Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)
A new and exciting therapy for the treatment of pain and wound healing may soon become an invaluable part of today's conventional medical care. Low level laser therapy, or as some people know it, LLLT, cold laser therapy and cold laser, was only first discovered in 1967 by Endre Mester of Semmelweis University.
He performed a series of successful laser light experiments on mice with skin cancer. Having first shaved the backs of a number of mice, he then treated some of them with low level lasers and discovered that the hair on the treated mice grew back more quickly than those untreated.
Today, LLLT or cold laser therapy has proved effective in over 100 random, double-blind, clinical trials which tested the therapy on a range of sports injuries, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, neck and back pain, venous ulcer wound healing and diabetic foot.
LLLT substantially reduces muscular pain and inflammation and promotes the repair and recovery of body tissue in those areas where the low level laser light is concentrated. The therapy has proved particularly effective in treating Achilles heel injuries and in diabetic foot wound healing.
But how exactly does cold laser work? Well, light emissions of either low intensity laser diodes or high intensity super luminous diodes are placed directly onto the skin of the painful region or wound. These light emissions allow the photon energy to painlessly penetrate the tissue and speed up the healing process. The procedure also has no harmful side-effects.
It has been noted that there is a significant reduction of oedema and inflammation and the re-establishment of arterial, venous and lymph microcirculation. In addition there have been increased rates of ATP, RNA and DNA synthesis.
Low level laser therapy has also been used in place of acupuncture where the laser beams act as the acupuncture needles and help stimulate blood flow and thereby increase the rate of healing and reduce pain and inflammation.
Many more clinical trials and tests are being conducted, some of which have shown that cold laser therapy can help patients to give up smoking and it's also being tested for other conditions ranging from high blood pressure, migraine headaches and cerebral palsy.
The treatment of inflammation has been one particular focus of interest and a study of the anti-inflammatory effects of low level laser irradiation is being compared to the current medical forms of treatment.
Many controlled scientific studies are underway using reliable low level laser devices for pain, wounds, injuries, and other conditions. If these studies show positive results, we may find that LLLT can be successfully used for the treatment of hundreds of other associated medical conditions.
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