The Uses and Benefits of Cold Laser Therapy

Cold Laser Therapy

At Ridgewood Animal Hospital we strive to provide your pet with the very best and most up to date medical care. Cold laser therapy is one of the modalities we use both post operatively and for wound and chronic pain management.

A cold laser uses light energy to help accelerate the body’s natural healing process. A specific combination of power, wavelengths and time are used to ensure proper penetration and treatment based on the body structure of interest. Some of the most common uses of this treatment include incisional (such as after a spay or neuter), after orthopedic surgery, to help increase comfort and range of motion for animals with chronic osteoarthritis and to help medically manage intervertebral disc disease. In all of these cases, the laser is able to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and, where applicable, accelerate healing time.

One of the most common concerns we hear from owners is about the possibility of their pet being burned. Don’t worry! A cold laser produces a photochemical reaction, not a photothermal (heat) one. This means that your pet cannot be burned as no heat is involved. In addition, it can’t be used “too often” so there is no risk of over treating. We generally find that, if anything, the patient may not be being treated frequently enough. The results of the laser treatments are cumulative and generally start out close together, with the frequency reduced based on the response of the patient. At Ridgewood Animal Hospital, 50% of our owners see improvement after 1 treatment, 75% see it after 2 treatments, and nearly 100% see improvement after 3 or 4 treatments.

As not every medical nor surgical condition is responsive to laser treatment, whether or not to integrate this technology into an animal’s treatment plan has to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

If you have any questions regarding cold laser therapy, please give Ridgewood Animal Hospital a call at 434-525-2111.