The beneficial applications of low level laser therapy - Medical Journalist Report of Innovative Biologics

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Nov, 2002 by Morton Walker

A medical experiment was conducted in a randomized, crossover, single-blind, placebo-controlled fashion on house painters, typists, computer operators, and other common victims of carpal tunnel syndrome. The results were revealing and provided health professionals proof that permanent relief for acute and chronic wrist pain is readily available.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), a common defect of the wrist and hand, is a disability affecting several million people in Western industrialized nations. It is caused by pressure on the middle nerve in the wrist's carpal tunnel. The condition causes much pain and often prevents the sufferer from pursuing any occupation involving wrist movement. The syndrome is seen more often in women, especially in pregnant as well as menopausal women. Symptoms may result from a blow, swelling, a tumor, rheumatoid arthritis, or an overly small carpal tunnel that squeezes the nerve. Pressure on the nerve causes multiple symptoms weakness, pain when the thumb is bent toward the palm, as well as burning, tingling, and/or aching that may spread to the forearm and the shoulder. Weakness and wasting of muscles may occur from lack of wrist movement, getting in the way of full use of the thumb and fingers. Pain may be either infrequent or constant and is often most intense at night.

Now prolonged comfort is assured for sufferers of CTS because researchers in the Department of Neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine discovered that Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is highly effective in eliminating wrist pain completely. The pain-free results last for between one and three years. This medical school investigation involved just a small number, but it was convincing. Eleven people received red-beam laser therapy directed at acupuncture points along the painful hand and wrist. The true treatment was compared to a placebo or "sham" treatment which provided no therapeutic benefit. Both applications were painless, and patients could not tell which they were receiving because the affected hand was treated behind a black curtain without the patient knowing if treatment devices were real or sham.

Proven by this July 2002 experiment is that carpal tunnel syndrome, treated with a low-level laser directed at acupuncture points, markedly reduces wrist pain or causes it to disappear altogether.

The application of acupuncture ordinarily involves placing fine needles at specific spots on the body's surface. Chinese traditional medicine theory holds that such points connect with energy pathways or meridians that run through the body, and acupuncture keeps this natural energy flow running smoothly.

Prior to the application of LLLT, usual treatment had included painkillers, braces, steroid injections into the wrist joint, and/or surgery to "release" the ligament that runs through the tunnel and puts pressure on nerves. Most of the existing treatments are expensive, may produce pain by themselves, could have side effects, and often end up not working or giving only temporary relief.

Injecting steroids, for example removes pain for an average of just three months. Moreover, only 40% of the OTS patients who undergo surgery are eventually able to return to normal functioning. The Boston University researchers mentioned that in 1993, treating one case of OTS in California cost over $5,000 without surgery. A decade later the cost for this conventional treatment has more than doubled.

When the beneficial response to acupuncture using LLLT eventually wears off, this safe and effective treatment is taken again by the patient to achieve another long period of wrist comfort. Using low level laser therapy today, carpal tunnel syndrome patients can thus continue their usual occupations without experiencing any more pain in their wrists even under stress. (1)

What Is Low Level Laser Therapy?

The word LASER, an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, is the name of a device projecting intense radiation of the visible, ultraviolet, or infrared portions of the light spectrum. The laser instrument produces a very thin beam of light in which high energies are concentrated. The laser light, when reduced in its energy output to a low level, may be utilized for tissue healing and repair, cutting as in surgery, shrinking tumors, unblocking clogged arteries, eradicating infections, and other therapeutic purposes. For using in health enhancement, the application of these amazing beams of light is called "Low Level Laser Therapy." (2)

In surgery, lasers can be used to operate on small areas without damaging delicate surrounding tissue. For example, lasers are applicable for structural changes of the retina, to unblock coronary arteries narrowed by atheroma, and to remove certain types of birthmark (a nevus) on the skin. Different kinds of laser light - argon laser, diode laser, excimer laser, YAG laser - are put into service for operations on the cornea, lens capsule, and, as mentioned, the retina. Lasers are also applicable for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and in specialized form for endometrial ablation. Additionally, laser beams are advantageous as diagnostic tools; for instance, an instrument for measuring blood flow through skin tissue is known as the laser Doppler flowmeter. (3)