Neck pain has many causes. Mechanical neck pain comes from injury or inflammation in the soft tissues of the neck.

This is much different and less concerning than symptoms that come from pressure on the nerve roots as they exit the spinal column. People sometimes refer to this problem as a pinched nerve. The big fancy medical term for it is cervical radiculopathy.

There are seven bones in your neck.

A round block of bone, called a vertebral body, forms each bone, or vertebra. A bony ring attaches to the back of each vertebral body.

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Cold Laser Therapy for arthritis Pain

We have been using cold laser therapy at our clinic for several years now with great success…especially with arthritis patients. 

The cold laser therapy is a fantastic tool for not only arthritis, but other musculoskeletal conditions such as sports injuries, back and neck pain, Tennis elbow, plantar fascitis, and TMJ. Laser therapy is a great adjunct to chiropractic care and non-surgical spinal decompression therapy. In fact…we include cold laser therapy for patients with herniated discs.

I came across an excellent article entitled How does cold laser work for arthritis? that does a great job of explaining how and why cold laser works. Here is an excerpt:

Arthritis affects almost 70 million Americans. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease in which the cartilage wears away, and rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. Also, there are other conditions that fall under the “umbrella” of arthritis including bursitis, tendonitis, low back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and so on.

The common symptom of most forms of arthritis is pain. Pain develops as a result of multiple factors including inflammation with stimulation of neural peripheral pain sensors due to either biochemical factors such as cytokines or to mechanical factors- joint deformity. Arthritis pain may be accompanied by other problems including loss of range of motion and disability.

While medicines, injections, and surgery all have their place and are valuable, there is still a need for potentially useful adjunctive modalities that might speed up recovery and reduce pain faster.

Low level therapeutic laser, better known as phototherapy, is a relatively new form of treatment. Its premise is that certain wavelengths of light have effects on living tissue. This effect is termed “photobiomodulation.”

My Take: Cold laser therapy is a must have for any chiropractor, physical therapist, or sports medicine doctor that wants to offer the most advanced forms of treatment to their patients. Most professional sports teams use Cold laser therapy to speed up the healing process for musculoskeletal injuries, as do elite pain centers around the world. So do yourself a favor and find out if laser therapy makes sense for you.

For more information on Laser therapy, click here. To find out if you are a candidate for Laser Therpay or nonsurgical spinal decompression, please call 604-984-4601 or 604-990-6676.

Laser Therapy for Herniated Discs: Eliminating Back Pain

Many patients with back pain and leg pain are diagnosed with a herniated disc. The spinal disc is a soft cushion that sits between each vertebra of the spine. When a disc becomes herniated, a portion of the disc pushes outside its normal boundaries. This protruded section of the disc can irritate or put pressure on the spinal nerves that run nearby causing pain to travel into the legs.
Did You Know…Laser treatments can be very successful in speeding up recovery from a herniated disc. How can lasers help?
 Greatly reduce pain levels
 Reduce Inflammation
 Stimulate repair of damaged or weak disc tissue
 Stimulate primary cells responsible for disc healing, called macrophages and fibroblasts.

I have been helping patients with  lumbar disc herniations for 12 years now at my family practice ( The Grande Family Chiropractic ) That’s a long time and much has changed as far as what we know about disc herniations and how to treat them.

Up until about 4 years ago, our treatment approach for disc herniations consisted of chiropractic adjustments, Active Release Therapy,  special exercises, ice/heat, and ergonomic and home care modifications.

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