Drug-Free, Pain-Free, Surgery-Free Relief

 Best Friends Veterinary Care now offers the latest health care technology for your pet: a therapeutic laser that has the proven ability to reduce pain, speed healing and reduce inflammation. This FDA-cleared, deep-penetrating light allows relief of pain through the release of endorphins and stimulates the injured cells to heal at a faster rate. Laser therapy also reduces inflammation by increasing vasodilatation (dilation of the blood vessels), activating the lymphatic drainage system, and reducing pro-inflammatory mediators.

 

A relatively new branch of medicine, the Class IV laser, delivers a large amount of light energy into the pet’s body. When the light interacts with damaged cells, healing is accelerated and pain is dramatically reduced. As our best friends age, recover from trauma or surgery, or simply need relief from everyday aches and pains, this advanced technology offers drug-free, pain-free, surgery-free relief. Call us today to see if this exciting new technology is right for your best friend!

The word laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

 

Laser differs in two important ways: the wavelength of light that they produce and the power of the light that they produce. In medical applications, different wavelengths affect living tissue in different ways. For example, ophthalmologists use one wavelength of laser light to make fine incisions on the surface of the eye, and another wavelength of laser light to harmlessly transmit through the eye to treat the retina.

Although not a panacea (and not effective for every patient and condition), most patients with pain, inflammation or healing tissue are candidates for Class IV laser therapy. These include both acute and chronic medical conditions as well as routine treatment of surgical sites and extended rehabilitation programs for orthopedic surgery patients. Laser therapy is a drug-free treatment modality that can often replace or enhance other treatment plans recommended by your veterinarian.

 

We provide a postoperative laser treatment to the surgical site of all of our surgery patients, and to the gum tissue after all of our dental procedures.

Since the Federal Drug Administration approved Class IV therapy lasers in the United States in 2005, acceptance has been seen on the human side in physical therapy, rehabilitation, wound care and sports medicine programs. For many years, world-class athletes and thoroughbred racehorses have benefited from laser therapy treatments. In athletic environments, therapy lasers are primarily used to reduce swelling, reduce pain, and speed the healing process. These mechanisms allow veterinarians to successfully treat a wide range of conditions non-invasively and without drugs.

Response to laser therapy varies widely depending on the individual animal’s situation, but studies indicate that laser-treated wounds heal in one-third to one-half less time than required in normal healing.

 

Acute conditions may be treated only once or multiple times over several days or weeks, depending on the severity of the condition. Examples include wounds, fractures, abscesses, anal sacculitis, acute otitis, hematomas, sprains, strains, muscle discomfort, cystitis, urethritis, injection site soreness, pyotraumatic dermatitis, venomous bites and pododermatitis.

 

Chronic treatment extends over a longer time. Chronic conditions are subjected to an initial Induction Phase of treatments until a clinical response is noted. Patients then enter a Transition Phase of gradually reduced frequency of treatment to determine the minimum frequency required to maintain optimum function. They then begin the Maintenance Phase, which may involve treatment as little as every three to six weeks.

 

Postsurgical and dental treatment with routine protocols after surgery and dental procedures to reduce postprocedure pain and inflammation. Procedures resulting in greater tissue disruption, like orthopedic surgeries, are treated immediately postoperatively and then twice weekly for six treatments.