If you’re one of the millions who have back pain, then you know how it can stop you in your tracks without a moment’s notice. It’s a serious condition that affects your mobility and limits how you function. So, how can you eliminate low back pain?
Most people turn to pills or any treatment they can get their hands on, desperate for even just a little bit of relief. The problem with this approach is it usually isn’t very successful. At best, you get a momentary reprieve, but the pain always returns.
Whether you’ve been suffering for weeks, months, or years, the only way to truly eliminate back pain is to address the problem directly. Believe it or not, there’s a simple solution: laser therapy. Laser therapy targets the root cause of your pain and practically turns your body’s ability to heal into a superpower.
What Is Laser Therapy?
Let’s start by explaining what exactly laser therapy is, then we can dive into how it can help get rid of your back pain. In short, laser therapy is a medical treatment that uses light to reduce pain, inflammation, and other symptoms that come with a back injury. But, it’s much more than that.
The science behind laser therapy is what makes it truly remarkable. It works on a cellular level, causing a series of changes throughout your body, effectively healing your back from the inside out. This process is known as “photobiomodulation” or PBM for short.
Essentially, light enters your body and targets the areas that need the most help, the injured cells. These cells absorb the light and are flooded by photonic energy. As a result, they become supercharged and begin rapidly repairing themselves.
The Power Of Laser Therapy
PBM is heavily influenced by how much power that is being emitted. The brightness (or power) of laser light is measured the same way other light sources are, in Watts. So, the more power that’s involved, the more energy that can be delivered directly to your tissue.
Unlike white light, which has a wide range of wavelengths, laser light only contains one wavelength. Scientists studied how laser light interacts with your body and found which wavelength gets absorbed by musculoskeletal tissue best.
You’re probably thinking “why is this even important?” Well, your back pain is a result of injured tissue. And in order to start the therapeutic effects that heal the injured tissue, you need a powerful light that delivers a large amount of photons.
Now, not all lasers are created equal, however. Let’s take a closer look at the different types of lasers and how they can treat your lower back pain.
Classes Of Laser
There are 4 classes of lasers, all divided based on their power. Class II and III lasers are considered low level lasers, while class IV lasers are the most powerful medical lasers available.
Class I, II and III lasers work on the top layer of your skin. They aren’t powerful enough to cause any type of warm, flushing feeling either. Being limited in power also means low level lasers are only able to deliver a small amount of photons to your cells. While this might not seem like much, less photons means there’s less of an impact on your back pain.
Class IV lasers, however, work beyond the surface of your skin. They easily go deep past multiple layers of your skin, traveling through muscle, joints, and even bone. What’s even more impressive is how quick and effective treatment is. These lasers deliver powerful doses of life in such a short amount of time, saving you both time and money.
Treating Back Pain With Laser
Nearly 540 million people experience some sort of back pain in their lifetime. One of the biggest causes is from arthritis, which refers to swelling of one or more joints. For those with back arthritis, that means there’s inflammation in the facet joints of the spine, as well as the sacroiliac joint, the joint that’s situated between the spine and pelvis.
A common type of arthritis, called osteoarthritis, involves wear and tear on spinal cartilage of the joints and discs. In some cases, spurs can develop, which puts excessive pressure on the nerves along the spine.
Since joints are located between bones, it can be pretty tricky to try to treat them. Luckily, laser therapy is able to penetrate deep in your body, through skin, muscle, and bone. It’s one of the only forms of treatment that can target the joint and actually encourage the healing process. Laser light increases cell turnover and brings vital nutrients to the damaged joint, effectively relieving the pain and inflammation related to arthritis.
Treating Back Conditions
Laser therapy can also treat conditions like:
- Chronic Back Pain
- Sciatica
- Hip Pain
- Arthritis
- Damaged Discs
- …And More!
The first thing we’ll do is examine your back, take a few measurements, and do some testing. From there, we’ll decide which laser protocol would be best for you. After 4 sessions, we’ll go back and reassess to see how your body is responding to everything. Depending on the results, there may be some changes to your protocol, or you may be ready to move on to the next phase of treatment.
Newer injuries may only need an extra 2 or 3 treatments, whereas older, long-standing injuries may need a bit more to reach the desired level of recovery. Remember, the longer you’ve had the injury, the longer it may take to fully heal.
Surgical Care
While laser therapy is an excellent way for anyone to reduce their pain and inflammation, this is especially true if you’re going to have surgery. Regardless if it’s a joint replacement or just a simple incision, laser therapy can take your healing to the next level.
Since the light will speed up the healing of your tissue, muscles, and bones, you can reap the benefits before or after your surgery. In some cases, the healing is so quick and effective, it can prevent the need for surgery altogether! Laser therapy is even safe around medical implants.
When it comes to recovering after you’ve had your surgery, some of the most impressive results are a direct result of using laser therapy. There are even protocols that have been created specifically for surgical aftercare. Research shows that laser not only speeds how quickly you heal, but also improves how well you heal as well. And because your incisions, scar tissue, and the surrounding area begin healing right away, your recovery is less painful overall.
Why Choose Laser Therapy?
Now that you know the science of it all, let’s talk about why it’s such a great idea to choose laser therapy to get rid of your back pain.
For starters, laser therapy is incredibly fast and precise. Most treatments last between 3 to 10 minutes. More importantly, laser therapy targets the source of your back pain with amazing accuracy. Studies show that damaged cells respond stronger to light than healthy cells, which means you receive a therapeutic dosage quickly and effectively.
Another reason to choose laser therapy is because it doesn’t involve any drugs. Most traditional treatment options rely on opioids and other prescription medications that are extremely dangerous and can even cause you to become dependent on them. Similarly, laser therapy is also non-invasive. Unlike risky back surgeries, there are no potential complications or negative side effects involved. Laser therapy offers relief from chronic back pain in the safest way possible.
Improve With Laser Therapy
With laser therapy, you don’t have to worry about limiting your movement or activities. Since there’s no surgical incisions, that means there’s no downtime after treatment sessions. Laser therapy makes it easy to return to the daily tasks and activities that were once too difficult or painful to do. There’s nothing to hold you back from enjoying life, not even back pain.
It may come as a surprise to learn that increasing your circulation can do wonders for your back. Laser therapy helps stimulate blood flow, which is an essential part in your body’s natural healing process. That’s not all it does, though. Proper blood flow helps damaged muscle tissue and nerves as well. The light increases the production of certain growth factors, which encourages your muscles and nerves to heal.
Probably the biggest benefit to laser therapy, though, is that each treatment is completely customizable to you and your condition. All injuries are different, so it only makes sense that treatment for those injuries should be just as unique. There are several different laser therapy protocols that can be used to reduce your symptoms and get your back pain finally under control.
So, if you’re ready to stop suffering from nagging, aching back pain, then laser therapy is here to help. Click here to learn more about laser therapy.
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