How much laser is enough? and how much is too much ?

In a recent systematic review and meta analysis of laser therapy on tendinopathies (Tumilty et al), 11 out of 20 studies failed to produce a positive result. The reason identiļ¬ed for the ineffective studies were that the laser beams were too strong (the irradiance was too high for this particular pathology). Most clinicians are rightly confused about which laser to choose and which dose or technique will work.

Laser can inhibit as well as stimulate and the techniques and settings for achieving these effects have not always been clear to everybody. Should you use laser or LED, red or infrared wavelengths, use a strong or a low power laser, use pulses or continuous, treat twice a day or twice a month ?

THOR considers these questions every day. THOR are best placed to supply and train because we are constantly developing our expertise in LLLT. We do this by participating in all the key international LLLT conferences, researching for and writing the literature watch section of the Photomedicine journal. We are involved in laboratory and clinical research trials across the world and are putting our knowledge into practice every day at the Amersham Clinic.

Our academic interest and practical experience keeps us informed and helps develop our training which means that THOR customers get the best possible support for treating with laser. We can be objective in our laser recommendations for your clinic. This is because we have a range of 13 laser and LED treatment heads with red and near Infrared wavelengths that range from 30mW to 2,000mW.

If you want to reduce the risks of using ineffective protocols for your patients and increase your chances of getting the best laser for your practice, who are you going to call? THOR customers can contact us at any time to get the most up-to-date and best informed advice in the industry as well as attend weekend training courses in a dozen different cities in the USA and Europe.

Click here for training https://www.thorlaser.com/courses/

About James Carroll

Founder and CEO at THOR Photomedicine Ltd. About THOR
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4 Responses to How much laser is enough? and how much is too much ?

  1. donna aima says:

    Can too much lasering be corrected? I have a large red blotch on my lip where it was supposed to correct a small scar from cancer lip surgery. It is numb and really bothers me. I even drool at times because I don’t have control of that part of my lip.

    • It depends what kind of “too much lasering” you are referring to. If you had surgical cosmetic procedure to ablate a scar then that might mean you have nerve damage. In some cases LLLT has been shown to reverse surgical nerve damage. LLLT is harmless and might well be able to reduce the symptoms.

  2. kas says:

    Hello,
    Is up to 500mW laser therapy not seen as too much?
    Doing session of half an hour with 400mW 808nM for example

    • James Carroll says:

      Depends what you are trying to treat and how small the beam is

      If the 400mW beam size was 100cm2, then the power density would be 4mW/cm2
      30 mins treatment would be 7.2 J/cm2 which is not so much.

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