has been earning the praise of physicians and patients alike. Professional athletes such as Lance Armstrong and team members of the New England Patriots rely upon the therapy to treat their sports-related injuries. In fact, it was widely reported that 10 members of the Patriots sought cold laser therapy treatments to treat minor injuries the week before they won the Super Bowl in 2004.

"Early on, we knew that most patients experienced faster healing times and greater pain relief with cold laser therapy, but we didn't completely understand the exact mechanism or how it worked," Dr. Achterberg explains. "Today we have a much better understanding of how it works and which specific wavelengths and dosages provide us the best effects for certain conditions."

She cites numerous cases where cold laser therapy has succeeded after surgeries or other more conventional methods of treatment have failed. Because the laser stimulates blood flow, it has been successful in treating severe bruises in addition to musculoskeletal ailments.

"It's primarily used for wound healing and pain management for complaints such as tendonitis, arthritis, carpal tunnel, muscle spasms and sprains," she says. "Now sports trainers and athletes are using the cold laser as part of their training strategy, because they can decrease recovery time by increasing tissue repair after a an intense workout. And faster recovery means fewer injuries."