Laser Therapy

Recover Faster
WITH CLASS IV LASER THERAPY IN GREENVILLE, SC

Find Out How Laser Therapy Can Help You

If you are experiencing constant pain and discomfort, then Class IV laser therapy could be the solution for you. Contact Carolina Health Innovations today at 864-288-8593 to schedule an appointment.
Summus Medical Laser Therapy - Greenville, SC
Class IV Laser Therapy offers a possible solution to aches and pains that you might be experiencing due to aging or an injury. This technology can help alleviate pain, increase circulation, decrease inflammation, and enhance tissue healing. Depending upon the condition you are treating will determine the type of laser therapy used to treat the injury or joint inflammation. T his treatment can provide you with relief and an option other than prescription medication that treats the pain and not the cause.

Will Class IV Laser Help Me?

This question can be answered when you come into our office for an examination. Through that exam, Dr. Meisten can determine if laser treatments are safe and could offer you relief from your ailment. The treatment process is relatively quick and is a safe, non-invasive procedure with no surgery involved. Side effects, if any, are mild such as a slight tingling sensation in the treatment area due to increased blood flow to that area. Carolina Health Innovations uses a Class IV heat laser that will help regenerate soft tissues, bone regeneration and can help improve nerve regeneration. After treatment, you can continue your everyday routine and activities. Class IV lasers can help with sprains, strains, arthritis, tendonitis, and inflammation.

Benefits Of Class IV Therapeutic Laser - Summus Laser Therapy:

Enhanced Tissue Healing: Laser treatments enhance blood circulation and lymphatic drainage; release oxygen and nutrients from the bloodstream into the tissues and improve cellular metabolic activity to produce more cellular energy. With more energy available, damaged cells can repair and regenerate more quickly, and with better quality. 


Accelerated Tissue Repair and Cell Growth: Photons of laser light penetrate deeply into tissue and accelerate cellular reproduction and growth. The laser light increases the energy available to the cell so that the cell can take on nutrients faster and get rid of waste products. As a result, the cells of tendons, ligaments, bone, nerves, and muscles are repaired faster. 


Faster Wound Healing: Laser therapy stimulates fibroblast development (fibroblasts are the building blocks of collagen, which is predominant in wound healing) in damaged tissue. Collagen is the essential protein required to replace old tissue or to repair tissue injuries. As a result, laser therapy is effective on open wounds, scars, and burns. 


Reduced Fibrous Scar Tissue Formation: Laser therapy reduces the formation of scar tissue following damage from cuts, scratches, burns or surgery by inducing production of more normal type-1 collagen. Scar tissue is the primary source of chronic pain. Laser treatments should be given as soon as possible after any acute injury to promote type-1 collagen production and parallel alignment of the collagen fibers. 


Modulating Inflammation: Laser treatments modulate inflammation by causing vasodilation and activating the lymphatic drainage system. As a result, there is a reduction in swelling caused by bruising or inflammation. Try not to say that laser treatments are "anti-inflammatory", as they do not suppress inflammation as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) do. Rather, Class IV laser therapy treatments help the body progress through the stages of inflammation more efficiently. 


Analgesia: Laser therapy can reduce the firing of the C-pain fibers that transmit signals of "pain" from the cells to the brain. Increased blood circulation flushes away tissue irritants called "kinins". Pain modulating chemicals such as endorphins and enkephalins are released from the brain and adrenal gland. Increased cell membrane permeability encourages normal concentrations of ions across the cell membrane, and the resting potential of pain fibers is returned to -70 millivolts. 


Improved Vascular Activity: Laser therapy will significantly increase the formation of new capillaries in damaged tissue that speeds up the heling process, closes wounds quickly and reduces scar tissue. Additional benefits include acceleration of angiogenesis, which causes temporary vasodilation, an increase inn the diameter of blood vessels. More blood flow equals faster healing and less pain. 


Improved Nerve Function: Slow recovery of nerve functions in damaged tissue can result in numbness and impaired limbs. Laser therapy will speed up the process of nerve cell reconnection and increase the amplitude of action potentials to optimize muscle action. 


Immune System Regulation: Laser therapy can both increase the local immune system response as well as have a positive effect on the whole-body immune response. Increased circulation and enhanced cellular energy production will enhance the activity of immune system cells, helping to reduce and fight infection. 


Trigger Points and Acupressure Points: Laser therapy reduces muscle trigger points and stimulates acupuncture points on a non-invasive basis providing musculoskeletal pain relief. 


Laser History and Science

Laser Therapy was born from research over 30 years ago in Europe and perfected by Summus Medical Laser with the latest technological advancements today. Albert Einstein first envisioned the concept of light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) in 1917. However, it was not until 1960 that the first laser was built by Theodore Maiman,, It was another 25 years or so before technology advanced enough to make lasers safer, easier to use, and cost effective. Dr. Endre Mester is credited with the discovery of the biostimulative properties of red and near infrared light. He stumbled upon this during an experiment designed to determine if lasers might cause cancer. They did not, and in fact helped the shaved mice grow hair back more quickly. 

Compared to ordinary light, laser light eaves are synchronized. The peaks and troughs of the waves match up in a phenomenon called coherence. Laser light can be collimated with a lens, as demonstrated by a laser pointer, whereas ordinary light spreads out in all directions. 

Finally, laser light is monochromatic - it is of one wavelength or color (+/- a few nanometer due to diode production). It is this characteristic that is responsible for a laser's specificity and selective effect on tissue. 

 

All lasers work in a similar manner. The following is a very simplified explanation. A medium of some sort is composed of atoms capable of reaching a metastable or "excited" state. This medium is charged by an external energy source that pumps the atoms to reach their excited state. When the atoms fall back to their stable state, they give off energy in the form of a photon of light. These photons are contained within a resonating chamber with mirrors on either end. 

 

As the number of atoms in the excited stage increases, the chance of the photons emitted spontaneously hitting another atom in the excited stage to "stimulate" release of a similar photon increases dramatically. The resonating chamber amplifies this stimulation exponentially until laser light is produced. This light is then directed externally and guided to the target tissue. 

 

Of course, this all take place virtually instantaneously. The chemical medium will dictate the wavelength of light that is produced, and the wavelength will dictate to what function this laser is best suited. 

 

Laser light in the red and near-infarared spectrum has biostimulatory properties, meaning that is can reduce inflammation, provide analgesia, and most importantly, enhance repair/remodeling/regeneration of tissue. Wavelength between 600nm and 100nm are used in laser therapy. The shorter red wavelength are absorbed more superficially and therefore do not have the ability to penetrate as readily as the longer near-inarared wavelength. Wavelengths in the visible red range (650nm) are highly absorbed by melanin and other superficial receptors. These can enhance wound healing. They may also stimulate trigger points, acupuncture points, and/or cause release of secondary messengers that may improve other deep-seated conditions. 

 

 

Absorption spectra data shows that the wavelengths near 980nm have moderate increased absorption by water. With the higher-powered lasers this can create some thermal gradients and increase circulation in these areas. It is also near the peak of the oxygenated hemoglobin dissociation curve. However, the 915nm wavelength is even closer tot he peak of the hemoglobin dissociation curve. Recent studies have indicated that this wavelength creates as much as a 30-50% increase in molecular oxygen (O2) release to the tissue over the 980nm wavelengths. 


Different tissue types also seem to respond more efficiently to differing pulse rates. It may not be as simple as the rate but even the amount of time the laser is on vs. off could affect tissue response in a more positive manner. These are still being studied but current literature consistently shows that adding 3 pulse frequencies to your treatment protocols produces better results overall than just continuous wave (CW) delivery. Adjustable power and pulsing frequencies give you the versatility to treat a wider range of clinical conditions both superficial (dermatologic) and deep (musculoskeletal/neurologic); acute and chronic, and mild and severe. 

 

Intense superpulse (ISP) is another laser delivery mode which aids in penetration and mitigating thermal and absorption effects of pigmented tissue. It is the laser's average power not "peak" power that determines dose delivery and therefore clinical effectiveness. The Horizon laser is operating at a 60% duty cycle in the ISP mode. 

 

In ISP mode a therapeutic dosage can be delivered to deeper targets while minimizing superficial heating. As an example, you could run 12 watts CW on your arm, and compare that with ISP mode at 12 watts average - the ISP mode will feel slightly "cooler" due to the thermal relaxation time between pulses. 

What Does Summus Medical Laser Treatments Do?

During Summus Medical Laser treatments at Carolina Health Innovations, the infrared laser light interacts with tissues at the cellular level. The laser light energy is transformed into chemical energy in the cell. Higher levels of ATP are produced which then increases metabolic activity within the cell, improves the transport of nutrients across the cell membrane, and initiates the release of nitric oxide. These events lead to a cascade of beneficial effects increasing cellular function and health.

Each painless Summus Medical Laser treatment causes increased circulation, drawing water, oxygen, and nutrients to the damaged area. This creates an optimal healing environment that reduces inflammation, muscle spasms, stiffness, and pain. As the injured area returns to normal, the function is restored and pain is relieved.

The wavelength of light transmitted may be scattered by one type of tissue and greatly absorbed by another. Depending on its components each type of tissue such as skin, blood vessels, sweat glands, pigments, and hair follicles has its own absorption characteristics, as the light is absorbed photon energy is transformed into biochemical energy increasing cellular activities. The laser's ability to biostimulate tissue growth and repair results in actually healing tissue.

The class iv therapy laser wavelength is important because the wavelength must be appropriate for proper tissue penetration and proper treatment. The Summus Medical Laser was the first to employ dual infrared wavelengths simultaneously of 790 and 970nm. These dual wavelengths are more efficient, healing the tissue while also aiding in pain relief. Combining the Summus Medical Lasers dual frequencies of continuous wave and modulation provides the clinician with the most advanced laser technology. The power settings of the Summus Medical Laser allows it to be used to treat a variety of injuries and pain, such as neck shoulder back wrist knee foot, and ankle and lower extremities.


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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Q: What is a "Class IV" laser?

    A: The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) classifies lasers according to the potential for injury to the eye, but in general lasers can be classified by power output with numbers from 1 through 4. Any laser with power grater than half a watt (or 500 milliwatts) is a Class IV laser, and examples include Summus Laser, as well as surgical and industrial lasers. Class IV therapeutic lasers are lower in power and the treatment beam diverges. Therefore, the laser-tissue effect is therapeutic, not cutting, ablative or damaging. 

  • Q: I've seen therapy lasers with 60 watts or more. Are they better?

    A: No. There are many parameters that determine clinical effectiveness of therapeutic laser treatments. Those include power, power density, wave-length, mode of delivery, total dose, dosage and more. It can get to be extremely complicated! The 60-watt (or more powerful) therapy lasers usually use only continuous wave, and the 980nm wavelength only. This dramatically elevates the risk of burning patients. Summus lasers use the optimum combination of parameters to give the best clinical outcomes possible. 

  • Q: Do we need any protective gloves, clothes, or dosimetry badges to administer laser treatments?

    A: No. Summus Class IV therapy lasers use red and infrared treatment beams. X-rays and infarared are on opposite sides of the electromagnetic spectrum. X-ray photos are very high in energy and can ionize molecules, damage DNA and in high enough doses can cause cancer. Infrared photons are much lower in energy; they cannot ionize molecules and therefore do not damage tissue. 

  • Q: Can a pregnant woman give laser treatments?

    A: Yes! As stated above, the treatments beams from the Summus laser are safe and non-ionizing. There is a small amount that is reflected from the patient to the laser operator. This reflected infrared laser light is not harmful. Also, clothing will completely block it and there is no exposure to the fetus. The electromagnetic profile of Summus Medical equipment is less than that of a clock radio. 

  • Q: What are the contraindications to laser treatments?

    A: There are four absolute contraindications for laser therapy treatments: directly into the eye; directly over the thyroid gland; and treating a pregnant patients or a patient with active cancer. Caution must also be used when treating patients with implanted spinal cord stimulators (SCS); tattoos, and with recent steroid injections. 

  • Q: Can I be treated for head and sinuses?

    A: Yes, you can treat over the skull and sinuses. When you are treating the skull and sinuses, the laser light is not entering directly into the eye, so there is no danger. Laser treatment for sinus problems and seasonal allergy symptoms can be highly effective.

  • Q: Can you be treated with metal implants?

    A: Yes. Laser is light and would be reflected from the metal. It will not get absorbed and heat up the metal like ultrasound does. You can safely treat over plates, pines, screws, knee and hip replacements, and even metal clips for a patient who has had surgery. 

  • Q: I have been injured, or had surgery - how soon can I be treated?

    A: Immediately. Laser therapy should be administered as soon as possible after acute injuries, trauma, surgery, etc. If your immediate goal is to help with surgical incision healing, an appropriate setting appropriate for that. This will address inflammation, bruising and tissue healing. 

  • Q: Will laser go through a cast, bandage or taping?

    A: No, the material ill completely block the laser light. 

  • Q: Can I treat through a patient's clothing?

    A: No. Red and infrared laser light does not penetrate clothing very cell, if at all. Treatments must be delivered directly on the skin to be effective.

  • Q: Should we ice before or after laser treatments?

    A: No. Class IV laser therapy treatments increase blood circulation and lymphatic flow, and ice causes vasoconstriction and reduction in blood flow. Using ice after the laser treatment would negate the beneficial effects of the laser. 

  • Q: Should be use heat before or after laser treatments?

    A: It is not required, but if you decide that heat helps, use it after, Class IV laser therapy treatments cause vasodilation and increase blood flow, so heat may help to extend the effect.

  • Q: Can I feel more sore or in more pain after a laser treatment?

    A: This will happen rarely when treatments are delivered properly. The increased blood flow and release of tissue toxins can sometimes cause post-treatment soreness. This will typically resolve in a few hours. The incidence of post-treatment soreness diminishes with subsequent treatment. For severe cases of post-treatment soreness, you can apply ice, 10-minutes on, 10-minutes off. 

  • Q: Can young children (with active growth plates) have laser treatment?

    A: Yes. You can safely apply laser therapy over open growth plates. The treatments do not create deep heat in the plates or tissues. There are several studies concluding that infrared later have no adverse effect on growth plates. Literally hundreds of human and animal adolescent patients have been treated with the laser and no reported adverse effects. 

  • Q: Can you have laser therapy along with stem cells, PRP, and other regenerative medicines?

    A: Yes, laser treatments have synergistic effects with regenerative medicine. Not only will it help the transplanted cells survive, proliferate, and function but is will enhance/improve the general health of the tissue and structures being treated for optimal recovery. Also, the laser treatment can help with pain management associated with multiple injections reducing the need for long-acting opioid pain medications such as Percocet. 

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