Laser Therapy

I have a family member who has smoked for forty years, quit a number of times. After his first laser treatment he said he had no cravings at all for the first time in his cigarette smoking life. Amazing. Don Slutzky, M.D.

The paragraph that includes the words "here's how it works ..." is totally bereft of any explanation of how laser therapy works! The reader is left to ask "what the heck does the laser do?".

A Google search reveals the concept is similar to acupuncture. This article could have been improved by mentioning that analogy. Also, to sound less like an ad, it would have been nice to compare the effectiveness of LLLT with acupuncture and perhaps even other methods. Also, is this a medically accepted therapy? Will insurance cover it?

Still, I'm glad the article was written since I didn't know about LLLT's existence.

Hate to break it to you folks, but this laser garbage doesn't do anything.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/200...

Actually, you are quite wrong, FightWoo; the patient's wallets were noticeably lighter after a few treatments.

Why no balance in this piece? For example, http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data..., where the insurance company explains why it considers this stuff "experimental and investigational because there is inadequate evidence of the effectiveness of cold laser therapy in wound healing, pain relief, or for other indications such as physical therapy, musculoskeletal dysfunction, arthritis, lymphedema, and neurological dysfunctions"?

Touche, binky.

Interesting link, pk. In contrast, Aetna does cover acupuncture for certain conditions:

http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data...

If anyone were still motivated to consider LLLT, It would be wise to find out what a "certified laser therapist" really is.

Who can become certified? Are there any requirements for certification? What does certification entail? Who provides the certification? Are certification bodies simply for-profit marketeers or is there a single non-profit medical board that provides standardized certification? What kind of medical training does the therapist have besides the laser certification?

It's a shame that acupuncture, and other treatments whose effects are negligible from placebo, are covered by some plans. It only encourages people to try treatments in the complementary and alternative medicine, (aka sCAM) industry. What an insurace provider covers doesn't say everything about the efficacy of a given treatment. Some insurance plans cover faith healing! (Rep. Hatch is trying to sneak this kind of coverage into the health care bill in front of Congress.)

I'm assuming it takes about as much training to become a laser therapist as it does to become a hypnotherapist; e.g none. Let me correct that, it likely involves "turn on laser, point at patient, collect money."

I hate it when the polymorphously dim-witted imbeciles (small town syndrome) feel that it is necessary to share their opinions with us when they do not have even a shred of real empirical data to share with us about cold laser. Even scarier; they probably do not have any experience with this therapy at all.

I am a practicing physician (internist) visiting my family in SB for a couple of days. I stumbled upon this article by freak accident which is ironic as I currently have three of these cold laser devices in my practice and are looking to purchase a fourth. I have to report that my patient base has doubled in the last 12 months as a result of integrating cold laser therapy as a treatment option. I am also happy to report that I have successfully treated my fibro and chronic fatigue patients with cold laser and have been very impressed with how quickly they have responded to this therapy. Most notably is the reduction of pain and improved quality of sleep.

With that being said we all know that opinions are like *ssholes. Everybody has one. This reply is directed to the people who posted negative comments and site very poor sources to back up their shoddy arguments. It is a truly a shame because I bet those same people probably suffer from chronic pain however they would probably rather complain about their problems instead of trying new therapies because it gives them a voice and makes them feel wanted and important.

The sad thing is that anyone with half a brain (or a high school education) have the gumption to ignore the ignorant comments as it is common knowledge that your posted web links (and even more amusing they quote an insurance company) do not hold an inkling of scientific merit. Moreover anyone with 1/2 a brain realizes that the web is not exactly the most reliable resource for objective, balanced,and most importantly reliable data especially in the health care industry (which is common knowledge). Those same people probably use WIkipedia as their first line information source. We all know how inaccurate and biased Wiki can be. Shame on you. You truly ruin it for the chronic pain sufferers who would greatly benefit from this remarkable device.

Next time site some credible journals with double blind peer reviewed studies. There are plenty of them out there that study cold laser.

Thank you, "MD" for sharing your first hand knowledge of 'cold laser':

"I have to report that my patient base has doubled in the last 12 months as a result of integrating cold laser therapy as a treatment option."

As a person who actually 'treats' people with this process, your story is important. It would also be helpful to link to those "double blind peer reviewed studies" you tout as dispositive.

Oh! Here's one:

::: "there was no significant difference in any of the outcome measures between the two groups. Thus, LOW-LEVEL LASER THERAPY is no more effective in the reduction of symptoms of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome than is sham treatment."
-- [pdf] http://www.cebp.nl/vault_public/files... -

And an Aetna Bulletin from 2009, which calls the treatment unproven and experimental:
http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data...

It seems there is some efficacy in specialized treatments (dentistry has provided positive results), but the broad over use and one-size fits all programmatic application is rife with quackery.

Binky you are obviously not a physician or in the healthcare field (and thus have no knowledge of LLLT's benefits in a clinical setting) and your comments are short sided. You seem to live up to your nickname, "Binky." Perhaps your nickname represents your level of intelligence or lack thereof. In fact I think Binky enjoys arguing to make him feel important. You are a very unhappy and unsatisfied person or you have a hidden agenda because it is common knowledge that insurance companies are subsidized heavily by the pharmaceutical industry so there comments reflect their special interest (money).

I invite you to try cold laser for yourself before making rash judgements and hasty generalizations about the therapy.

Here are some studies discussing the benefits of cold laser in wound healing which is the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of double blind studies reflecting the therapeutic use of cold laser:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic...

http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour...