Holiday Notice: Monday 28th October - - Friday 1st November 2024 inc.
Urgent appointments, please telephone:
Belfast 028 90 308724 ('Dunmurry Podiatry')
Lisburn 028 92 661912 ('Lisburn Podiatry')
Laser Therapy in Podiatry
Laser Therapy
History of Laser Therapy
Dr Endre Mester, a Professor of Surgery at Semmelweiss Hospital, Budapest is often referred to as the grandfather of Low Level Laser Therapy. He discovered that irradiation of tissue with low dose levels using a ruby laser (emitting red light) resulted in an increased rate of healing and his subsequent work provided the initial volume of evidence for the efficacy of laser in healing and wound care. The new science of Low Level Laser therapy (LLLT), also known as Low Intensity Laser Therapy (LILT), was born.
Research has clearly demonstrated effects at cellular level, in animals and from clinical experience, but work continues into understanding exactly how laser therapy works. The key research questions today are not whether low level lasers have positive effects, but how the precise and multiple biological mechanisms combine to create the physiological effects and how best to achieve the particular effects sought in each of the wide range of relevant applications.
In the meantime LLLT is now widely used by healthcare professionals across the world who appreciate not only its effectiveness but its added advantages of being drug-free, pain-free, non-invasive and without unpleasant side effects. It is often less expensive than alternative treatments and has fewer contraindications than popular forms of electrotherapy.
Laser equipment used.
As an LLLT specialist, and a quality-approved company, all of Omega Laser Systems’ products are designed to the highest standards with the clinical needs of the practitioner in mind. Our lasers are Gallium Aluminium Arsenide Lasers, known as GaAlAs, and we also use superluminous LEDs in our multi-wavelength probes.
Omega’s equipment is used in 30 countries, facilitated by our international network of agents, and our latest products are USA FDA cleared*, fully licensed for Canada and have all relevant European certification.
Each Omega Laser system includes a choice of control unit plus one or more of a range of interchangeable probes. Each probe is produced to emit laser light at a specific wavelength, or set of wavelengths where multiple diodes are used. The power, pulsing frequency and programming can be varied with the easy-to-use control unit.
Uses in Podiatry.
With widespread recognition of the reliable benefits, we are seeing particularly rapid growth in the use of low level lasers in the field of Podiatry. With mounting clinical evidence of Low Level Laser Therapy’s (LLLT’s) effectiveness on a diverse range of conditions, podiatry clinics and departments across the country are choosing Laser Therapy.
Podiatry is perhaps the discipline with the highest proportion of conditions for which LLLT is relevant and highly effective. With increasing take-up, the therapy is now moving from being a point of difference in terms of podiatry services offered, to being established as part of the norm in a number of areas. Departments and clinics without laser increasingly risk comparatively longer resolution times with more frequent and recurrent treatments resulting in poorer service and cost-efficiency across a range of applications.
Various types of ‘Laser treatment’ can be used to treat the following:-
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Plantar Fasciitis
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Achilles Tendonitis
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Post operative to full/partial nail avulsion / ‘Minor surgery’
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Skin ulcerations
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Fungal nails (Onychomycosis)
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Verruca/e