Class IV Laser Therapy

Laser therapy stimulates cells and energizes natural cellular processes. This encourages the body’s ability to increase natural healing. In soft tissue work, studies have shown that following laser with massage greatly enhances circulation and decreased inflammation. The muscle tissue opens much more readily, and the laser affects tissue much deeper than hands can reach. 

In addition to being used in conjunction with soft tissue work, laser therapy can be used for the treatment of anything inflammatory, painful, or that needs to heal. Horses are athletes, and therefore need performance maintenance and they do get injured from time to time. Laser therapy can be used for joint pain, soft tissue and ligament injuries, muscle and nerve damage, arthritis, wound management, and much more.  

Photobiomodulation can treat both acute and chronic conditions. A treatment plan for most  acute conditions would be 2-3 sessions/ week until improvement was seen, followed by a maintenance program of once or twice a month. A treatment plan for most chronic conditions would be a total of 6-8 sessions over the course of 4-6 weeks, followed by a maintenance program of once or twice a month. 

Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a form of light therapy based on the photochemical process called photobiomodulation (PBM). In PBM therapy, a light source is placed near or in contact with the skin. The light energy penetrates the skin, reaching the mitochondria of damaged or diseased tissue leading to photobiomodulation. This process results in the beneficial therapeutic outcomes such as the alleviation of pain, the regulation of inflammation, immunomodulation, and the promotion of tissue regeneration.
Physiological effects of PBM therapy:
Anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-edematous
-Increased tissue oxygenation and nutrition
-Increased synthesis of ATP  ( the molecule that facilitates energy transfer within the cell)
-Increased rate of tissue regeneration
-increased microcirculation 

Both laser and red light therapy use light therapy or photobiomodulation (PBM)  to stimulate electrons in the mitochondria of the cells. Watts are used to describe the speed at which energy is transferred. Most high powered red light therapy and lasers use  3-5 Watts, with some at the capacity of just .5 Watts of power.  What sets Class IV lasers apart, is their vastly more powerful capacity. The PTX-IQ laser specifically has the capacity of emitting up to 15 watts of power during certain applications, allowing for a much deeper and more focalized target.  Lower level devices  use wavelengths of light that don’t produce heat (and are referred to as “cold lasers”), meaning the application can be constant and immoveable for a period of time (some examples may include LED therapy pads and some hand held devices). Class IV laser therapy can be applied in contact with the skin but in constant motion - since it does produce heat and uses higher wavelengths . Safety glasses are used during application for eye protection.