Medical lasers are increasingly being used to treat a wide variety of conditions across numerous fields of medicine. While these lasers are commonly employed for pain relief, they are also being adapted to treat injuries, surgical wounds, cosmetic issues like acne and scars, and to support chiropractic, dental, and veterinary care.
Pain relief remains the most common use of cold lasers, as these devices not only ease pain but also expedite the healing of wounds. Medical lasers are called cold or low-level lasers due to their low-powered laser light that is applied to tissues.
Understanding how cold laser therapy works helps us see its potential to treat different conditions effectively. When laser light is focused on living tissue, it enhances cell function. Our body cells are constantly regenerating, replacing older cells with new ones, provided they receive adequate nutrition.
Lasers can accelerate these natural regeneration processes. When cells are damaged due to injury, disease, or surgery, they naturally speed up their repair processes. Applying laser light boosts this activity, facilitating faster healing.
Here’s how lasers can stimulate cell processes to treat various conditions:
Chronic Pain
By using lasers at therapeutic levels, new cell formation speeds up, helping to replace diseased or damaged tissue with healthy tissue, providing temporary pain relief.
Acne
Low-level laser light can stimulate acne spots to heal faster. New cell growth helps clear clogged pores, allowing the skin to rejuvenate more quickly.
Surgery
Lasers are already used for making precise surgical cuts. Post-surgery, when low-level laser light is applied to wounds, it promotes faster regeneration of damaged tissue. Cold lasers offer similar benefits for acute injuries.
Chiropractic
Chiropractors are using cold lasers to treat both acute injuries and chronic pain, enhancing patient care and complementing traditional treatments for a holistic approach.
Dentistry
Dentists use lasers to support healing after surgeries, alleviate pain from dental procedures, and prevent infections.
Veterinary
Veterinarians are applying the same laser treatments to animals, addressing nearly all the conditions that have been successfully treated in humans.