James Carroll, Founder and CEO of Thor Photomedicine interviewed by Linda Bailey, owner of Total You Health.
James discusses facts and myths about the therapy. From why red light is the best for healing of all the colors in the light spectrum, to when he thinks PBM will become more mainstream, he sheds light on where this therapy is today compared to other alternative therapies. Listen to the exciting advances being made and big news about insurance coverage!
Chemotherapy is difficult for any child, but when it causes mucositis, a painful side effect that causes ulcers to form in the mouth, it gets even harder. These children often require more pain medications and longer hospital stays.
Ben Wilson, 11, of Dilliner, Pa., was one of those patients. He was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. The chemotherapy regimen he was on was known to cause mucositis, but it was his best course of treatment. When he developed mucositis, his mother, Alison Wilson, talked to Dr. Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, director of the WVU Cancer Institute, about the trouble Ben was having with sores in his mouth and how difficult it was to maintain a lengthy mouthwash regimen to try to treat them.
“We tried some preventive treatments, including cold therapy, where you have them eat a lot of ice and do a series of seven mouthwashes, ” Alison Wilson said. “The cold therapy didn’t help much. Plus, it’s hard to use seven mouthwashes in a day, especially if you’re a kid, and they don’t taste very good.”
Hazard-Jenkins reached out to Dr. Geraldine Jacobson, WVU Cancer Institute Radiation Oncology chair, who contacted the pediatric oncologists at WVU Medicine Children’s to discuss whether the WVU Cancer Institute’s new THOR device would help Ben.
The THOR photobiomodulation device uses low-level lasers in the near-infrared range that stimulate and promote wound healing and regeneration.
“Low-level laser therapy is indicated by a multinational supportive care association for treatment of oral mucositis in adults, ” Jacobson said. “We have been using this treatment in the Department of Radiation Oncology since June to reduce oral mucositis in our head and neck cancer patients. The THOR device can be used outside the mouth along the cheek, jaw and neck to prevent mucositis lesions or inside the mouth to treat active wounds. There were positive reports of using this treatment for pediatric patients, so we decided to offer it to Ben.”
Dr. Patrick Tomboc, chief of WVU Medicine Children’s Hematology and Oncology, said he was amazed at how quickly the treatments helped Ben and prevented new sores from forming.
“This device greatly improves the quality of life for these patients, ” Tomboc said. “Ben has required much less pain medication than most patients who develop mucositis. We’ve been able to reduce the length of his hospital stays and really help with his pain management without any side effects.”
The device is also indicated for use in wound healing, which helped Ben when the surgical wound on his foot was slow to heal.
“Ben had really been struggling with his wound healing all summer, and it’s always a concern when you start chemotherapy with an open wound because it can slow healing even more, leaving it open to possible infection, ” Alison Wilson said. “After a nurse in Radiation Oncology suggested we try it on his foot as well, we discussed it with his doctors. There were so few possible side effects that we decided to go ahead and see if it would help. We had more healing in one month than we had all summer.”
“We’re really grateful that they were willing to look into using this device on kids to see what other institutions were using it and the pros and cons of the treatment. We’re also really excited that it has opened the door for other pediatric patients here, ” she added.
“The training course had a good presentation style, was engaging and easy to attend to. There were lots of practIcal applications. I was happy with the experience.”
Dr Enid Taylor ND, BSc
Naturopath & Clinic Director
Hertz, UK
Miriam is a personal trainer and has suffered with elbow pain for about a year and a half which was preventing her from doing her work properly. She heard about NovoTHOR at Universal Healing & Wellness from a friend who has really great results so Miriam had to try it. After 4 sessions with NovoTHOR she is now convinced this works because the pain has gone away.
“The mechanism in which Photobiomodulation works and all the things it treats, blew my mind on everything it can treat. The whole training course was interesting even the bits that didn’t pertain to me. I didn’t even expect all that to be included so you’ve outdone yourself on additional topics.”
Bailey Rostron
Massage Therapist
Sharpsville IN, USA
Alice has had back problems for 50 years with the pain increasing as she got older. Alice goes to Universal Healing & Wellness and is feeling so much better and gives NovoTHOR the credit for this.
Disclaimer: These comments by healthcare professionals and their patients are solely their own. They are uncompensated personal stories about how they have used, or been impacted by, light therapy. These uses have not been reviewed or cleared by FDA.
Thank you to The World Association for PhotobiomoduLation Therapy for the award today. As I said in my acceptance speech I am grateful for the many friends and good times I have enjoyed in the field of LLLT/PBM over the last 33 years, largely thanks to WALT. I should have said more about what I have learned from the many scientists, doctors, dentists, veterinarians, therapists, nurses and patients. It has led to an exciting, rewarding and fulfilling career, and I look forward to the next 40 years as we take PBM to where it is needed and belongs. So thank you WALT for giving me a life worth living.
“I liked the dynamic information, it was an interesting and interactive training course. This is a great introduction to Photobiomodulation. Thanks so much.”
Dr. Jonatan Snir, Ph.D, MCCPM
Medical Physicist, Tom Baker Cancer Center
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
Calgary AB, Canada
“James was so knowledgeable and engaging. The support team were very helpful in giving us answers in real time. So grateful to all of you. The THOR Laser will take my practice to the next level.”
“The best delivery of any ‘live’ online course I’ve attended and I’ve done a lot of online studying. I can’t think of anything I didn’t like. I would recommend this training to other therapists.”
Alex Collins BSc. Dip
Canine exercise rehabilitation and massage therapist
Sandhurst, Berkshire, UK
“I am doing very well thanks to you and your THOR products. It was just a handful of days after daily use of the ‘lollipop’ probe that the oral mucositis and the associated pain began to rapidly subside.
After today’s treatment I have six radiation sessions left. Unlike before your help, I have no difficulty eating, swallowing or drinking. This Thursday I am bringing my equipment into the Medical College of Wisconsin’s radiation oncology department to demonstrate my two attachments. As you may expect, they have virtually no knowledge of photobiomodulation and I am going to suggest to them that they get on board with this therapy and reduce unnecessary suffering. I will give them the THOR Laser website and your contact information.
Thank you for all of your help and follow up. This wonderful technology needs to become a standard of care in all medical institutions.”
Clare Morrow is an IFBB professional athlete in bodybuilding in bikini division who also suffers with arthritic knees.
Finding NovoTHOR at Xscape Pain has been amazing for Clare’s recovery from her sports activities as she is very hard on her body, so uses the pod 4 to 5 times a week. Before going to XscapePain it would take her days to recover from her workouts but now recovers in half that time.
Disclaimer: These comments by healthcare professionals and their patients are solely their own. They are uncompensated personal stories about how they have used, or been impacted by, light therapy. These uses have not been reviewed or cleared by FDA.
“Very thorough training course. My questions at the beginning of the course were answered throughout the course, the humor was a great touch. Thank you, it peaked my interest in ways I didn’t expect. Looking forward to more discussions.”
For the past 6 years Jan has been dealing with a lot of shoulder issues and neck pain.
She went to Discovery Health Healing Center and was introduced to Photobiomodulation therapy and over the course of 3 weeks with 2 sessions per week, Jan is now getting the relief that she couldn’t get with previous practitioners.
Tabitha Barnes has been going to Xscape Pain for about two months now, twice a week and she wishes she could go everyday! The NovoTHOR Bed has done wonders for Tabitha as she finally gets relief in her previously aching joints, hips and lower back. She has lost weight, gained back her energy, and overall feels more like herself.
U.S. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING. Ending Opioid Use – Washington DC
James Carroll presented evidence to Congress on the effectiveness of PBM for treating pain and where it can be used in place of opioids. Prof. Praveen Arany explained how and why it works, and Annette Quinn RN gave her first hand experience in treating over 854 patients with Oral Mucositis.
A hundred million adults in the United States are affected by chronic pain and $600 billion a year is spent on in health care, direct health care costs and lost productivity because of pain.
49,000 people from opioids in 2017, 19,000 of which were from prescribed opioids for pain relief.
We believe that Photobiomodulation therapy can help reduce the prescribing of opioid medication for pain relief and we wish to draw attention to the Congress and health care policymakers, NIH and CMS, about this potentially valuable tool.
This 15 minute video starts with an overview of Photobiomodulation and low level light therapy. Later in the presentation James introduces the Lumithera treatment for Dry Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
The paper “High-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial” Kheshie et al 2014 pitches the 3B BTL laser against the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser. The results appear to show that the HIRO class IV “High intensity laser” was more effective than the “Low Level Laser”. HOWEVER, the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser was delivered over a large area (not adequately defined but approx 100cm2 by my estimation) so the intensity was actually very low (about 13mW/cm2 which is less than most LED systems), and the 3B BTL “Low Level Laser” was actually very high (4 x 200mW small, high intensity beams) and were held stationary on the patella for over half an hour, YES, HALF AN HOUR IN ONE SPOT! This is insane.
This paper leads people to think that the class IV Hiro laser was more effective because it was higher intensity when in fact the beam distribution meant the average intensity distribution was low (13mW/cm2). The 3B laser was not so effective because it was held stationary such that it would cause an overdose. If the 3B laser treatment had been delivered in using same scanning technique as the class IV then they would likely have achieved the same result. (I am not a fan of scanning because you can never be sure how much energy you have delivered to an area, better to use a low intensity device and hold it still in my view).
This paper misdirects the reader towards favouring class IV lasers rather than 3b or LED by misinforming the reader.
The title of last months PMLS editorial was Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and World Association for Laser Therapy (WALT) Dosage Recommendations. Written by the Scientific Secretary Prof. Jan Bjordal. He describes how far we have come and the importance of the WALT dosage recommendations. No abstract is available for editorials so I have prepared one for you below. Continue reading →
A paper titled ”The Effectiveness of Therapeutic Class IV (10 W) Laser Treatment for Epicondylitis” [ref] showed that 10 Watt Class IV laser (mixed 8W 970nm, 2W 810) was successful in reducing pain and improving function in an RCT with 15 patients, and that there was good statistical significance at 6 months following a course of 6 treatments.
The claim by class IV laser manufacturers is that class IV lasers are better (faster, deeper and more effective) than Class 3b and LED systems. Conversely the 3B laser and LED manufacturers argue that less power density is more effective because delivering energy too quickly can overdose tissues and class IV lasers might burn the skin.
Throughout this paper there are marketing messages claiming the advantages of shorter treatment times than low power LLLT systems and of course the title shouts “10 Watt Class IV laser” just in case the reader is in any doubt that more power is what you need.
Regular readers of this column know my obsession with irradiation parameters, particularly dose rate effects (W/cm2) and will not be surprised to learn that I deconstruced the irradiation parameters used in this trial . Surprise, surprise they were the same low irradiance levels typically used by 3B lasers and LED systems, if not less and the treatment time was longer too.
Yes, it was a 10 Watt laser and yes, 3,000 joules was delivered, however it had a large beam area and treatment was delivered over (45cm2) in a “painting fashion”. The fluence (dose) was 6.6 Joules/cm2 and the power density was a tiny 22mW/cm2, consequently treatment time was a hefty 5 mins.
The average irradiance was not disclosed in the paper and the reader is directed to think that more power is quicker.
P.S. research trials with 3B lasers are typically 30 seconds to 3 mins and our recommended treatment is 1 min with a large LED cluster to the lateral epicondyle and 30 seconds for any related trigger points.
The Treatment Protocol Library is available only to THOR Customers and/or people who have attended a THOR training course in the last 3 years. All treatments are based on our four step method which includes treatment of the injury, trigger points, lymphatics and nerve roots.
Take a look to see how it works and let us know what you think.
UK and Ireland dates
USA and Canada dates
Australia and NZ dates
Rest Of World dates
Featured Testimonials
THOR on Facebook
THOR on Twitter
THOR on LinkedIn
THOR on Instagram
THOR on YouTube
The paper “High-intensity versus low-level laser therapy in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial” Kheshie et al 2014 pitches the 3B BTL laser against the HIRO class IV “High intensity” laser. The results appear to show that the HIRO class IV “High intensity laser” was more effective than the “Low Level Laser”.