You might have heard about how surgeons use high power lasers in performing surgeries that leave behind the minimum or almost no scars. Low level laser therapy, on the other hand, can induce the body to create new cells and repair itself.
Low Level Laser Therapy or Photobiomodulation Therapy is a non-invasive form of healing that can help in the treatment of various medical conditions. LLLT can relieve pain and inflammation, stimulate the cells to promote healing, promote weight loss, and ease many other medical issues.
If you have been looking for effective solutions for the aches and pains you feel you could consider going for low level laser therapy or LLLT. What’s more, it can also help you lose weight. Therapists also call it PBM therapy or Photobiomodulation therapy. And, it has been found to work wonders in reducing pain and rejuvenating your body.
Low Level Laser Therapy Explained
A form of alternate healing therapy, low level laser therapy can heal you without the use of medicines, drugs, or invasive procedures. It uses light-emitting diodes or low power lasers to heal you. Other terms for LLLT or PBM are laser acupuncture, biostimulation laser, soft laser, therapeutic laser, or cold laser. LLLT works by stimulating damaged cells to heal themselves and function like they should. Doctors are increasingly using the therapy as additional treatment to the medication they prescribe.
How Low Level Laser Therapy Works
ATP or Adenosine Triphosphates are molecules that contain high levels of energy and are found in the cells of your body. ATP molecules store energy and provide it to your cells when needed. They get this energy from the mitochondria or energy generators in your body. In addition to providing energy to the body cells, ATP also helps in repairing the injuries you get, and remove pain and swelling.
Each time you have an injury or illness, trauma, or even suffer stress, the mitochondria react by releasing nitric oxide. Excess levels of nitric oxide may stop or slow down the healing process of the cells. Low level laser therapy work on the damaged mitochondria and help them recover so that the healing process in your body speeds up. That’s how you begin to sense a gradual easing of the pain and swelling.
Advantages of Low Level Laser Therapy
Low level laser therapy has many benefits over regular forms of treatment. LLLT can:
- Help you lose weight faster if you follow a healthy diet and exercise plan
- Help ease the pain and tiredness you feel
- Cure the soreness and swelling in your muscles.
- Improve your muscle tone and help you get stronger
- Help you move better by relieving the stiffness in your joints
- Help your cells regenerate
- Work without causing any side effects
- Work without the need for surgery
How Low Level Laser Therapy is Performed
Should you sign up for Low Level Laser Therapy you can expect that each treatment session will take around 8 to 15 minutes. The LLLT device resembles a tanning pod and you will be asked to lay in it wearing safety goggles. The rejuvenating light therapy is given to you all over the body and you might be asked to come in for follow up sessions two to three times a week.
You will feel completely relaxed with only a warm, comforting sensation. Many people talk about how they can sleep better and feel their aches and pains disappearing. You can also look forward to quicker healing of the injuries and illnesses you may have. Athletes talk about how they can perform better while weight watchers have noticed that losing the inches is a lot faster with the therapy.
Medical Conditions that Have Responded Well to LLLT
Clinical studies have shown that low level laser therapy can help patients with many issues such as:
- Severe and regular neck pain
- Frozen shoulder
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinopathy
- Short-term rheumatoid arthritis
- Joint pain
- Healing of wounds
- Lower back pain
Results Declared by International Health Organizations
Several international health organizations have studied the effects of low level laser therapy and here’s what they have to say.
- The WHO, Bone and Joint Task Force, recommends LLLT for neck pain
- The American Physical Therapy Association talks about the effectiveness of LLLT for treating Achilles tendonitis.
- The International Association for the Study of Pain (Global Taskforce on musculoskeletal pain) has also indicated that LLLT can help patients with myofascial pain syndrome.
- Results of more than 400 Randomized Controlled Trials using LLLT have revealed that the therapy does work in helping reduce pain and inflammation. It can also speed the healing process, assist in weight loss, and in general, improve the quality of life for patients.
Precautions to be Taken
While Low Level Laser Therapy is very safe, your therapist will take certain precautions when giving the therapy.
- You must wear safety goggles to protect the eyes.
- Patients having cancer can take the therapy only under the strict supervision of their doctors.
- If you are pregnant, make sure to let the therapist know so that she does not give you LLLT on the abdomen.
- If you have tattoos, you might have some discomfort or pain when the dye heats up after absorbing laser energy.
- Dark-skinned patients might also experience some amount of discomfort.
To make sure that the therapy gives patients the desired results without the possibility of adverse reactions, it is always advisable to get LLLT at a certified treatment provider under the guidance of an expert, trained medical practitioner.
