Low Intensity Laser Therapy: General

Low Intensity Laser Therapy (LILT) is a revolutionary new treatment that has taken the medical world by storm. The discovery of therapeutic lasers go back well over half a century as scientists attempted to ascertain how light itself could be used in a specific manner for healing purposes. The use of high intensity lasers is well known in the fields of surgery for precise procedures throughout the body. However low intensity lasers do not have the ability to heat skin tissues enough to burn or cut through them. They do have the ability to stimulate the skin cells as well as underlying soft tissue cells in a natural way. The FDA has approved low intensity laser for the use in the therapeutic healing of chronic pain conditions involving muscles, ligaments, bones, joints, etc.

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LILT, uses low-intensity focused beams of light (lasers) or light-emitting-diodes, to stimulate or inhibit cellular activity and function.  The laser works at the cellular level to ameliorate pain and restore the cells to their normal functioning state.  In ailments where cells aren't functioning properly, LILT can be of huge help to patients.

In particular, muscle cells seem to respond very well to LILT.  Because low-intensity lasers have been shown to stimulate cellular activity, using LILT on the damaged muscle cells can help them restore themselves more quickly than they would otherwise be able to.

For more pathological conditions such as Carpal tunnel syndrome, epicondylitis (tennis elbow and golfer's elbow), or TMJ (Temporo-Mandibular Joint Dysfunction), the reasoning works the same way. Low-level laser beams, administered according to a doctor's specifications and focused on the site of the nerve inflammation, can help incite nerves to stop sending out pain signals.  Once the pain ceases, LILT can be administered to help restore the nerves and muscles. Obviously, laser therapy isn't the only treatment - physical therapy, proper ergonomics, and chiropractic adjustments have an important place too. However, LILT can help significantly speed the process of recovery and get the body back into optimal shape.

With complicated ailments, low intensity laser therapy can prove to be a cost-effective, non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical lifesaver. For fibromyalgia, also known as "muscular rheumatism" or "musculoskeletal pain syndrome," LILT can help stimulate endorphins, accelerate blood and lymph circulation, and accelerate cell growth throughout the body.  This is far healthier in the long run than using tricyclic antidepressants (which can cause unwanted side effects) or cortisone injection (which dulls the pain, but doesn't deal with the problem). The lack of fluid circulation and spastic nerves are the root of fibromyalgia, which LILT is uniquely designed to treat.

For rotator cuff tears or even Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, low intensity laser therapy is just one of many tools to help muscle tissue grow back or reduce swelling. It isn’t a miracle cure, but it can help treatment go by more quickly and easily by stimulating the body to help other forms of treatment work.