Most people who ask me about laser therapy are not looking for a science lesson. They usually have something that hurts, it has been hanging around longer than they expected, and they want to know whether there is another option worth trying.
That is really where the conversation should start.
At ChiroActive Carleton Place, we use a Theralase Class 3B therapeutic laser. The treatment itself is non-invasive and generally comfortable. But the important part is not simply having a laser in the clinic. It is knowing when it makes sense to use it.
So what is photobiomodulation?
Laser therapy is a form of photobiomodulation, often shortened to PBM. Specific wavelengths of light are directed into the area being treated. Researchers have studied how that light interacts with tissue and how it may influence pain, inflammation and processes involved in recovery.
That sounds technical, but from a patient’s point of view the question is much simpler: could it be useful for what I am dealing with?
Where might we use it?
We may consider laser therapy for certain joint, muscle, tendon and soft-tissue problems. A patient might come in because a knee is making stairs difficult, a shoulder keeps waking them at night, plantar fasciitis is making the first steps of the morning miserable, or an old sports injury keeps flaring up.
Those are examples, not a checklist. Having one of those problems does not automatically mean you need laser therapy.
Why we assess first
This is the part I don’t want people to skip.
Pain in the same area can come from very different things. Two people can both point to their knee and describe ‘knee pain,’ but that does not mean the same treatment makes sense for both of them.
We want to know when the problem started, what aggravates it, what you have already tried and what it is stopping you from doing. Then we can decide whether laser therapy has a reasonable place in your care.
What is treatment like?
There are no needles or injections involved. You relax while the laser is applied to the area being treated, and when the treatment is finished you can carry on with your day.
How often it is used depends on the problem and how you respond. We do not put every patient through the same number of treatments.
Curious whether it could help?
If something has been bothering you and it is not settling the way you expected, we can take a look. If laser therapy makes sense, we will explain why. If it doesn’t, we will tell you that too.
Learn more about Laser Therapy at ChiroActive Carleton Place or book your first laser therapy visit.