Information Wellness Blog

Laser therapy is used in physical therapy to provide pain relief and accelerate tissue regeneration, stimulating endorphin release for pain reduction.

Laser therapy sessions typically last only 10-15 minutes and how often you receive treatments may depend on several factors. We will review some general guidelines for including laser therapy into your healthcare plan in this article.

Frequency of Treatments

Laser therapy is FDA approved and uses stringent safety standards to keep patients safe, making it an excellent option for pain relief. Unfortunately, as with any treatment option, it may not work for everyone and may lead to mild side effects, including skin redness, tingling sensation and warm feelings – these typically subside quickly with further sessions.

Laser therapy treatments consist of having a technician hold a flashlight-sized handheld device for 30 to 9 minutes over an injured area, depending on what treatment type is necessary and its location. Patients have reported experiencing a soothing, warming sensation during these procedures that is both relaxing and comforting.

Laser light penetrates deep into tissues to increase energy production and accelerate cell repair, as well as increasing your body’s natural production of cytokines, enzymes that reduce inflammation and promote healing. This process, known as photobiomodulation, has proven highly successful in studies regarding neck pain and arthritis.

Many individuals report immediate relief following their first laser therapy treatment, with noticeable improvements to pain levels and range of motion immediately apparent afterward. Since laser therapy’s effects build upon each session, additional sessions may result in even greater pain relief.

Laser therapy treatment plans typically consist of 6 to 12 sessions; more may be necessary for chronic conditions. When you book your initial laser therapy appointment, our physical therapists will learn more about what’s causing you discomfort and develop a customized plan tailored specifically to you.

In certain instances, we may advise combining laser therapy with other modalities and physical therapy techniques for maximum effect in order to ensure successful recovery without surgery. This has proven successful.

No matter the source of your discomfort – be it an accident, sports injury or chronic condition – laser therapy may provide an invaluable way to accelerate healing and get you back doing what matters most quickly. To see if laser therapy might benefit you, arrange an appointment at our downtown New York City clinic today!

Initial Treatments

Laser therapy is used to treat various conditions, from muscle spasms and joint issues to hair loss. After conducting a physical evaluation, one of our dedicated physical therapists in Amherst, Williamsville, Grand Island, Kenmore West Seneca or North Tonawanda New York will assess which laser is appropriate for you and determine the amount of power needed.

Physical therapists at our physical therapy centers employ advanced Class IV laser technology to alleviate pain, promote healing and expedite recovery. Light energy penetrates the skin to trigger biochemical reactions within cells that improve circulation while decreasing inflammation and stimulating healing mechanisms. Patients typically feel soothing warmth during treatment sessions and many experience significant pain relief after only one or two sessions.

Laser treatments offer long-term and permanent relief from pain, unlike medications and opioids which only temporarily mask it. Light energy interacts with damaged cells to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which allows cells to absorb nutrients more effectively while eliminating waste more efficiently, speeding up healing time.

Laser therapy also increases capillary formation in damaged tissue, speeding the repair and healing of wounds more rapidly. Laser therapy is an excellent solution for chronic injuries or illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic joint pain, backache and neckache.

Laser therapy sessions typically last just minutes per session. One body area at a time will usually be treated, enabling your natural healing energies to focus solely on treating the problematic region.

At each treatment session, goggles will be worn to protect your eyes from laser light. Depending on what condition is being addressed, you may feel either slight warmth over affected areas or light pressure from a laser beam; some even find these treatments relaxing enough that they even fall asleep!

After treatments, it is common to experience temporary increases in pain in the treated area 6-24 hours post-session – this is a good sign! Your healing journey has begun and our clinical team will monitor your progress throughout your course of care.

Maintenance Treatments

As laser therapy provides long-term pain reduction and healing effects, many patients elect to include treatment sessions as part of their ongoing care plan. On average, six-12 sessions may be scheduled each month, though this may differ depending on your condition being addressed.

Laser therapy can be beneficial in treating many conditions, including neck and back pain, sciatica, arthritis, sports injuries, bursitis and plantar fasciitis as well as chronic injuries that have left people debilitated or in pain. Laser technology has proven its ability to effectively treat acute injuries as well as reduce inflammation without inflicting significant discomfort or side effects for most users.

Laser treatments work by sending photons into your tissue that interact with cytochrome c complex within mitochondria, stimulating enzyme production within your cells to boost metabolism and initiate natural healing processes in your body. This leads to an increase in blood flow, reduced inflammation and pain relief as well as an improvement in overall metabolism.

Laser therapy offers non-invasive pain relief without side effects like drugs or surgery do, often providing better pain relief than any other form of therapy, including medication that often produces unpleasant side effects like nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

After receiving laser therapy, apply ointments or creams to your skin to avoid scab formation. Apply two to five times a day until the area feels comfortable without pain or irritation; in addition to this you should refrain from using any irritants until any redness and stinging have subsided completely.

Before your first laser session, avoid direct sunlight and tanning beds for two weeks prior. Additionally, those who wear pacemakers should avoid treating directly over them as this could interfere with its function and lead to serious complications. Finally, pregnant women should not utilize laser treatments as it may interfere with fetal development.

Visit your physical therapist to determine whether laser therapy would be beneficial to you, they can conduct a thorough assessment and develop an individual treatment plan based on your specific needs and recommend which laser type would provide maximum benefit – plus assist in scheduling initial sessions!

Follow-Up Treatments

Laser therapy offers noninvasive relief of pain and inflammation with minimal to no adverse side effects compared to medications, which often have unpleasant adverse reactions such as fatigue, loss of appetite, constipation diarrhea or nausea. Furthermore, it requires no downtime due to being noninvasive.

One of the reasons that laser therapy works so effectively is its non-blood chemistry-altering nature. Albert Einstein famously proposed in 1905 his quantum theory of light which states that light exists both as waves and as particles called photons; when laser beams are directed onto painful areas they penetrate tissue layers where mitochondria interact to trigger an increase in energy and decrease pain and inflammation.

Laser therapy can be applied to many different tissues, including muscle, bone, skin, ligaments and joints. It has proven its efficacy against osteoarthritis joint pain or sports injuries. Furthermore, laser therapy is an effective solution for chronic back pain that has shown to increase range of motion; decrease neck disk hernia pain; as well as help manage fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain conditions.

Laser therapy has many common cosmetic uses. From hair and tattoo removal, to combatting signs of aging like wrinkles and sagging skin. Furthermore, it can be used to reduce scars while simultaneously stimulating healing in wounds or burns.

Laser therapy is an FDA-approved solution that is capable of relieving pain for an array of conditions. It can serve as an invaluable addition to a physical therapy routine or aid recovery from surgery faster. Many patients report being able to stop taking painkillers after just a few sessions with laser therapy; to learn more about its potential advantages for you, speak to your physical therapist.

Lyme disease patients frequently experience debilitating symptoms that compromise quality of life. Fatigue, arthralgias, memory issues and sleep disturbances may mimic chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia.

Serum antibody testing is highly accurate for diagnosing early Lyme neuroborreliosis in extracutaneous symptoms. Asymptomatic seropositivity does not represent a current infection and should not necessitate antibiotic treatment.

Symptoms

Most cases of Lyme disease result from being bitten by ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, but some individuals still develop persistent symptoms after treatment such as fatigue, joint pain and cognitive difficulties; this condition is sometimes known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) but researchers are yet to ascertain its source.

If you suspect Lyme disease, visit your physician immediately for a blood test to check for traces of bacteria. If positive results emerge, treatment with antibiotics like Doxycycline will likely be prescribed; as it kills the organisms that cause Lyme. However, completion of all prescribed courses of antibiotics to avoid potential recurrences or reinfection.

Some patients may experience a Herxheimer reaction during treatment, in which bacteria die faster than the body can eliminate them. While this may temporarily worsen symptoms, it’s an indicator that antibiotics are working effectively and is an indicator that treatment has begun working effectively.

Antibiotics may not always be successful at treating Lyme disease as the bacteria mutate into new forms resistant to certain antibiotics. When this happens, your physician may suggest an alternate antibiotic such as piperacillin which helps preserve body’s microbiome while effectively treating Lyme without producing Herxheimer reactions.

Sound therapy can provide relief and bolster immunity for individuals suffering from persistent symptoms. This form of therapy uses specific sounds and vibrations to encourage healing in the body.

Sound therapy offers many potential methods of relieving symptoms associated with Lyme Disease, including binaural beats and sound baths. Sound therapy may help alleviate stress while improving sleep quality – two additional advantages that make sound therapy a vital addition to any treatment plan for Lyme disease.

At Oasis Medical Institute, sound therapy is part of an integrative approach to treating Lyme Disease. Under Francisco Contreras MD’s leadership, our team can customize a treatment plan including sound therapy as well as other holistic healing approaches tailored specifically for you.

Treatment

Lyme disease treatment options range from antibiotics and holistic approaches, with antibiotics typically being the go-to choice, in order to alleviate symptoms and prevent recurrences. If symptoms do not improve after initial rounds of antibiotic treatment, further rounds may need to be administered as necessary.

Doxycycline has proven its efficacy in clinical studies as an antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease, with treatment usually lasting seven-14 days, although patients who present neurologic manifestations may require additional courses of antibiotics.

Other treatment strategies may include diet modifications and natural therapies as part of an overall regimen, which may help to decrease fatigue, pain and inflammation in the body while simultaneously strengthening immunity and speeding healing.

Individuals living with chronic Lyme Disease frequently struggle with sleep disturbances. Sound therapy can improve quality of restful slumber by encouraging relaxation and stress reduction – this may help them overcome its effects and enhance quality of life.

Persistent symptoms after Lyme disease infection could be related to any number of conditions, including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and somatization disorder. A comprehensive evaluation should be completed prior to diagnosing persistent Lyme disease symptoms in any individual patient.

Emergence of persistent Lyme disease in endemic regions has created significant difficulties in diagnosing and treating it within communities, with numerous hypothesized mechanisms leading to illness such as microbial persistence, host immune dysregulation through inflammation or secondary autoimmunity pathways, altered neural networks as central sensitization being among them.

Physicians seeking to diagnose PTLD must conduct a complete physical exam and review laboratory tests in order to confirm an authentic tick-borne infection. They should obtain a CSF index, which measures antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid. CSF index measurements can help physicians ascertain if an active neuroborreliosis condition exists that doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment; furthermore, brain and spinal imaging in suspected PTLD cases could help rule out other potential causes, such as brain tumors.

Side Effects

For patients experiencing persistent symptoms related to Lyme disease, the ILADS guideline offers various treatment options that may help such as antibiotics tailored specifically for that person’s dosage needs, cognitive therapy and physical/occupational therapies. Furthermore, established therapeutic interventions for other rheumatic conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome which have similar clinical characteristics are also suggested in this treatment plan.

Persistent Lyme disease symptomatology is an extremely complex phenomenon for which no definitive etiology can be identified. Although various hypotheses have been proposed as possible sources, one persistent theme appears to be immunological dysfunction and/or infection-induced autoimmunity among some patients. As a result, “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome” (PTLDS) has come to define symptoms which cannot easily be linked with one pathophysiologic mechanism.

This group of patients, which may or may not have previously been treated, may become symptomatic shortly after taking antibiotics. It’s likely that the combination of host genetic factors and B. burgdorferi factors contributes to immune dysregulation or infection-induced autoimmune mechanisms resulting in persistent musculoskeletal or neurological symptoms attributed to PTLD or its causes.

Patients suffering from PTLD often co-infection with tick-borne microorganisms like Babesia, Ehrlichia, and Bartonella that spread via ticks. Left untreated, these coinfections can increase morbidity and mortality rates significantly – though diagnosing such coinfections can often be challenging as available laboratory tests often have different performance parameters and do not detect all strains of these organisms.

ILADS Guidelines have released a more inclusive definition of CLD which may not meet IDSA PTLDS criteria due to lack of functional impairment or weak evidence for prior Lyme disease. When this occurs, clinicians should take into account patient preferences when prescribing oral antibiotics as well as considering synovial proliferation versus joint swelling severity and consider an increased course based on patient preference and consideration of joint swelling severity. Furthermore, clinicians are strongly encouraged to ensure their diagnostic laboratories offer FDA-cleared tests with demonstrated analytical and clinical validity against an appropriate reference standard.

Prevention

Lyme disease is the most widespread vector-borne infectious illness afflicting temperate regions across North America and Eurasia. Caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex spirochetes transmitted via Ixodes tick bites, symptoms may range from flu-like symptoms to neurologic complaints; early diagnosis and treatment reduce the risk of Post Treatment Lyme Disease Disorder (PTLD), which may arise after recovering from initial illness.

In areas with an elevated Lyme disease risk, physicians should suspect Lyme disease when patients present with the classic erythema migrans rash or tick bite symptoms. Patients should be advised to search for and promptly remove attached ticks, especially nymphal ticks. Identification of tick species that transmit B. burgdorferi may help narrow down possible false positive results from laboratory testing that could result in unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, potentially contributing to resistant strains of B. burgdorferi infection.

Diagnosis of Lyme disease involves considering its history, physical exam and laboratory findings. A course of tetracycline or doxycycline for 21 days should be prescribed if there has been a tick bite with symptoms consistent with bull’s-eye erythema migrans rash; longer antibiotic courses may be needed in some instances due to neurological manifestations or possible exposure to infected ticks.

Patients should be advised to avoid outdoor activities during tick-active times and conduct routine tick checks. When one is found, it should be removed quickly with one of the many devices designed for this purpose; proper tick removal reduces transmission rates significantly by grasping and pulling its mouthparts at their closest points of attachment to skin.

As part of their Lyme disease treatment regimen, patients should also undergo evaluation for possible coinfection with other tick-borne pathogens such as Babesia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia. Studies suggest coinfection increases risk for more severe and disseminated illness; detection requires additional laboratory testing that includes antigen and antibody detection as well as culture and CSF PCR to confirm.