By Dr. Eric Wiens, DC

Using the laser the last few months has allowed me to help many people I otherwise would not see if I was "just" a chiropractor. This is very exciting to me because I now have a great tool that helps many who suffer with pain and immobility. This can be a life changing process.

I basically see two types of conditions.

Acute conditions are those that have happened recently. A slip and fall last week, a sprained ankle in a soccer game on the weekend or the time you wake up with a sore neck.  Acute injuries are usually quick and easy to get over. It’s a short-term physiological (how things work) change in the tissues that the laser jump-starts to speed the natural healing process.

Chronic conditions are a different "kettle of fish" with different characteristics because the physiological process is different. Things like chronic pain 5 years after a car accident or daily low back pain & sciatica for the last 8 years after back surgery are chronic conditions. These people often come with MRI scans showing severe arthritis, disc bulges, herniations and stenosis.

It doesn’t matter if you know what these things are, understand the tissues are in a different state of function 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year or more after an injury.

Inflammation and scar tissue is public enemy number one. The longer it is able to set in, the bigger the job it is to turn it around. The trouble is that conventional care funnels these people into so called conservative care that involves inappropriate exercise and ever increasing amounts of pain-killers and anti-inflammatories with increasing potency and side effects.  This kind of care does nothing to improve cell and tissue function. It simply modulates symptoms.

Today’s simple ache or pain can quickly become a chronic condition if the physiology of the tissues is allowed to progress through these levels.

The human body has a tremendous capacity and potential to recover and heal, no matter what the present state is. Logic and common sense say treat the functional aspect of the tissue, allowing it to heal. Treat things early while it is a "small" problem.

Waiting until something becomes bad enough or trying to live with it once it is bad is a formula for disaster, not optimal health and enjoyment of life.

If you or someone you know takes any sort of pain-killer or anti inflammatory drug regularly, you need to come in for a complimentary evaluation to see if you can benefit from laser care.

More information is listed in the laser section of our website.

By Dr. Eric Wiens, DC

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, I now offer low intensity laser therapy. It’s been about a month since I started using it with patients, and I have been very pleased with the results.

The best part is that I see many people getting back to doing the things they want and need to be doing. The laser offers many advantages over traditional chiropractic and offers me the chance to work with many I probably wouldn’t otherwise see.

People with plantar fasciitis, psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis, herniated discs, rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica and rotator cuff injuries to name a few, have received significant relief and recovery.

I keep telling people this technology needs to prove itself to me. The research says people recover quickly (days & weeks not months and years) and have limited relapses compared with other forms of therapy.

This is because the laser stimulates tissues to heal on a cellular level. Think of how this approach is different than doing nothing, trying to exercise away pain, using a drug to mask pain or surgery. For me as a chiropractor, dare I say, this is a significant benefit even over a chiropractic adjustment!

If you are suffering with a low back, hip, knee, shoulder, elbow or whatever problem, or if you know someone who is, tell them about low level laser therapy. It is rapidly proving to me and my patients to be the treatment of choice over conventional therapies.

Filosofi is the only chiropractic clinic to offer this service in Ottawa. Treatments are billed as a chiropractic service and are covered on extended health plans with chiropractic coverage.

I have included an article on low back pain and laser therapy. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email or call me.

Back-Ache and Low Intensity Laser Therapy

dreric@filosofi.ca
613 225-1127