How Does Cold Laser Work For Arthritis?

Arthritis affects nearly 70 million Amerikanaca.Najčešći forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease in which cartilage wears away, and rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. Also, there are other conditions that fall under the "umbrella" of arthritis, including bursitis, tendinitis, lower back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and so on.

a common symptom of most forms of arthritis pain. Pain develops as a result of several factors, including inflammation of the peripheral neural stimulation of pain sensors for any biochemical factors such as cytokines or mechanical factors-joint deformity. Arthritis pain can be accompanied byother problems, including loss of range of motion and disability.

Although medications, injections and surgery all have their place, and valuable, there is still a need for a potentially useful adjunctive modalities that could speed recovery and relieve pain faster.

Low level laser therapy, better known as phototherapy, is a relatively new form of treatment. Its premise is that certain wavelengths of light impact on the living tissue. This effect is called "photobiomodulation ."

Phototherapy has been shown in experimental settings to stimulate cell growth, increase cell metabolism, improve cell regeneration, promote anti-inflammatory response, reduce edema, reduce the production of fibrous tissue, reduced levels of substance P stimulates production of nitric oxide, reducing the formation of bradykinin, histamine, and acetylcholine, and stimulate production of endorphins. These effects are felt to be what they reduce pain.

Most cold lasers in use today uses a combination of light emitting diodes and infrared diodes.

the beneficial effects of cold lasers were first noted in wound healing in rats (Mester E, Spy T, Sander N, Tito J. Effect of laser rays on wound healing Am J Surg 1971; 122:. 523-535).

Subequently, the laser was found to be beneficial in numerous animal models and has to be studied as a possible tool for cartilage regeneration and healing (Lin Y, Chai CY Yang RH. Effects of helium-neon laser on. Levels of stress proteins and arthritis histopathology in experimental osteoarthritis Am J Phys Med Rehab 2004, 83:. 758-765 ).

Data about the usefulness of cold laser on various conditions seen in a rheumatology office are as follows:

Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (Brosseau L, Welch V, Wells G, Tugwell P, de Bie R, Harman K, Shea B, Morin M. Low level laser therapy for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: a meta-analysis. J rheum 2000; 27:. 1961-9 );

elbow tendonitis (Simunovic Z, T Trobonjača, Trobonjača Z. Treatment of medial and lateral epicondylitis tennis and golfer's elbow-therapy with low-level laser: multicenter double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study on 324 patients. J Clin Laser medicine Surg 1998, 16:. 145-51 );

fibromyalgia trigger points (Simunovic Z. Low level laser therapy with trigger points technique: clinical study on 243 patients J Clin Laser Medicine Surg 1996; 14: 163-167 .. );

Neck arthritis (Ozdemir F, Birtane M, Kokino S. Clinical effectiveness of low power laser therapy on pain and function in osteoarthritis of the door Clin Rheumatology 2001, 20: 181-184 .. );

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Naeser MA, Hahn KA, Lieberman BE, Branco KF Carpal tunnel syndrome pain treated with low-level laser and microamps transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation: a controlled study ... Archives Phys Med Rehab 2002; 83: 978-988 );

shoulder tendinitis (England S, Ferrell AJ, Coppock JS, Struthers G, Bacon PA low-power laser therapy of shoulder tendonitis Scand J Rheum 1989, 18: 427-431 );

lower back pain disorders (Tasaki E, et al Application of low power laser therapy for relief of back pain Ninth Congress of the International Society Laser Surgery and Medicine, Anaheim, CA USA ..... November 2 - 6, 1991 ; ... tuner J walk, L. Laser therapy manual Prima books 2004 Sweden, p. 81 ).

Appropriate clinical evaluation is essential for determining whether a patient is a good candidate for laser therapy. Also, the laser is a complementary therapy, it should be used in combination with other therapies, as well. Concurrent medications, etc. should not be forgotten.

Phototherapy is FDA approved for the number of applications and is considered safe. It also requires relatively little time to perform. Established protocols and tissue dosages have found that clinical application is relatively easy.

the number of sessions required varies with the disorder, duration of disorder is present and the severity of the disorder.

Contraindications are pregnancy (the use of lasers over the pregnant uterus), thyroid exposure, through the epiphysis children, transplant patients, either directly in an active cancer, about where there has been a recent (within 24 hours), steroid injections, or on the chest of the patient with a pacemaker.

While some feel a cold laser that is unproven, it seems so far that is safe, effective treatment for many diseases and rheumatologic is worth trying before subjecting the patient more invasive and dangerous procedures.