Understanding LLLT

Low Level Laser therapy is also now known as PhotoBioModulation (PBM) and perhaps more helpfully so, since its action involves the modulation of the biological activity of the body through the controlled delivery of light which is monochromatic and usually but not always coherent laser light.

Laser treatment 

Supraspinatus Muscle Inflammation

Laser therapy, specifically low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and high-intensity laser therapy (HILT), is a potential treatment option for supraspinatus tendonitis, a common condition affecting the shoulder. These therapies can help reduce pain, improve function, and accelerate healing by stimulating the body's natural healing processes.

 

 

How it works

1. Healing growth factor response through:

  • Increased ATP and protein synthesis
  • Improved cell proliferation
  • Change in cell membrane permeability to calcium up-take

 2. Pain relief through:

  • Increased endorphin release
  • Increased serotonin
  • Suppression of nociceptor action 

 3. Immune system support through:

  • Increasing levels of lymphocyte activity
  • Photomodulation of blood

Key Parameters:

The important parameters which need to be considered for clinicians to achieve the best possible therapeutic effects when using low level laser are:

  1. Wavelength
  2. Energy Density from Power Density and Time
  3. Pulsing

Wavelength:

Wavelength is measured in nanometers. In Omega’s equipment it is set in the probe and is changed by using different probes. Our lasers are produced with wavelengths under 1000nm and fall into two classes with different characteristics – the visible red light range from 600nm to 780nm and the invisible Infrared over 780nm:

Red Light (Visible) from 600nm to 780nm

  • Readily absorbed by the mitochondria and therefore potentially stimulatory
  • Excellent source of stimulation of a range of growth factors
  • Red Light does not penetrate very effectively below the skin surface and into the tissue below
  • Red light is optimal for wound healing or superficial conditions but is not the most effective way to treat deeper injury.

Infrared (Invisible) over 780nm

  • Absorbed through the cell walls (acting differently between cells) and therefore cell response is more wavelength specific in the infrared range, responding differently to different wavelengths
  • More penetrative through the tissue, especially the 800nm to 900nm range, therefore this range is selected for treatment through intact skin and pain relief.
  • Synergistic effects are achievable through combining selected wavelengths in both the infrared and red light ranges - see multi-wavelength cluster probes.