With more than 80 percent of the U.S. population experiencing some form of back pain over the course of their lifetimes, people want pain relief, and are desperate to improve their quality of life.
A growing number of progressive health care providers are giving them relief by using Class IV high-power deep-tissue laser therapy. Unfortunately, there is a plethora of misinformation regarding laser therapy, such as which type is best, how much to use (dosage), treatment frequency and even proper diagnostic procedures. At Distinctive Salon and Spa, Jason Caldwell, DOM, has been treating his patients with this laser for more than two years, providing unparalleled medical therapy results.
Laser therapy is a modality cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It reduces inflammation and, ultimately, results in pain reduction. Laser therapy is the safest noninvasive and effective treatment option on the market for treating acute pain, chronic conditions and post-op pain. It is safe, painless and fast.
Deep tissue laser therapy treatments are administered in five to 10 minutes. Typically, patients see results after three to five treatment sessions. Deep tissue laser therapy utilizes your body’s own healing powers by stimulating cellular activity. Despite fast treatment times, laser therapy treatments initiate a healing process, which continues to actively reduce inflammation for up to 24 hours after treatment.
First theorized by Albert Einstein, in 1916, and invented by Theodore Maiman, in 1960, the laser has become one of the most beneficial inventions used in modern society. In 1967, Dr. Endre Mester, a professor of surgery in Hungary, performed a revolutionary series of experiments, which first documented the healing effect of lasers.
Therapy lasers have been used and researched in Europe for more than 30 years. The FDA approved the first low-level Class III laser in 2002 and first Class IV therapy laser in 2003. The most significant clinical and therapeutic difference between Class IV lasers and Class III is the fact IV can produce a primary biostimulative effect on deeper tissues, while also producing substantial secondary and tertiary effects.
Laser therapy aims to photo-biostimulate chemically damaged cells. This therapy actually excites the kinetics energy within cells by transmitting healing energy known as photons. The skin absorbs these photons via a photochemical effect, not photo-thermal. Therefore, it does not cause heat damage to the tissues.
Once photons reach the cells of the body, they promote a cascade of cellular activities. It can ignite the production of enzymes, stimulate mitochondria, increase vasodilation and lymphatic drainage, synthesize ATP, and elevate collagen formation substances to prevent the formation of scar tissues. This is a critical step in reducing long-term disabling chronic myofascial pain syndromes and joint hyper-mobility. Other formative cells also are positively influenced. One of the laser therapy’s many immune-enhancing effects is an increase in the number of macrophages.
When evaluating outcomes, treatments are most effective when an accurate dose is appropriately delivered. For instance, you wouldn’t use a spoon to deliver a medication that should be delivered through a needle. This principle holds true for many types of therapies—just as there are different ways to deliver medicine, there also are different ways to deliver light.
For a medication like aspirin, dosing is largely based on weight and severity of condition. Treatment is generally administered orally over a given period of time, (e.g., two pills every four hours). This type of dosing and delivery is straightforward and well understood. But how is a light-based therapy, like deep tissue laser therapy, dosed and administered?
Laser therapy dosing involves delivering a calculated amount of energy to a specified area (measured in J/cm2). Dosages are determined situationally based on numerous factors, including acuity, patient absorption characteristics and relative depth of the affected structure within the body.
During treatment, you will feel soothing warmth. This identifies the beginning of an 18- to 24-hour process of modulated cellular activity, leading to decreased pain and inflammation. The treatment length is dependent on the power of the laser, while the number of treatments is typically left up to the clinician’s discretion and recommended protocols.
To take control of your mobility and health once and for all, call (480) 396-3112. Distinctive Salon and Salt Spa is located at 2910 N. Power Road, next to Bashas’.