Laser Therapy?

[kolarik1]

Has anyone had laser therapy done on their pups? There are literally no chiropractic vets here in the RGV...when talking to the vet today, she said I may have to go as far as San Antonio to find one (4 hour drive one way). However, they were recommending laser therapy to reduce inflammation/pain and indicated they have seen good results. I've done some research on it and wanted to know what y'all thought?

 

This would be for Zelda, who at 13 is going strong except for pee/poop accidents that seem to subside when on pain meds. She had a full workup recently and her spine looked better than mine, and her CBC panel came back darn near perfect...and no indicators of cancer. She does have arthritis in her front paws.

 

This may also be for Marble, who is showing some arthritis signs in one of her back paws.

 

TIA

[Remolacha]

Conner gets laser treatments from his chiropractor and his regular vet. They do help his arthritic paw, his old injury paw, his wonky shoulder, and his back end weakness, so I am a big believer! I would say it is worth trying, even if it doesn’t help, it won’t hurt.

[rsieg]

Max had it done once, when I took him to a specialist vet for weakening rear end. Did not seem to help, but I also did not follow up with subsequent treatments (and Max was pretty strong anyway, had back-end weakness but never seemed to be in pain though maybe he hid it well). Looked like they were using a red laser, and besides not seeing an obvious improvement I could not get past the idea that I could not see how that red light was providing therapy. I'm not sure what the mechanism underlying laser treatment is, whether it is heating or some sort of photo effect. If it is heating then seems like a heating pad would work as well, and at much lower cost. If it is some sort of photo effect, not sure how non-ionizing red light could really do anything therapeutic. I kind of wonder whether part of the effect is simply the dog going for a fun trip and getting a massage as the laser is moved over his/her body.

 

Not saying it doesn't work, I understand some folks have indeed seen beneficial effects, but would like to better understand how it works.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Ruby has had it (along with chiro) a couple of times for stained neck/shoulder. It helped a lot.

 

Nigel had laser (along with accupuncture) for a huge lick granuloma that did not respond to any sort of topicals. He had to be muzzled if it was not wrapped securely in vetwrap.

This was a very 'outside the box' treatment, but it worked. Two sessions, 2 weeks apart and the granuloma went away and he has not licked that spot since.

[PatricksMom]

Did it with Leo with a shoulder injury and it, along with physical therapy and massage, got him back to normal. Henry's doing it right now, along with massage, therapy, and the water treadmill, and he's almost healed (complications from splinting). If it's in the budget, I'd say give it a try.

[Time4ANap]

Rocket has been having cold laser treatments for back end weakness. He loves it! He stands there while the laser is going, and if we have to take a break he goes right back to standing where the vet wants him so she can continue. We are also doing Adequan injections. Both have helped over the 8 weeks or so that we've been doing them, but he is starting to get weaker. I'm not sure how much longer either will be effective. I would do them both again because I saw the improvement in his mobility and the pain relief he experienced, even if it has only been temporary. He could also just be having a couple of bad days here, so we are keeping a close eye on the weakness daily.

[NeylasMom]

Assuming you mean cold laser. If so then yes, I used it on Zuri for his LS and now Violet gets it for various things. Also worth looking into the Assisi Loop, which you can do at home. Your vet will have to order. It seems pricey, but per treatment it's actually quite inexpensive. Mine lasted longer than they say before the battery died and I had to reorder.

[seeh2o]

Worked wonders for my Doodles. After her FCE she had treatments several times a week, then dropped down to 1x a week. It was a godsend for her!

[smurfette]

All my greys get cold laser therapy. It is great. I used mine for accupuncture and also for treating injuries like all kinds of open wounds. Due to their high level of red blood cells greyhounds react pretty well to laser therapy and the healing speeds up quite well.

 

 

Paddy cut his paw pretty bad. 2 days later the cut was closed.

[DocsDoctor]

When Doc was old and arthritic and had a bad back (he had a couple of compressed vertebrae, and some nerve pain) he got regular home visits from a veterinary physiotherapist. She was a firm believer in cold laser treatment, and had a portable machine which she would use on him after massage and manipulation. The whole package certainly had a very good effect - really increased his mobility and quality of life. And, like smurfette, the physio said she also found it helped speed up the healing of open wounds.

[cmc333]

I just got done doing 6 sessions - 2 a week - for my 16 year old westie who has bad arthritis. It has really helped and she is much happier and moves much better and faster than before. I had doubts, but reading all the success stories made me try it. Now I wish I could find someone who could do it for me as cheaply!

[rascalsmom]

We did laser and Assisi loop on our cats torn knee ligament...were able to avoid surgery.

We are presently using the same regimen on phoebe, who had the last few inches of her rail amputated recently due to an injury. We are less than two weeks from the injury and at her appointment six days ago they said it couldnt look better. She goes again tomorrow for a laser treatment and bandage change.