Cold-laser treatment heats up: Alternative-medicine providers, veterinarians swear by therapy

If you don’t believe your own mouth, perhaps you’ll believe your knees or even your pets.

Because regardless how patients are first introduced to cold-laser therapies, the practice appears to be firmly entrenched locally, though not in traditional medical care.

For chiropractor Paul Austin, of Austin Wellness Center in Louisville, his exposure to the practice came after a difficult dental surgery about 10 years, in which the root of the tooth had to be drilled out, leaving a hole in his sinus cavity. After months of dealing with the pain, he ran into some cold-laser practitioners at a chiropractic seminar, who told him that the practice did enable oral healing.

“There were three vendors there, and I went to each of each of these vendors three times,” Austin said. When he returned home, he visited his dentist, who told him the opening was healed.

“Then he told me that he used it (cold laser) for gum disease, and I said, ‘why didn’t you tell me that before?’”

Austin has now been using the treatment at his wellness center for eight or nine years and said many patients swear that it is relieving pain and other conditions. However, for the most part, he relies on multiple treatments for any conditions, meaning at times it is hard to narrow down what treatment, or perhaps what combination of treatments, is proving most effective.

“Cold” lasers are powered lower than the high-powered lasers used in traditional medicine to cut or destroy tissue.  Low-power lasers are used by a variety of alternative practitioners, and veterinarians, to relieve pain or to stimulate and enhance cell function.

“They are definitely used a lot in veterinary practices,” said Ken Teegardin, the owner of a cold-laser wholesale operation in Louisville and Lafayette, ColdLaser.org. “People take their dog in, because it’s having trouble moving, and then before they know it, the dog is jumping up on the couch. I think a lot of people learn about it through their pets.

“There’s definitely resistance from MDs. I sell them often to MDs but they use them seldom in their practice; they use it on themselves,” said Teegardin, who sells a wide range of different laser brands. “The two areas where they are using them is podiatry (foot doctors), and laser pain clinics. Dentists are using them a lot more — those are the big areas where it is catching on (in traditional medicine.)”

Teegardin discovered the treatments as a way to treat his knee pains, after the 6-foot-7-inch former A-level volleyball player had both knees scoped without relief. While he has obviously jumped on the bandwagon in a big way, Teegardin said the industry on the whole needs to concentrate on best practices, rather than on the competition between brands that often use different wavelengths or power levels — which is why he has a small research facility in Lafayette, as well as a treatment facility in Louisville.

“I’m very interested in determining what the appropriate dosages are — what would maximize efficiency,” he said. “If we could get more consistency, it would be better for everybody.”

Sharing Teegardin’s  921 Main St. address in Louisville is acupuncturist Beth Kerns, who now uses cold lasers in a general sense, as well as for acupuncture for patients afraid of needles.

“I do a lot of neuro-structural bodywork, but not chiropractic, and I’ve had great success in treating arthritis, reducing pain and increasing mobility,” said Kerns, who was introduced to the practice by her landlord, Teegardin. “I treat a lot of people with back and hip pain, and it’s definitely helped to reduce people’s pain.”

Kerns uses a lower-power laser for acupuncture, but for general therapy, she has found that higher-powered lasers are more effective. “It definitely takes multiple treatments, but I have a fairly high-powered, 15-watt machine, and I definitely get better results when I switch from a lower power to this machine.”

At Power: Advanced Chiropractic Health Center in Longmont, new practitioner Mark-Owen Aylor said he doesn’t know what the intent was by the partners who first brought the cold lasers into the office, but he became well acquainted with the therapy while playing seven years of international rugby. 

“My experience has been a positive one, but we seldom used it without other therapies you could bring into play,” Aylor said. “I didn’t spend a lot of time on the sidelines with injury, but I found that cold laser supplemented everything else you were doing to stay on the field.”

Aylor said he believe cold lasers work best on the acute pain of recent injuries, though it also appears to help chronic pain when combined with other therapies.

“It simulates the mitochondria of the cells, so it decreases healing time,” he said. “When you stimulate the mitochondria, you increase the ATP (cellular energy) and so the cell can be more active.”

Aylor — who continues to play occasionally and coach the Boulder Rugby Football Club and the Denver Barbarians — said he definitely believes in cold-laser treatments for the bumps and bruises every rugby player gets during games. However, he finds many patients haven’t quite tapped into when and where the treatments will be most effective.

“One patient having hip problems found relief with cold laser and pain-relieving crème,” he said. “But other patients were using other therapies in combination with cold laser.”

But without a doubt, practitioners all seemed to believe it works for themselves and aren’t hesitant to use on those close to themselves, as well.

“My wife (Amy) was having a lot of knee pains and trouble even getting up and down the stairs at school,” Austin said. “Then I remembered I had a smaller machine and brought it home from the office.”

“It really seemed to work for her; of course I had also started her on Turmeric so I don’t really know if it was one, or the other, or both.”

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