Main Forums > The Roundtable

Cold laser therapy devices

(1/6) > >>

K Frame:
Seren's been having growing problems with arthritis in her knees. She's getting older, just like Dad.

The vet put her on gapentin two weeks ago, and that's been helping, but not enough. Yesterday I got a prescription for a different medication that several friends have used very successfully with their dogs, so that should be here from Chewy in a few days.

But, I also decided to look into "cold" red laser therapy devices. There's a lot of information on the use of cold laser therapy on both humans and pets, so I ordered a device from Chewy. $200, but I feel better about getting it from Chewy than getting it from Amazon.

It came last night, and after reading up on the materials, I decided to give it a test run... on me.

I did several 5 minute treatments on my knees, which have been really problematic for me over the past couple of years.

I don't know if it actually helped or if it's psychosomatic, but I'll be damned if my knees don't feel better this morning. A LOT better.

After I treated myself to make sure there weren't going to be any adverse effects, I started Seren with treatment on her left knee, which is the more problematic of the two. She wasn't particularly crazy about me touching her knee for so long, but she let me complete the treatment.

And she also seems to feel a little bit better this morning, so I'll be doing both of her knees (and mine) again this evening.

Anything to make my best girl more comfortable.

Kingcreek:
You probably didn’t get a class 3b for $200. That’s the power range that has shown benefits.
Class 1, 2, or 3R don’t have enough juice to do anything.

HankB:
Class 3B lasers are definitely NOT eye safe. Near-infrared lasers are particularly hazardous because there's no blink reflex at "invisible" near infrared wavelengths, but the eye's lens and cornea are still transparent to these wavelengths.

For that reason, I wonder if the "laser" devices that claim NIR wavelengths are using actual laser diodes or just LEDs.

I'm EXTREMELY skeptical about the supposed therapeutic effects of low power laser light.

K Frame:
I believe that it's a class 2 device.

And yeah, even class 1 and 2 devices have been shown to have beneficial therapeutic effects, albeit at a slower, lower rate. Lots of information out there on them.

Class 3/4 are stuff you really don't want to mess around with at home.

Ben:
Laser therapy was actually part of my physical therapy a couple of months ago for my knee injury. The PT applied it after my workout and we had to wear glasses.

I can't say for sure whether it worked or was psychosomatic for me either. Whichever it was, my knee absolutely hurt less from the PT stress after laser application, but it was definitely a shorter term affect - maybe the rest of that day. Sort of like popping an Aleve. With this particular laser (I know nothing about them), the PT said it could be applied close to the skin, or else with an attachment (similar to a massage gun) touching the skin. When touching the skin, I definitely felt a warming sensation.

I couldn't tell if there were any cumulative effects, but then I was only getting it 1-2 times per week for a couple of months. My day to day knee is WAY better now than it has been since the injury, but I can't be sure how much of that was the laser or the PT exercises or just time.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page