If you’re one of the millions of Americans dealing with chronic pain, odds are you’ve been looking all over for an effective treatment option. Pain is a major problem in the US and throughout the world, and unfortunately too many patients are simply prescribed opioids to mask their symptoms. Opioids are incredibly strong painkillers, but if they are used incorrectly, patients can become addicted or overdose. Roughly 20,000 Americans lost their lives in 2010 to opioid overdoses, and that number has skyrocketed in recent years, surging past 100,000 deaths in 2022 alone.
Because of the inherent dangers of opioids, medical professionals are always looking for new treatments that can provide effective pain relief without the potentially dangerous side effects of opioids. One promising avenue that has grown in popularity in recent years is laser therapy. We offer Class IV Laser Therapy at our clinic, and we’ve seen firsthand just how effective it can be. If it continues to be an effective solution laser therapy has the potential to save thousands of lives each year.
Risk-Free Pain Treatment
Laser therapy offers a number of benefits over opioids when it comes to pain management. For starters, laser therapy doesn’t increase your risk of addiction and overdose. While you may find yourself looking forward to your next laser therapy session because it proved effective at managing your pain, it doesn’t change your brain on a chemical level like opioids. These chemical changes in the brain can lead to feelings of dependance, addiction and withdrawal, which all pose risks to the patient’s health. Laser therapy targets the underlying issue at the cellular level and doesn’t increase your risk of addiction or overdose.
The other main benefit of laser therapy is that it works to target the root cause of your pain. Opioids don’t treat the underlying issue, then only mask the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Now, that’s not to say that opioids can’t play a crucial part in a pain management program. When paired with active interventions like exercise, physical therapy or weight management, patients can find immense relief from their pain issues. Medications are passive by nature, so they need to be paired up with active interventions in order to ensure that the root cause of pain is addressed.
Laser therapy attempts to address the underlying problem by focusing on your cellular health. Laser light penetrates deep into your skin and into damaged tissues. This light helps to energize the cells and bring more oxygenated blood to the area, further expediting the healing process. Laser light energy allows cells to work more efficiently, which means they can create more cells, repair damaged cells and control painful inflammation more effectively. Laser therapy gives your body the tools it needs to repair itself.
Perhaps best of all, laser therapy is designed to work on a long-term level. Opioids only provide short-term pain relief, but by helping the body heal itself and control sources of pain, laser therapy can help you put your pain to bed for good. We don’t want to just provide short-term band-aids to your pain problem, we want to help you get it under control once and for all, and we believe that laser therapy can be that treatment depending on your underlying pain issue.
While it can be an effective stand-alone option, we typically like to pair laser therapy with active interventions to strengthen and stabilize specific areas, so don’t be surprised if your provider suggests exercise or physical therapy alongside your laser sessions. We want your treatment to be as effective as possible, and that means pursuing physical interventions when more passive treatments provide pain relief and make movement more comfortable.
So instead of turning to a passive treatment like opioids that carries risks of addiction and overdose, turn to a non-addictive solution that can be much more effective at treating pain at the cellular level. Laser therapy can help get your joint pain under control, and we’d love to show you just how effective it can be. For more information, or to book your first appointment with the team at HyperCharge Clinic, give our team a call today at (612) 440-0513.