Shining Light on Laser Therapy

Every once in a while the question of safety comes up. Great question. The key to understanding the safety of low intensity laser is to understand what it is and what it is not.

First of all, there are only two absolute situations where laser therapy is not used. Directly over the abdomen of a pregnant woman and over a known cancerous tumour. These are common sense.

The kind of light used is red and infrared. We can see red light but not infrared because it is out of our visible spectrum.

The picture below shows the visible spectrum relative to other forms of energy. The light we see is white light, a mixture of all the colours of the visible spectrum.

High energy forms such as gamma rays, x-rays and ultraviolet energy are on the right side of the visible spectrum. These are high energy, short wave energy forms.

On the left side are radio, microwave and infrared energy. These are low energy, long wave forms of energy.

The take home from this is the energy used with low intensity laser therapy is less dangerous than the light you are exposed to reading this article.

Research has shown laser therapy does not damage tissues or cause cancer.

Specific wavelengths initiate a powerful healing response.

If you are not afraid of a 60 Watt light bulb, you have nothing to worry about.