Back pain is quite common in humans, irrespective of their age and gender. Acute back pain can occur due to numerous reasons, like lifting weights, improper posture, and even living a sedentary lifestyle can lead to back pain, among other things.
Acute back pain is tolerable if it only lasts for a couple of days. If it prolongs, the pain can interfere with your day-to-day life, making it an uncomfortable and painful experience. Thus, laser therapy for back pain can help in this instance. Unlike other types of back pain management and treatment, laser therapy is a non-invasive procedure that usually takes 15-20 minutes to complete. How the invasive and non-invasive routes compare directly is set out in comparing invasive and non-invasive pain relief.
Before you search for laser therapy near me, it is important that you know how it works and how it can help you get rid of acute back pain. With that said, this post covers what you need to know about cold laser therapy for back pain.
Let’s jump right into it.
The Concept of Laser in Pain Management
The use of lasers in medical intervention is not new. Previously, the laser has been used for numerous surgical procedures, mostly to remove or dissect parts. However, the concept of cold laser therapy is quite new. The idea is that light energy produced by medical equipment penetrates your skin and dives into the tissues to reduce inflammation and pain. Specific wavelengths of the laser are used for the therapy. It is also known as low-level laser therapy (LLLT), which uses a non-invasive light source to generate a single wavelength of light.
What’s unique about this laser is that it doesn’t produce any sound, heat, or vibration. It is designed in a way that the light energy penetrates through the skin and affects the function of the connective tissues; therefore, accelerating the recovery of damaged tissue cells.
Since it accelerates the healing process, it can be used for treating chronic and acute musculoskeletal pain, including back pain.
That is, laser therapy for back pain can help you eliminate swelling, pain, and reduce muscle spasms to increase functionality.
How Laser Therapy for Back Pain Work
You may have to visit the laser therapy clinic in Brooklyn, NY multiple times to get the treatment done. It takes multiple procedures to treat damaged tissue cells.
The laser is applied directly over the affected back where you feel the most pain. The laser will be placed over the area for 2-5 minutes, depending on the severity of the pain, discomfort, and the size of the area being treated. Moreover, the duration for which the laser will be focused on your back will also depend on the wavelength at which the laser is used.
The laser may be placed and removed several times on your injured back for 15-20 minutes. During this time, the laser produces non-thermal photons of light that pass through the skin layers to reach the connective tissues. The light energy can easily penetrate 2-5cm underneath the skin without making you feel anything.
Once the light energy reaches the affected region, it is absorbed into the tissue cells and interacts with the light-sensitive elements in the cells. To better understand how cold therapy works for your back, consider photosynthesis in plants. The plants absorb sunlight and then convert it into usable energy, making the plant grow. Its application to back pain in particular is covered in how cryotherapy is changing back pain management.
Similarly, when the cells in your injured back tissues absorb the light energy produced by the laser, it activates the cell’s natural process of regeneration; therefore, normalizing the injured or damaged tissue.
You will feel a significant reduction in pain and inflammation after the first treatment itself. The light energy boosts the healing time, allowing your injured back muscles to regenerate quickly.
While you may feel instant pain relief, the effect will wear off after a couple of hours. This is why multiple treatments are required within a week’s or month’s time.
Certain low-level laser therapy devices are FDA approved, making them perfect for pain management.
Frequently asked questions
Is cold laser therapy safe during pregnancy?
Treatment over the abdomen and lower back is generally avoided in pregnancy, because the effects there have not been established. That is a precaution rather than evidence of harm, and other areas may still be treatable. Anyone who is pregnant or trying to conceive should say so before a course of laser therapy is planned.
Does a tattoo or darker skin affect laser therapy?
It can affect how the treatment is delivered. Darker pigment and tattoo ink absorb more light energy, which means more of it becomes heat at the skin rather than passing through, so providers often reduce intensity or adjust placement over tattooed areas. Mentioning tattoos in the treatment area beforehand is worth doing.
Does an acute back flare need to settle before starting laser therapy?
Usually not, which is one reason it gets considered early. Treatment involves lying still rather than moving the painful area, and the handpiece is held over the skin rather than pressed in like manual therapy. Position can be adjusted for comfort, though an examination still comes first to establish what is driving the flare.
Is laser applied to bare skin or through clothing?
Directly on bare skin in almost all cases. Fabric scatters and absorbs the light before it reaches tissue, so the treatment area is exposed and the handpiece is held against or just above the skin. Sessions are short, and only the area being treated needs to be uncovered.
Back pain that keeps coming back?
An evaluation looks at what maintains the problem, not just what triggered it. More on lower back pain.
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