How Cold Laser Therapy Treats Tendonitis?

Tendonitis is a common sports injury characterized by inflammation and pain. It occurs when you overuse your tendon, leading to acute inflammation and injury. Although the condition can affect any part of your body, it commonly occurs in the wrist, finger, thigh, and elbow. Different types of tendonitis are:

• Achilles tendonitis
• Supraspinatus tendonitis
• Golfer’s elbow
• Wrist tendonitis
• Trigger finger or thumb
• De Quervain’s stenosing tenosynovitis

Common symptoms are pain, crackling tendons, inflammation, redness, numbness, tingling, and tendon lumps. Treatment options for tendonitis are rest, heat and ice therapy, NSAIDs, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, exercise, and cold laser therapy. In today’s article, we will discuss the effectiveness of cold laser therapy for tendonitis. Read on! 

Cold Laser Therapy for Tendonitis

Cold laser therapy, also known as low-level laser therapy, is an effective treatment option that uses light-emitting diodes or low-level photons. A qualified health professional applies low-level lasers to the body’s surface, allowing photons to penetrate tissues and trigger cellular mechanisms. As a result, cells stimulates inflammation and pain-relieving mechanism to speed up the healing process. 

A 2015 research study shows that cold laser therapy is more effective than medications, exercise, and placebo treatment options. Health professionals use cold laser therapy to reduce inflammation and pain related to tendonitis. Here is why you should undergo cold laser therapy for tendonitis. Continue reading! 

Photobiomodulation 

Cold laser therapy uses photobiomodulation, a process that allows photons or low-level light to enter your tissues and interact with the mitochondria’s cytochrome C-complex. As a result, the cell triggers a cascade of biological events, leading to increased cellular metabolism and decreased inflammation. Unlike medications, such as NSAIDs and narcotics, cold laser therapy does not produce side effects.

Accelerated Tissue Repair 

Low-level or cold laser therapy uses photons that penetrate your tendons or muscles and accelerate tissue reproduction. These photons increase your cells’ energy levels, allowing them to work efficiently and quickly. As a result, the cell increases the supply of essential nutrients to the damaged tendon and eliminates waste products, leading to accelerated tendon tissue repair and healing. 

Fibroblast Stimulation 

Cold laser therapy enables photons to enter your cells and stimulate fibroblasts, leading to increased collagen production. Bear in mind that collagen plays a crucial role in tissue repair and healing, especially in ligaments, tendons, muscles, and other soft tissue structures. The enhanced fibroblast activity can accelerate the healing process. 

Increased Vasodilation 

Vasodilation is an essential process that increases capillaries’ size to supply more oxygenated blood to the damaged tendons. Laser therapy increases vasodilation, leading to improve lymphatic drainage that reduces edema, swelling, and inflammation. All this leads to an effective and speedy recovery process. 

Final Words 

Conservative treatment options, such as physical therapy, exercise, medications, steroid injections, and acupuncture, can help treat tendonitis. However, medications, such as NSAIDs and opioids, can cause severe side effects, leading to more complications. 

On the other hand, cold laser therapy stimulates your body’s natural healing and tissue repair mechanisms to help treat tendonitis. Plus, this treatment option is painless, non-invasive, and free from side effects.