Laser Therapy

[Ann]

Personally, I could conceive of some benefit of lasers in the manner folks are suggesting. It would depend (in my opinion) on the laser medium, power and the knowledge of the practitioner. Several people have suggested that their dogs have derived some benefit from their use and I don't question that suggestion. My worry is that if the beam is powerful enough to show positive results, it is also powerful enough to produce negative consequences if not properly used. I would want only highly trained folks using the laser if that is the choice of therapy I chose. Bear in mind, I don't know anything about how folks are using the laser in canine therapy, my knowledge is in lasers in general.

Interesting that you would bring this up. I'm pretty up to date on most canine medical treatments as a writer covering canine health topics. This was the first I've heard of their use in veterinary care. My vet said that it's fairly new to the practice (and my vet is pretty cutting edge) and discussed the process with me before sending me home with a brochure to learn about it before making the appointments.

When the treatments are done, the technician and I have to wear special glasses and Pixie's eyes are also covered. The process is timed by the machine, and similar to the care taken for xrays, so I assume it's fairly powerful. They explained that they've had great success using this with wound healing, arthritis, swelling from injuries and surgical recovery, but it would never be appropriate for a patient with cancer and would make a tumor worse. The laser draws the blood to the surface of the skin and would feed a tumor. So it does have to be used with care and a knowledge of the dog's medical history.

I agree that I'd be reluctant to let a layman administer this kind of thing to my dog outside of a professional veterinary setting. But like you, that's just me.

 

[JLSOhio51]

...When the treatments are done, the technician and I have to wear special glasses and Pixie's eyes are also covered. The process is timed by the machine, and similar to the care taken for xrays, so I assume it's fairly powerful...

Having the dog's eyes covered just gives me a bit of a chuckle to think of the pup sitting around with weird goggles on. But, one of the bigger potential hazards of laser use has to do with eye damage. Making a looong story short, depending on the beam wave length and specific power/beam medium, even the slightest shot into the eye can cause immediate loss of sight. At least in humans, the point in the inner eye that actually focuses the image seen is very small. A laser shot can destroy that point. Not only a direct shot is a problem, but a bounced beam could also be a problem.

I agree that I'd be reluctant to let a layman administer this kind of thing to my dog outside of a professional veterinary setting. But like you, that's just me.

I would guess that there are laymen who have the knowledge and skill to use lasers properly, I would just be a nervous wreck putting my companion in a layman's hands. Heck, I would be aprehensive if my pup was in the hands of a veterinarian too, but if necessary, ya gotta trust someone. Ya do your research, ask a bunch of questions, then bite the bullet and pray all goes well.

 

[SheltieChe]

Laser therapy is not new, but due to very high prices class IV laser is still too much of option for many vets. I have not found any cheaper ones that will work
http://coldlaserstore.com/

 

[Sheltiemama]

Max gets laser therapy on his elbows every month. We started out getting abut 3 a week for awhile but are down to once per month. When we started, I told the doc that we had a 3 legged dog. Max simply would not put any weight on his right front leg at all. Now he goes up and down the few steps to go to the backyard without a problem.

AND if he DOES have a problem (like trying to bound around in 14" of snow), he'll let me know right away and I can go to the bottom of the steps and carry him up. He's pretty good about communicating now.

The therapy has helped him enormously. We still limit his "bouncing" as much as we can. He gets carried upstairs to bed and downstairs in the morning. But he's a very "bouncy" boy and when he's feeling good, you can't stop him.

Since therapy, a lot more bouncing goes on.