Hand-held cold laser used to promote healing and speed recovery.

Cold laser is a gentle, painless therapy that uses light to reduce pain, inflammation, and speed up the healing process. It effectively treats both bony and soft tissue. Cold laser therapy is safe, effective, and FDA approved since 2002.

You are probably familiar with “hot” lasers – the type used for many surgeries. The “hot” laser’s heat cuts tissue or destroys tumors. “Cold” lasers don’t actually feel cold; “cold” refers to the laser’s low-level light spectrum. The laser’s infrared and far-infrared light penetrates your skin to stimulate healing in your body’s cells.

Because cold laser therapy works at the cellular level to speed healing and reduce pain, it is beneficial for patients with a wide range of medical conditions, including

  • Sprains, strains, bruises, and other soft tissue injuries
  • Tendonitis, capsulitis, and bursitis
  • Damage to ligaments
  • Acute (sudden) and chronic (long term) joint pain from osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis
  • Chronic neck pain, back pain, and shoulder pain
  • Joint degeneration, including cartilage loss
  • Myofascial trigger points
  • Inflammation
  • Blisters, ulcerations, pressure sores, post-surgical scarring, burns, and other open wounds
  • Fractures
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Patient Experiences

One patient healed faster than expected from significant bruising on a grade-two hamstring strain. A patient with cracked ribs also recovered more quickly than expected.

We are so pleased with our patients’ results that we now have a second cold laser to treat a broader range of health conditions.

Safety and Side Effects of Cold Laser Therapy

Research studies have revealed only one side effect of cold laser therapy: people detoxing from chemical addiction have experienced a worsening of their detox symptoms.

As a precautionary measure, there are a handful of situations that we will not treat with cold laser: over the womb in a pregnant woman, a person with a pacemaker, or a person with a vagal nerve stimulator.

Research shows cold laser treatment is safe to use on implants, including dental implants, metal pins, metal rods, cochlear implants, and breast augmentation devices.

Cold lasers are a trusted, proven-effective treatment method free of the harmful side effects of medications and more invasive treatments.

How Cold Laser Works

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is photochemical or “cold”; it doesn’t burn. When we treat injured tissues with a cold laster, a photochemical reaction happens between the cells and photons. Photons from the laser affect the tissue at a cellular level. The photons enter the tissues, alter cell membrane permeability, then the mitochondria (the cellular power plant) absorbs them. Absorption into the mitochondria triggers an increase in ATP production; ATP is the fuel that powers all cells.

We program the cold laser to “talk” with your body’s cells at different frequencies. Each frequency (measured in Hertz) creates a unique physiologic response. For example, we use one frequency to treat a fracture and a different frequency to treat scar tissue.

The increase in ATP production promotes the following,

  • Rapid cell growth: cellular reproduction accelerates
  • Increases speed of wound healing: fibroblasts are stimulated for cellular repair
  • Increases metabolic activity: blood cell oxygenation improves, specific enzymes increase, and immune response improves
  • Reduces fibrous formation: the amount of aberrant scar tissue formation from cuts, scratches, burns, and post-surgical scarring decreases
  • Cold laser is anti-inflammatory: joint mobility improves due to reduced swelling from bruising and reduced joint inflammation
  • Lymph and blood circulation are stimulated
  • Stimulates nerve function: the speed of nerve reconnection and conduction increases resulting in improved organ and muscle action

Cold laser treatment stimulates positive physiological changes in the foundational elements of your body: your macrophages, fibroblasts, epithelial cells, mast cells, bradykinins, nerve conduction rates, and energy communication throughout your fascial network.

Insurance Does Not Cover Cold Laser Treatment

As of January 2021, health/medical insurance, Labor & Industries (L& I), and Medicare do not cover cold laser treatment. We do our best to make this cash-pay service affordable.

If pain or injuries interfere with your life, talk with Dr. Owens to see if cold laser therapy could reduce your pain or shorten your recovery time.

Contact us to talk with Dr. Owens about cold laser therapy for your condition or ask about it during your next appointment.