Lasers & Tens

Low-Power Lasers in Practice: How They Work and How They Help

Jeffrey Spencer, MA, DC, CCSP

There is not a chiropractor I know who doubts that we're living in a rapidly and dramatically changing world. Almost without exception, the most common comment I hear from them is that their new world includes more paperwork, longer practice hours and declining incomes, which is not exactly an inspiring combination. But it is a reality all of us must strategically confront and overcome to maintain a vital and vibrant practice moving forward.

Diversity is the Key to Success

A common strategy, employed by all the successful chiropractors I know, to support continued practice growth and stability in today's world is the inclusion of new and innovative clinical strategies to get and people well in the fewest visits, rather then placing the patient into long-term wellness care. To both get the patient back to full function and into wellness care, myself and many other chiropractors have made low-level laser therapy an essential part of every patients office visit. In fact, I always have my low-level laser with me to provide care anytime, anyplace and under any conditions.

For example, as I was being ferried to Sir Richard Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands to work with him and his guests at a week long mastermind, I saw Sir Richard limping away from a small sailboat he just jumped out of on the beach. All I can say is how glad I was to have had my low-level laser in hand to treat his pulled hamstring the moment I met him beach-side to short cut his recovery. The laser, combined with adjusting, is one of the most potent healing combinations I know.

Low-Level Laser Use In The Chiropractic Model

The low-level laser is my most important modality because it supports health and healing in specific ways that my other techniques and modalities do not. It perfectly complements my adjusting and chiropractic philosophy by removing interference in the body that restores structure and function to the tissues and communication between the cells, tissues and the nervous system. An important feature of the low-level laser is that it not only provides its own health and healing benefits, but also enhances the benefits of my other modalities and techniques, thus creating a complete health and healing platform.

There are additional reasons why the low-level laser fits the chiropractic model perfectly, including:

It is a natural, non-invasive modality that uses photonic energy, or light energy, to remove interference to get and keep the body well.
The 635nm wavelength of the low-level laser I use activates biomodulation that supports the natural health restorative processes.
It removes muscle inhibition interference to restore full body tensegrity, which improves posture and control of movement.

Low-Level Lasers Value To Patient Care

The benefits of the low-level laser come from its 635nm wavelength, combined with manually programmed frequencies and low power output. The sum total of the low-level laser clinical benefits include a reduction in pain, improvement in muscle strength, better joint range of motion and improved body tensegrity, posture and function that in combination conserves energy and reduces focal wear and tear on body structure and loss of function.

The 635nm low-level laser wavelength offers the following benefits and is seen as a red light during a laser treatment because the wavelength is in the visible light spectrum:

When the low-level laser hits the tissues it stimulates the mitochondria to produce more ATP to power health restoring and maintaining biology.
Low-level laser light promotes vasodialation that increases nutrient flow to maintain tissue and organ health and increase circulation.
Laser light supports the body's natural antioxidant protection system by supporting catalase and glutathione peroxidase production that protect the body from free-radical damage.
Increased protein creation supports the body's natural repair process.
Healthy cell division is an essential component in the body's tissue repair and maintenance process.
The low-level laser helps control unwanted bacteria.
Low-level laser enhances immunity and supports regeneration.

Science has identified that pulsed laser light is more effective than straight laser light in promoting health. The low-level laser I use can be programmed with four separate frequencies.

Low-level lasers have less than one watt of power and many body control mechanism respond to low power stimulation rather than higher powered stimulation that can harm cells. The brilliant physicist, Ross Adey, showed that when specific frequencies are combined with the correct power, the optimal therapeutic effect occurs.

Body tensegrity, tension and posture can all improve with the low-level laser which together promote energy conservation, reduced strain on structure, and increased safety doing activities of daily living. And low-level laser up-regulation improves muscle responsiveness that can protect joints during movement, reducing the risk of injury.

Effectively Communicate

To build and maintain a thriving practice requires superior clinical skills matched with equally superior communication skills. Patients learn by visual, auditory and kinesthetic pathways, thus requiring all three methods be used in practice to educate patients as to the value of care which, in turn, improves patient compliance, outcomes and referrals. To facilitate patient education, I created a series of posters, CD's, handouts and DVD's that are available to low- level laser practitioners.

[pb]Key elements to educate the new patient in regard to the low-level laser are:

FDA clearance certifies the laser is safe and effective. The doctor must confirm that their low-level laser is FDA cleared.
This ISO manufacturing certification guarantees that every low-level laser is manufactured to the highest manufacturing standard available. The doctor must confirm the low-level laser they have is ISO certified, as not all low-level lasers are.
The low-level laser can be used to reduce pain, restore posture and improve movement by improving tissue structure and function from removing nervous system and structural interference.
A laser treatment lasts between 30 seconds and 5 minutes, depending on the clinical condition.
The number of treatments to meet clinical goals is determined by the patient condition and response to care.

An example of a conversation with a patient about the low-level laser: "We'll be using the FDA-cleared, safe and effective low-level laser to reduce your pain by placing one of the laser heads on your chief complaint and the other head on the nerve roots to facilitate your recovery. The number of treatments you'll require is dependent on your condition, compliance and how fast your body responds to care."

Position the laser as the ultimate pro-active wellness modality as it can be used to identify and correct hidden muscle inhibition that can cause needless injury and lack of performance. Present it as a drugless, natural, method of pain reduction which limits the risk of learning faulty movement patterns from pain-avoidance based gate.

What is the percentage of patients who should be using this product/service in an average practic? In my opinion, 100% of patients are candidates for care. I have used the low-level laser in practice for 10 years and I have never had a patient that does not need improvement in tissue structure and function and better communication between the tissues, cells and nervous system. Also, one of the best aspects to low-level laser use is that all techniques used with them can be done quickly, as I use the laser in less than two or three minutes.

Communicate with Your Staff

Important considerations in using the low-level laser to be communicated to the staff include:

FDA cleared low-level lasers are safe and effective.
Treatment takes 2 seconds to 5 minutes, depending on the condition.
Low-level laser enhances the benefits of all other techniques and methods used in an office visit.
The low-level laser provides health benefits other modalities do not offer, but in combination with other modalities, will enhance the benefits of those modalities.
Patient will not feel the low-level laser light because the laser doesn't generate enough power to cause thermal heating of tissues or cell vibration.
The low-level laser light works through clothing because each second the laser emits 45 billion photons, enough of which get through the clothing to create a therapeutic effect.
Number of treatments is determined by patient condition as determined by the doctor.

Effective ways to promote the low-level laser to patients and create more time for the doctor to treat patients is to place educational low-level laser posters in the reception and treatment rooms, have staff show all new patients a short low-level laser patient education video before their first visit, and provide each patient with an 8 x 11 handout at their ROF of the most frequently asked questions about the low-level laser.

Practice Benefits

The laser company whose low-level laser I use has determined through their doctor statistics that the use of their low-level laser has increased revenues by 17%.

Another aspect to this, in addition to the laser fees for service, is that many new patients are generated because of the consistently superior clinical outcomes the low-level laser affords and also, the doctor confidence it provides as it gives the doctor immediate clinical feedback which helps the accuracy in clinical decision making about patient care.

How does the product/service attract new patients to the practice? Key elements to low-level laser use that generates new patients are:

New techniques conveys to patient the doctor is up to date on new advances in care, not just applying techniques that may have become obsolete.
Low-level laser can produce immediate improvement in energy efficient, strain free movement which is almost magic to the patient. I can confidently say, personally, that in less than one minute I can change how a person moves for the better.
In terms of restoring better body tensegrity, I've not found a modality or technique that does it faster than the low-level laser.
The low-level laser improves the outcomes of all other techniques and modalities, but does not take the place of the great techniques we already use. Patient recovery time is less with the addition of low-level laser therapy.

In today's rapidly and dramatically changing world, the rules that govern past success are no guarantee of current or future success. The most successful doctors are those whose clinical skills match their communication and management skills. A key to practice viability is becoming more efficient with office visits by having the techniques and tools to get more done in less time to generate more time to see more patients. To achieve that requires having best tools to get the good done and support adjusting techniques. In my experience, my most important modality to achieve those goals and maintain a strong clinical model is the low-level laser because it can create health and healing in significant less time than many other modalities and the science behind it impressive results are well documented.