I’ve had back pain for almost two decades. At times, it’s been so debilitating that I’ve had to roll out of bed and remain bent over, only gradually being able to straighten up. Over the years, I’ve tried dozens of natural pain relief therapies, including various exercise and stretching techniques, a TENS unit, lumbar pillows and other supports, a balance ball, magnets, heating pads, physical therapy, and every type of back brace you can imagine.
I’ve also used all of the treatments we offer at Whitaker Wellness to relieve pain: acupuncture, frequency specific microcurrent (FSM), topical DMSO and ketamine, spinal decompression, massage, infrared light, prolotherapy, and chiropractic manipulations. I’ve written about many of these modalities in Health & Healing and can say without reservation that they’ve provided relief—not only for me but for thousands of patients.
But now, we’re able to help people get an even better handle on pain with another therapy in our treatment arsenal: high-intensity laser.
High-Intensity Laser Helped Me…
Early in 2011, my wife and I were having dinner with another couple when the man mentioned that he had been treated with a new type of laser that completely and rapidly alleviated his back pain. I’m always on the lookout for new natural pain relief therapies to share with subscribers and add to the Whitaker Wellness Institute’s treatment protocols, so I made an appointment right away.
He told me he was the first practitioner in the US to acquire this high-intensity laser, which is used extensively in Italy, and he reported on his success with thousands of patients he has treated for acute and chronic pain in the back, neck, TMJ, shoulders, knees, carpal tunnel, and other areas.
His clientele includes a number of professional athletes and sports teams who swear by this therapy. A sprained ankle, for example, can take a team member out of commission for three or four weeks. With high-intensity laser therapy, however, they’re routinely back in action in 7 to 12 days.
So I began treatment and I too noticed immediate improvements. More important, benefits were cumulative. Relief lasted longer and longer between sessions and I was eventually able to get out of bed with no back pain! I’m not saying that I don’t have an occasional ache, but because I get a “refresher treatment” a few times a month, I am confident that my mornings of being doubled over with back pain are long gone.
…And It’s Helping My Patients Relieve Pain
My experience and subsequent research convinced me that this laser could help our patients who suffer with acute or chronic pain. So we purchased a high-intensity laser for the clinic and are now using it to treat all manner of musculoskeletal pain.
Duane developed pain in his elbow while repainting his house. When it failed to resolve after four months, he came to the clinic, where he was diagnosed with epicondylitis, or tennis elbow, and treated with laser therapy. After two treatments, his pain vanished.
Sue injured her lower back in a fall two years ago and began having sciatica about a year later. It really acted up while she was on vacation—walking on the sand caused excruciating, lingering pain. So she came to the clinic for treatment with high-intensity laser. Two sessions later, her back pain and the sciatica in her right leg were gone.
R.J.’s back pain, which he’d been suffering with for six months, and Jim’s shoulder discomfort also resolved after a handful of treatments. And every time I talk to the techs who administer high-intensity laser therapy at the clinic, they have new stories of patients who were helped by this incredible natural pain relief treatment.
Works on Multiple Mechanisms to Relieve Pain
So, how does it work? Lasers, which harness the power of amplified, coherent wavelengths of light, have scores of medical uses. They make precise surgical incisions, reshape corneas and improve vision, shatter kidney stones, and burn away cavities. They’re also used to treat musculoskeletal pain—with varying degrees of effectiveness.
Unlike most “low level” lasers used to relieve pain, this particular therapy delivers very high-energy wavelengths of light that penetrate the skin and tissues by as much as four inches. This is important because it reaches deep into the affected areas where therapeutic effects are most needed.
As injured and ailing cells absorb this light, their energy production and metabolism increase, and this stimulates tissue repair. High-intensity laser also has “photochemical” effects that trigger the lymphatic system and substantially reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain. It has an analgesic effect on nerve endings that amplifies pain relief. And because the high
intensity of this laser slightly (but comfortably) raises the temperature of deep tissues, microcirculation increases and tissues receive much-needed oxygen and nutrients that facilitate healing.
Is it safe? If you’re like me, lasers conjure up the scene from Goldfinger where James Bond was about to be sliced in half by a white-hot beam of light that perilously inched closer and closer. High-intensity laser therapy does involve substantial amounts of energy, far more than most lasers that treat musculoskeletal pain. But because it is pulsed in microseconds, rather than in a continuous flow, there’s no danger of burning or tissue damage.
Is High-Intensity Laser Therapy Right for You?
Patients and physicians alike are astounded at the rapidity of symptom improvements following high-intensity laser treatment. If I hadn’t seen—and experienced—this natural pain relief treatment myself, I’d say it was too good to be true. I can’t guarantee that everyone will respond as well as I and many of our patients have, nor can I say with certainty how long benefits will last. However, high-intensity laser therapy is certainly worth checking out if you are suffering with acute or chronic pain.
The only tricky part of high-intensity laser therapy is that it isn’t offered in very many clinics at this time. To learn more or to schedule treatment at the Whitaker Wellness Institute, call (866) 944-8253. (Please be aware that low-level laser therapy, particularly with inexpensive handheld devices, is unlikely to produce the same therapeutic results.)
