Ever notice how sprained ankles seem to take forever to heal? Don’t you wish there was a way to speed up the entire healing process and get back to the things you enjoy faster? Well, your Rochester chiropractor may have the answer. Class IV laser therapy is an effective tool for almost every acute injury. Unlike lower class lasers, the extra power from Class IV Laser allows for remarkably fast recovery times for injuries that could typically take months to heal. But how do Class IV lasers help acute injuries? Let’s talk about how these lasers work, what types of injuries they help with, and how they affect the recovery time.
Class IV laser therapy will treat acute injuries by both reducing pain and improving the healing rate of the injury. Pain reduction through laser therapy works similarly to a heat pack. The energy from the laser heats up surrounding tissues promoting relaxation, improving blood flow, and increasing range of motion. The laser also works to reduce pain by reducing inflammation through something called biofeedback. When the laser is applied to damaged tissue, the nerves responsible for pain will begin to desensitize. With less sensitive nerves, you feel less pain and your body will respond by reducing inflammation to the area. Unlike with heat packs, the biofeedback capabilities of the laser allow it to be applied immediately after injury.
The healing rate of an injury is accelerated due to a mechanism known as biostimulation. To understand this process we need to shrink down to the size of a cell. Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell, has proteins that are photoresponsive (reactive to light). The laser therapy sends photons to these photoreceptive proteins causing the mitochondria to jump into overdrive and produce energy at a faster rate. The extra energy in the cell accelerates the cell's repair mechanisms and accelerates the entire inflammatory process.
Common acute injuries include ankle sprains, knee sprains, rotator cuff injuries, back strains, and even minor fractures (stress fractures in fingers or toes). In all of these conditions, the body's first response is to inflame the area to help protect and heal the injury. Inhibiting this process, typically with ice, may help reduce the pain but will also slow down the healing process. Class IV laser treatments help reduce the pain and accelerate the body's natural healing process. A typical ligament injury that would take 6 to 8 weeks to heal can be fully healed in 2 to 4 weeks with regular laser treatments.
A typical laser therapy treatment schedule is 2 to 3 times per week. The biostimulation effect from laser therapy lasts about 24 to 48 hours after treatment. If you are interested in trying laser therapy, schedule an appointment at Rush-Henrietta Family Chiropractic. Your chiropractor in Rochester has one of the few Class IV lasers in Rochester. For the rest of March, your Rochester chiropractor is offering the first treatment free. If you are interested in learning more or want to schedule an appointment give our office a call today.
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