Laser therapy for the treatment of chronic pain has quickly been gaining widespread acceptance in the medical community because it is highly effective and because it carries no unpleasant side effects.
The same cannot be said for opioids, which have caused an addiction epidemic of gigantic proportions over the past decade. There is no question that opioids can be effective in treating acute pain, but problems most often occur when they’re used to manage chronic pain, which covers a much longer time period. That’s when abuse, overuse, and addiction can come into play.
Is laser therapy better for pain?
It’s easy to see that laser therapy is a better option for pain sufferers overall – but is it better for managing pain? The answer to this question is also a resounding “Yes!” because laser therapy is effective for the long term as well as for the short term. Patients undergoing laser therapy will generally begin feeling better following the very first session, because even one session can be effective for pain relief, in addition to preparing the body for self-healing.
By stimulating greater blood flow to the affected area, laser therapy can speed more oxygen and nutrients to damaged cell tissue. At the same time, it reduces inflammation in the area, and that can provide immediate relief to a patient. The light energy issued by the laser is absorbed by cell tissues, and that’s what helps the body to repair any damage that has occurred. Unlike opioids, which can only manage pain for several hours, laser therapy has the potential to bring about a cure for this damage and bring long-lasting pain relief.
Recognition in the medical community
Already, a great deal of research has been conducted into the effectiveness of laser therapy, and the results have been uniformly positive. As study after study found that laser therapy can not only relieve pain but cure the causes of that pain, it has simply become an indisputable fact that laser therapy is one of the very best ways to treat chronic pain. That fact has now been recognized by both the FDA and the CDC, both of which organizations have endorsed laser therapy as a viable and effective tool for chronic pain treatment.
Even with this preponderance of positive data supporting laser therapy, opioid use will not disappear anytime soon. The truth is, opioids can still be an effective tool for pain management. But opioids can never accomplish anything more than temporary pain relief because their only function is to mask the pain for a time. Laser therapy, on the other hand, is intended to banish that pain forever, by bringing about a cure for the specific underlying cause of that pain.
If you’d like more information on opioids and research surrounding laser therapy, we invite you to visit our website to learn more.
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OrthoLazer Orthopedic Laser Centers offer patients and their doctors an innovative and effective alternative pain management option to treat acute and chronic orthopedic conditions. Founded by Dr. Scott Sigman – the original opioid-sparing surgeon – our centers further his mission of providing his patients non-operative and non-opioid treatment options. If you’d like more information about OrthoLazer, please visit our website at ortholazer.com.
