Pain management is really a field where many practitioners get frustrated. Inside our clinic we see it all the time as a lot of the more difficult cases come in after they have seen everyone else and a chiropractor is their last resort. Chronic pain doesn't always mean that we must do more, sometimes what appears like an extremely little treatment can produce marvelous results.
Take laser therapy for instance; it is just a popular treatment now from from foot fungus to weight loss. Now personally I haven't seen the studies that it is effective for all of the many uses people are finding for it but I do know from the research and from my own clinical experience that it's a highly effective therapy for pain management together with a number of the more traditional methods like physical therapy, chiropractic, acute injury and chronic injury management protocols and dynamic neuromuscular stabilization.
Lasers for used in pain therapy are starting to gain recognition in this country. The FDA cleared Low Level Laser Therapy for used in pain, inflammation, and wound healing in 2002; however, some great benefits of LLLT have been recognized and successfully used overseas for decades. https://lightforcemedical.com/photobiomodulation-therapy-pbm/ have shown LLLT to reduce neck and back pain by as much as 70% with no known side effects.
The theory may be the laser excites the targeted cells in the injured tissue, evoking the cells to distribute a signal that healing needs to take place in the area being treated. This signal travels through the entire bloodstream, connective tissues, and nervous system to significantly increase your body's response and healing time. Interestingly, researchers also have discovered that LLLT boosts healing through the entire body, not just in your community being treated.
Many will be surprised to learn that more is not better in terms of LLLT; the effective dose is fairly small. Typical treatments can take as little as 5 minutes and are administered several times per week over a training course of two to three weeks for maximum and lasting effect. In our clinic it is probably the most used modalities. Often patient respond quickly with minimal subjective complaints, decreased muscle spasm, and increased ROM of the affected area. When you are experiencing carpal tunnel, neck and low back pain, tendonitis, knee pain or a variety of painful conditions, give laser therapy a go to see if it's right for you.