More Than Science Fiction: How Laser Therapy Can Stop Knee Pain

When your knees are giving you significant pain, even the little things like walking upstairs, standing up, or sitting down can stop you in your tracks. You may not be able to cure arthritis or your knee injury with a magic wand, but there is another option to lower inflammation and encourage natural healing—laser therapy.

The thought of using a laser to heal your knee can sound like something straight out of science fiction, but this technology does exist! Laser therapy can be used to bring photons and oxygen into an injured or arthritic area of the body, which promotes healing. To learn more about how this treatment works for knee pain, keep reading this blog post!

What Is Laser Therapy?

Whenever you think of lasers, you probably think of hot lasers. Unlike those that produce heat and are used to sever or cut, the laser used by your chiropractor utilizes low intensity light waves. These wavelengths may penetrate just a few centimeters below the skin, but they increase circulation, which actively counteracts inflammation, a common problem for knee-pain sufferers, and jumpstarts healing. That’s how your chiropractor can use laser therapy for knee pain.

What Are the Benefits of Laser Therapy?

Compared to other treatments for knee pain, including corticosteroids, oral or topical medications, or surgery, laser therapy has many potential benefits. In addition to being far less invasive, laser therapy does not involve pain or discomfort and takes only minutes to complete. In fact, there generally is no recovery time needed following this treatment, meaning you can have less disruption in your busy schedule.

In some cases, laser therapy is performed in conjunction with other therapies to give patients the best chances of finding relief.

What Is the Treatment Process?

If your chiropractor or other provider recommends laser therapy, they will likely follow this process:

• First, they will give you protective eyewear to keep your eyes safe from the laser.
• They will take a handheld device and put it up to your knee, possibly touching the skin, for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes.
• The light waves pass through the skin into the tissues that support your knee.
• You may feel some slight tingling, but this treatment is completely pain free and requires no extra recovery time.

This treatment may require several visits before you feel significant pain relief, depending on the extent of the damage.

Knee pain doesn’t have to become your new normal. You can lessen your discomfort and increase your ability to lead a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle with the help of your chiropractor. Don’t hesitate to reach out and begin treatment so that you can enjoy a higher quality of life sooner!

About the Author

For more than 20 years, Dr. Chad Wills has been providing chiropractic care in the Naples area. He believes in using conservative treatments whenever possible to help patients heal and experience relief from chronic pain. In his practice, he uses a Class IV K-Laser for those with joint pain. If you’re ready to reduce your knee pain, you can contact Dr. Wills at Wills Chiropractic via the website or by calling 239-331-6060.