Laser Therapy Update- Stopping Acute Pain from Becoming Chronic

A great wish for a fantastic 2010. The start of a new year and a new decade! I hope your holiday time was restful, reflective and recharging. Isn’t that the greatest gift of all?

It’s typical this time of year to make self promises that we are going “to do things differently”. Most often these promises relate to our health, a promise to take better care of ourselves so we can enjoy doing the things we love to do.

If you read my last article, I explained some very important differences between acute and chronic pain syndromes. Acute being “I’m sore the next day after shovelling everyone’s driveway”. Chronic being “I had a car accident ten years ago and I’m still suffering”. There are different physiological processes going on in the tissues.

Acute pain is often a source of confusion. Is it something to be concerned about or will it go away on its own? Let’s dig a little deeper with a simple scenario.

Yesterday you packed away the Christmas decorations, took down the tree, shovelled the driveway and then went skating with the kids. Today you are sore, but tomorrow things are worse. It fades over the week but you still notice trouble lifting your right arm over your head and you have a lot of stiffness turning your head to the left.

Soreness after activity is normal, especially in the muscle tissue between the joints, not in and around the joints. It’s reasonable to last 2-3 days. Soreness in or around the joints that lasts past this time frame is beyond simple soreness and can be alleviated by healing the tissues with laser care.

This is how a simple, acute problem becomes chronic. You start taking Tylenol/Advil after the third day because it really bothers you. This goes on for a week, things feel a little better, but you notice more pain when you get up and doing simple things like holding a coffee cup or brushing you teeth are really uncomfortable.

You visit your family doctor who prescribes an anti-inflammatory for 30-60 days. The pain is actually reduced a lot while on the drug. After 60 days you stop the drug, but the shoulder and neck are still painful again and you notice limited movement with more and more things.

Back to the family doctor who prescribes physiotherapy. Lots of weird exercises and electronic gizmos that make your muscles twitch like they never have before. Six months later, no change and in fact it’s worse. Now you can’t golf and you doubt your summer vacation.

Back to the family doctor who orders an MRI scan. You are now back on Tylenol/Advil and on a waiting list for the scan. Six months later you have the scan which reveals a 75% tear in your rotator cuff. You are told you need surgery which will require 6 months of rehab. There is a 3 month waiting list for surgery.

This is a very typical scenario I see with chronic pain sufferers where something started as a small problem. This is true whether it’s a low back, hip, knee, neck or whatever.

Laser care can get great results with many conditions that are considered surgical problems, or help make the surgery and rehab much more successful. Time is measured in days or weeks instead of months and years.

In the spirit of “doing something different”, focus on feeling better by improving how well your body is working. The root of health is healing. Laser care kick starts the natural healing process so your body can do the things you want and need to do.