Dec 3 2012
Oakland Park Animal Hospital reports that their new veterinary cold laser therapy machine has successfully relieved pain in many of their patients. Veterinarians Dr. Spencer Ratnoff and Dr. Gary Glickman say that since installing the machine at their practice, they have noted significant improvements in patients suffering from arthritis, ear infections, post-surgical wounds, hot spots and a number of other skin conditions. During laser therapy, the doctors focus a beam of light deep into a pet's tissues. According to Drs. Ratnoff and Glickman, the cold laser stimulates healing deep inside a pet's body.
Dr. Glickman says they often use laser therapy on senior pet patients. "Arthritis developing in older pets can make walking painful and difficult. After the first week of about 3-4 laser therapy sessions, noticeable improvement can be detected in pets." He adds that they have successfully used laser therapy to treat skin problems and urgent care patients in their emergency pet hospital, particularly to speed healing of injuries and post-surgical wounds.
According to Dr. Ratnoff, cold laser therapy works by stimulating metabolic processes inside of impaired cells. He explains that the mitochondria inside of damaged cells seize up and stop producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the substance responsible for generating energy in any living thing. When the infrared laser beam penetrates the damaged tissue cells, however, the mitochondria wake up and start producing ATP again, which begins the cellular regeneration process, he adds. Dr. Glickman says that in addition to regenerating damaged tissues at the cellular level, laser therapy reduces inflammation, increases circulation and relieves pain by calming the irritated nerve endings in the injured area.
Dr. Glickman adds that the number and duration of laser therapy sessions varies depending upon the pet. He says that large-breed dogs with widespread arthritis usually need more and longer sessions to experience relief, while a cat with skin problems may need fewer and shorter sessions. According to Dr. Ratnoff, their emergency pet hospital patients that undergo laser therapy sessions experience faster recoveries with less scar tissue at the incision site after surgery. On average, he says sessions last between 10 and 30 minutes over the course of 8 to 10 sessions.
Dr. Ratnoff says, "It's exciting for us to offer the same type of laser therapy to our veterinary patients that top level athletes are raving about. It's a great non-invasive therapy relieving pain and accelerating healing for many pets."
Source: http://www.oaklandparkanimalhospital.com