Low Intensity Laser Therapy
From Science Fiction to Reality
by Remi Valois

Low Intensity Laser Therapy (LILT Technology) is commonly called cold laser, or in some science circles, photobio stimulation. This technology is not to be confused with the high intensity/density medical lasers used to thermally cut and coagulate tissues.

Laser therapy is still seen by most people today as science fiction, something out of Star Trek, where powerful lasers cut through steel buildings, ships, and planes, burning holes in planets light years away, and Dr. Spock placing probe-like lasers on critically injured victims and, in most cases, having it regenerate patients instantly back to life.

Thankfully many science fiction ideas have become present day reality. Back in the early 1960s, research laboratories in Russia, Hungary, and Japan were independently studying different wavelengths and intensities, and their effects on human tissues. These were called the first generation lasers and they had all the similarities of the first generation computers. They were cumbersome and took up a lot of space. They also took up a lot of energy and were under-powered and unreliable. Most research articles remained unpublished and/or untranslated, thereby restricting interest in the field.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a renewed interest in LILT, a.k.a. second-generation lasers. Again, as with computers, the inventions of inexpensive diodes and silicone conductors brought about powerful, smaller single diode pen-like lasers, plus multi diode rigid applicators were also being developed. After the Cold War, scientists began sharing and translating more and more conclusive medical articles.

And now, welcome to the 21st Century with today’s third generation technology. The genie is out of the bottle and it is in the form of light energy. It will only be a short matter of time before most homes will be equipped with some sort of cold laser medical equipment, just as computers, cell phones, microwaves, digital music, and television have become an everyday part of our lives.

This is happening at a time when our health care costs are exceeding our government’s ability to finance them. It appears the approach of treating symptoms has not changed in the last fifty years, however the cost of treating only the symptoms has become unsustainable. Already politicians have started to reduce what will be covered. For example, insurance companies and government-run medicare programs do not cover most cosmetic reconstruction and plastic surgery. Surprisingly it is this very specialized, highly sophisticated field that has embraced cold laser therapy. The reasons are because it is non-toxic and safe, and has an ease of application with no “negative side effects”. It reduces the need for medications, obviates the need for invasive surgery, and the best part is that it promotes rapid acceleration of the healing process by quickly re-establishing normal cellular morphology of muscles, tendons, and skin matrix.

This article is not meant to be overly technical. A layman’s understanding of the mechanisms and interactions between light and the effect of light on cells is all that is required.

Light is required for all living organisms on this planet. Light, which created life, can be measured just like everything else (i.e. speed, distance, length, depth, decibels). For most of us the need to understand the positive and negative effects of light energy and how it is measured has never been that important until lately. With the awareness now of global warming comes the insistence on using sunscreens, and yet at the same time it is just as important to receive some ultraviolet light from the sun for the absorption of vitamin D. That is why we need to know more about light energy than what we have taken for granted. In the next thirty plus years we may be using solar energy more than non-renewable sources. Light is measured mostly in two forms: (1) wave-like frequency, or how fast the wave is fluctuating; and (2) particles, packets of energy and intensity, which is what our eyes perceive as brightness and what we feel as heat.

The important thing people must understand is that, unlike Star Trek movies and television programs, the laser therapy solution is not as instantaneous. Whenever and however patients are being treated for any medical conditions pertaining to the musculoskeletal and central nervous systems, their recovery will depend on several factors such as the age and health in each individual case, including the length and the severity of the problem. This will help determine how many treatments will be required for our bodies to heal themselves.

Success in most cases will require on average of six to twelve treatments, lasting for 35 minutes to one hour. The more things you are able to do for yourself will also speed up your recovery. Remember no condition can improve unless some type of therapy is initiated.

Remi Valois, RMT (Registered Massage Therapist), has been a practising member of the Massage Therapy Association of Saskatchewan (MTAS) for twenty-three years. He has extensive experience and has been a part of the phenomenal growth in the alternative holistic approach to health. Meditech International has trained Remi in the use of laser therapy, and they promote massage therapy as an adjunct in all the laser clinics. Remi, after convalescing from a motorcycle accident, would also like to take this opportunity to welcome back his old clients and friends. For more information visit www.bioflexlaser.com or contact Remi in Saskatoon at (306) 683-1986 or email: rvalois@shaw.ca.