Broad vs. Pinpoint Cold Laser Therapy

by admin (not verified) | Mon, 04/26/2010 - 2:40pm

There are two basic types of cold laser treatments: pinpoint treatments and broad coverage treatments. But before delving into how these two differ, let’s take a look at the basic attributes that characterize cold laser light.

  • Cold laser light is monochromatic, meaning it has a single wavelength in the range of 635 to 970 nanometers.
  •  Cold laser light is coherent. It travels in a non-diverging ray.
  • Cold laser light has a wavelength in the red area of the electromagnetic range.
  • Cold laser light is polarized, meaning it concentrates its energy on a particular spot.
  • Finally, cold laser light is in the low power range that goes from 10,000mw to 50,000mw.
Conventional, high-power medical lasers are, as mentioned before, mostly used for their destructive and thermal capabilities, i.e. to cut and burn tissue. Low level lasers on the other hand stimulate cell functions by penetrating the skin without using heat or causing damage. The stimulation of cells by cold laser light produces chemical energy and promotes natural healing.
 
Pinpoint Cold Laser Therapy
 
In pinpoint cold laser therapy, focused low level lasers are used in the manner of acupunctural needles, meaning to trigger a release point in the body. Pinpoint cold laser therapy concentrates the energy of the low level laser into a tiny area of tissue to stimulate the patient’s acupoints in areas that are damage. The goal is usually to increase blood supply to various parts of the body and relieve pain and tension. Energy from lasers in pinpoint therapy can penetrate as much as five inches into the body, depending on the power variables at play.
 
Broad Cold Laser Therapy
 
Broad cold laser therapy is a more common type of cold laser medical treatment. It uses a diffused laser with a prescribed wavelength to penetrate tissue. It does so over a larger area of the body. This procedure helps to stimulate more rapid healing. The theory here is that the larger the area of treatment, the larger the chances of finding and stimulating the spots that require the most care.
 
3 Key Factors for Comparing Cold Lasers
 
Power
A laser’s power level remains constant during treatment, which is one of the factors that allows such precision. The energy of the laser light can be found by multiplying the power level of the laser by the amount of time during which the light is emitted. Lasers with higher energy and duty cycles have the ability to deliver more energy to the treated tissue in much less time.
 
Wavelength
Wavelength is the factor that controls how deep a laser’s photons can penetrate human tissue.
 
Coverage Area
Coverage area determines, in large part, the amount of time a cold laser treatment can take. As a rule of thumb, you can assume that the larger the cover area, the faster the treatment.
 
While broad cold laser therapy is more widespread, both broad cold laser therapy and pinpoint cold laser therapy aim to stimulate natural healing by inhibiting or activating damaged cells. During cold laser treatments, the body’s production of ATP increases dramatically, which helps to accelerate the healing process.
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