January 29, 2008, Solon, OH--Chiropractors, athletic trainers, physical therapists, and other medical professionals are expanding their practices with affordable therapeutic devices that combine pulsed lasers, infrared and visible light, and magnetic fields to speed healing and provide temporary relief of muscle and joint pain, arthritis, and muscle stiffness, plus increase circulation.
"Published studies demonstrate the ability of light to enhance tissue repair," said Raymond J. Lanzafame, president of The North American Association for Laser Therapy (NAALT). "In cases of inflammation, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, low level laser therapy has shown an improvement or resolution of symptoms in over 60% of patients. The treatment of medical conditions with light at specific wavelengths and at low intensity is providing impressive results around the world."
FDA 510(k)-cleared therapeutic laser devices, such as the TerraQuant from Multi Radiance Medical, deliver photons to targeted areas of the body to relieve pain and swelling. The learning curve for administering light therapy with devices like TerraQuant is minimal: hundreds of protocols for specific conditions and indications are provided; treatment times are short (from five to 10 minutes); and preset programs, hands-free application and dual emitters allow for even shorter treatment times. Light therapy has successfully treated common conditions like arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, ligament sprains, muscle strains, tendonitis and more. Therapeutic laser devices have also been used to speed healing in Olympic, NBA and NFL athletes.
Douglas Johnson, ATC, EES, CLS, and medical consultant to Multi Radiance Medical, states, "Patients are becoming more savvy and are looking for those professionals who can apply the latest technologies to help them feel better faster. Therapeutic laser devices, which deliver light therapy, set medical professionals apart from other clinicians because they are able to get athletes back in the game faster and provide acute and chronic pain patients with remarkable relief in a relatively short amount of time."
TerraQuant is a super-pulsed laser that uses "multi-radiance technology" to enable the body to absorb high energy in very short intervals, stimulating the injured area and providing it with the photons and oxygen it needs to heal. TerraQuant does not heat the tissue like ultrasound or mask pain like electrical stimulation. Instead, it uses the benefits of light therapy, and the combination of photon density, wavelength and frequency, to influence the pain source.