Our Techniques and Services

This is not a heat treatment, the effects are photochemical. Low-level laser light is compressed light of a wavelength from the cold, red part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. It is different from natural light in that it is one precise color; it is coherent (it travels in a straight line), monochromatic (a single wavelength) and polarized (it concentrates its beam in a defined location or spot). These properties allow laser light to penetrate the surface of the skin with no heating effect, no damage to the skin and no known side effects. Laser light directs biostimulative light energy to the body’s cells which the cells then convert into chemical energy to promote natural healing and pain relief.

Laser Therapy is a newly approved F.D.A. method of pain treatment. It is non-invasive and highly effective. A cold laser is applied directly to the skin providing relief from chronic pain anywhere in the body. Laser Therapy has been approved for application in almost every spot of the body and for about any type of pain. LLLT has undergone over 1000 published laboratory studies and is already proven in over 100 successful randomized double blind controlled clinical trials (RCT’s). These trials include osteoarthritis, tendinitis / tendonopathies and other sports injuries, back and neck pain, diabetic foot and venous ulcer wound healing.

Normally, when a muscle is working, its sarcomeres act like tiny pumps, contracting and relaxing to circulate blood through the capillaries that supply their metabolic needs. When sarcomeres in a trigger point hold their contraction, blood flow essentially stops in the immediate area. The resulting oxygen starvation and accumulation of the waste products of metabolism irritates the trigger point. The trigger point responds to this emergency by sending out pain signals.

The defining symptom of a trigger point is referred pain; that is, trigger points usually send their pain to some other site. This is an extremely misleading phenomenon and is the reason conventional treatment for pain often fail. Research has shown that trigger points are the primary cause of 75% of the time and are at least a part of nearly every pain problem. Trigger points can cause headaches, neck pain, jaw pain, back pain, tennis elbow, and carpal tunnel syndrome. They are the source of the pain in such joints as the shoulder, wrist, hip, knee and ankle that is so often mistaken for arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, or ligament injuries.

Trigger points also cause symptoms as diverse as dizziness, earaches, sinusitis, nausea, heartburn, false heart pain, heart arrhythmia, genital pain and numbness in the hands and feet. Even Fibromyalgia may have its beginnings with myofascial trigger points.

Trigger points are easily located and deactivated with the techniques of trigger point therapy. Myofascial release of the trigger point flushes the tissue and helps the trigger points contracted sarcomeres begin to release. In dealing directly with the trigger point, myofascial release is the safest, most natural, and most effective form of pain therapy.

With trigger point therapy, myofascial pain can usually be eliminated within three to ten days. Even long-standing chronic conditions can be significantly improved in as little as six weeks.

If you have any of the following then Trigger Point Therapy is ideal for you.

• Myofascial Restrictions
• Trigger Points
• Scar Tissue
• Stress
• Muscle Strains
• Back Pain
• Neck Pain
• Headaches

Electrical stimulation (e-stim) currently is one of the most commonly used forms of electro-analgesia (pain control from electrical device). Hundreds of clinical reports exist concerning the use of e-stim for various types of conditions, such as low back pain (LBP), myofascial and arthritic pain, neurogenic (nerve) pain, visceral pain, and postsurgical pain.

The mechanisms by which e-stim produces neuro-modulation include the following:

• Presynaptic inhibition in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord
• Endogenous pain control (via endorphins, enkephalins, and dynorphins)
• Direct inhibition of an abnormally excited nerve
• Restoration of afferent input

The results of laboratory studies suggest that electrical stimulation delivered by an e-stim unit reduces pain through nociceptive inhibition (pain inhibition) at the presynaptic level in the dorsal horn, thus limiting its central transmission. Studies show marked increases in the body’s own natural painkillers, endorphins and enkephalins with low-frequency e-stim.

By placing electrodes on the skin in various locations the therapist can also recruit the appropriate muscle fibers. Contracting the muscle via electrical stimulation helps strengthen the affected muscle. The therapist can change the current setting to allow for a forceful or gentle muscle contraction. Along with increasing muscle strength, the contraction of the muscle also promotes blood supply to the area that assists in healing.

Consult with your Chiropractor to see if electro-stimulation would be appropriate to be used in conjunction with your Chiropractic treatments.