What is a Class 4 Therapeutic Laser?
Therapeutic lasers emit light that is absorbed by the bodies cells and tissues. The frequency and power (strength) of these light waves affect the bodies response to the energy. The light waves are actually photons being pushed into the tissue.
Lasers have been used for treating horses for many years. They have largely been the ‘cold light’ or ‘red light’ lasers that are classified as Class 1 to Class 3b. They generally have a low power output of up to 0.5 Watts. A Class 4 laser is a high energy laser – ours has a peak power of 270 Watts (540 times more power than the cold light lasers).
This therefore has more strength to penetrate deeper through the skin to the tissues that we are treating, resulting in a stronger cell response.
How does a Therapeutic Laser work?
Individual cells react to the energy that the photons transmit into them (called ‘photobiomodulation’). This has the effect of:
- Increasing blood flow, which in turn increases the growth factors and nutrients required for healing
- Releasing energy from cells (ATP is released from the mitochondria inside each cell) to promote healing and regeneration
- Reduces swelling by promoting absorption of lymphatic fluid
- Anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects (reduces inflammation and pain)
- Speeds up wound healing by promoting blood flow, granulation tissue formation and maturation, and skin healing.
It is completely painless, and treatment sessions often last as little as 3-4 minutes each time. The battery powered unit has a cable connecting it to a hand-held probe that is held against the skin. This transmits the photons / light energy into the tissue without any adverse sensation at all.
The actual treatment protocol will vary depending on the injury being treated, but for acute injuries it can typically be 3 times a week for 2 weeks, reducing to once a week if needed after that. Some in-patients will benefit from daily treatment for the first week.
Are there any risks?
The higher power Class 4 lasers do have the ability to heat tissues up, as well as damage our eyes and so we have to carefully adhere to protocols to control the amount of energy going into the tissues and wear protective glasses. The low power class 3 lasers do not have this risk, but also do not have the ability to be absorbed as well into the deeper tissues, nor have the same degree of cellular response that we want to stimulate.
Our pulsed laser does not cause thermal burns or over-heating injuries.
What can be treated with a Therapeutic Laser?
Typically we mostly treat soft tissue injuries – especially tendons and ligaments tears, strains and fibre disruption / core lesions. However, the laser is also shown to be beneficial in treating a variety of conditions in horses :-
- Tendon and ligament injury
- Limb oedema
- Joint strains/synovitis
- Arthritis
- Back pain – both inter-spinous / supra-spinous ligaments and muscular
- Wounds – both open granulating wounds and surgical or sutured wounds
It can be used on both dark pigmented skin and pale skin, and although it works better through clipped skin it can be used over hair as well (although cob feathers may be a bit too much!)
What does it cost?
Class 4 lasers have to be used by fully trained technicians. All of the laser treatments are undertaken under direct veterinary guidance, and can then be carried out by our qualified equine nurse and trained equine grooms. The cost for each treatment on a horse is similar to that for human treatment which is £48 per treatment.
As a special offer we do have a package whereby the first six treatments are reduced so when you buy 5 you get 1 FOC.
Horses can be brought into the clinic, if suitable, or alternatively, one of our trained nursing team can come to you for a reduced visit fee of just £30.
If you would like any additional information or would like to book, please call us on 01577 841010.
