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Author Archives: James Carroll
Not invented here
I had a meeting with the Chief Exec of the UK’s premier cancer research hospital, last year. He was genuinely interested by my pitch about LLLT. He said I should meet his pain team to present data on Oral Mucositis (OM). Eventually a meeting was set and I gave my best to the Head of Pain Services. Lets call him Dr Fred. Dr Fred listened patiently then, when I had finished, he gave me some feedback: 1) he did not like the company logo 2) he accepts the mechanism of action but 3) LLLT achieves too many things and 4) he had to go to another meeting. A surgeon friend of mine offered to go persuade Dr Fred and they had two hour meeting. Dr Fred said he would pitch it to his team, but after a few weeks chasing for an update, he said that nobody was interested.
How can that be when (according to the article in this months literature watch by Rene-Jean Bensadoun and Raj Nair) there is no consensus on a … Continue reading
Posted in Rants
5 Comments
Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT / Cold Laser Literature watch for March 2012
40 LLLT papers for you this month including an updated biphasic dose response paper from Mike Hamblin’s team at Harvard (including myself), plus clinical trials on lymphoedema (manual lymphatic drainage vs LLLT), oral mucositis literature review with meta-analysis, onychomycosis, improved treadmill training performance, improved orthodontic tooth movement (with less pain), TMJD, post extraction trismus, and a systematic review of treatments for frozen shoulder citing laser as effective for pain relief, improved range of motion, and overall outcome in adhesive capsulitis.
Posted in Research
on Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT / Cold Laser Literature watch for March 2012
Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT / Cold Laser Literature watch for Feb 2012
Just 9 papers for you this month including LLLT for orthodontic tooth movement, diabetic periodontitis, ischemic stroke and a laboratory study on chronic mild stress to add to the clinical reports we have seen in recent months.
A plug for the 2012 World Association for Laser Therapy conference in Gold Coast Australia in September. You know you have to go to Australia at some time in your life, well this is that time. Not only does Australia have the most extraordinary wilderness, wildlife and waves of anywhere in the world, it is also the host of this year’s WALT conference. I anticipate that most of the researchers you have read about on this newsletter / blog over recent years will be there . At the WALT 2012 conference in September you can see their latest work and hear their latest thoughts first hand. This land of sun, sea and and so many lasers is probably the most welcoming country i have ever visited, so I suggest you click here to register and click … Continue reading
Posted in Research
on Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT / Cold Laser Literature watch for Feb 2012
The truth will set you free, but you might need a political bulldozer
I love introducing LLLT to an audience of doctors oblivious and innocent of its effects on tissue regeneration, inflammation and pain. At first, the response is that no therapy can do all of this (heal diabetic wounds, improve recovery from sports injuries, neck pain, osteoarthritis and neuropathic pain etc), then I explain the mechanism by which LLLT increases ATP and reduces oxidative stress. By the time I have finished, the final question is not “what is LLLT?” or “how does it work?” or “is there clinical evidence?” but “why is this not used everywhere throughout medicine?”.
The truth is that evidence is not enough. I am involved in the early stages of putting together an international multicentre clinical trial for a pathology that already has 14 RCTs behind it. What difference will one more trial make? The difference may not be the trial itself, but the eminence of the doctors / scientists and their institutions doing it. I am also involved in the early stages of fund raising for another trial that has considerably less … Continue reading
Posted in Rants
3 Comments
The THOR LLLT Treatment Protocols Library
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.
Posted in Special Feature, Video of the Week
2 Comments
Many diodes make light work
Having just posted a feature on Prof. Jan Bjordal and the WALT dosage recommendations (read here), I am thinking about dose and cluster probes.
The advice from them is that the correct energy should be applied, that the whole pathology should be treated and, in some cases, there is a power density limit.
At our training course last weekend, someone asked how our LED cluster probe treatment dosage can be compared with the WALT guidelines which are based on single probe treatments. For example, the guidelines for treating a tennis elbow is one or two points, 4 joules per point, max 100mW/cm2.
With our 69 LED cluster probe, for example, the total power applied seems very high (1390 mW). It delivers 4 joules in less than 3 seconds. But this energy is delivered over a very wide area (28 cm2), not over a single point as in the WALT guidelines.
If we divide the 1390 mW power delivered by the area covered of 28 cm2, we get 50mW/cm2. So each cm2 gets 50mW, in which case … Continue reading
Posted in Special Feature
1 Comment
Low Level Laser Therapy LLLT / Cold Laser Literature watch for Jan 2012
17 papers published this month including LLLT for amblyopia, chronic periodontitis, knee osteoarthritis, cracked nipples in breastfeeding mothers, chronic gingivitis, allergic rhinitis and an editorial written by Prof. Jan Bjordal regarding WALT dosage recommendations. 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 along with a short feature on Prof. Jan Bjordal and a summary of his published work.
Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) and WALT Dosage Recommendations
No abstract is available for editorials so I have prepared one for you along with a short feature on Prof. Jan Bjordal and a summary of his published work. click here.
Low-Level Laser Therapy Improves Visual Acuity in Adolescent and Adult Patients with Amblyopia.
Ivandic BT, Ivandic T
1 University of Heidelberg , Otto-Meyerhof Center, Heidelberg, Germany .
Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on visual acuity in adolescent and adult patients with amblyopia. Background data: Currently, amblyopia can … Continue reading