When you’re active, the goal following an injury isn’t necessarily to stop everything until the pain disappears.
Whether you train pole or aerial, run, cycle, swim, lift weights or compete in sport, rehabilitation is usually about finding the balance between allowing irritated or injured tissues to recover and gradually rebuilding their ability to tolerate load.
There are lots of tools we can use to help with that process. One that we have recently introduced is MLS® Laser Therapy.
So, where does laser actually fit into sports injury rehabilitation?
First, what does laser therapy actually do?
Therapeutic laser uses specific wavelengths of light which are absorbed by tissues and interact with cellular processes, a process known as photobiomodulation. Rather than physically heating or manipulating the tissue, the aim is to influence biological processes associated with pain, inflammation and tissue repair.
This is quite different from the lasers used cosmetically or surgically.
The system we use is an ASA MLS® Delphi-Hi Class IV therapeutic laser, which combines wavelengths delivered in synchrony. The important point, however, is that the laser is a treatment adjunct. It doesn’t strengthen a tendon, restore movement control or prepare someone for the physical demands of their sport. That’s where rehabilitation comes in.
Why might we use it with an active person?
Sporting injuries aren’t always dramatic. Sometimes there is a clear moment of injury, a rolled ankle, a muscle strain, or an awkward landing.
But many problems develop gradually.
- A runner increases their mileage, and their Achilles tendon starts to hurt.
- A pole athlete increases training and develops pain around their elbow or shoulder.
- Aerial training starts aggravating a hamstring.
- A cyclist develops persistent knee symptoms.
- Someone returns to the gym after a break and discovers their body isn’t quite ready for the amount of training they’ve thrown at it.
Different activities, but often a similar underlying issue:
The current demand has exceeded what that tissue can comfortably tolerate.
In appropriate cases, laser can be used to help manage symptoms while we work on rebuilding that capacity.
Tendons are a good example.
Tendon problems are common across sport. The location simply changes depending on what we’re asking our bodies to do.
- Runners frequently experience Achilles or patellar tendon problems.
- Pole and aerial athletes place significant demands on the tendons around the shoulder, elbow and forearm.
- Other athletes may experience problems involving the hamstring or gluteal tendons.
Laser may be useful as one component of treatment, particularly when pain is making it difficult to progress rehabilitation. But reducing pain isn’t the same as increasing tendon capacity.
A tendon still needs progressive loading.
So treatment might involve laser alongside carefully progressed strength work, modifications to training and eventually a return to the higher loads required by the person’s sport.
What about muscle injuries and sprains?
Laser can also play a role in rehabilitation of some acute and subacute soft-tissue injuries. That might include a calf strain while running, an ankle sprain on uneven ground, a hamstring injury during flexibility training, or a knock or contusion during pole or aerial work. Early rehabilitation may focus on settling symptoms and maintaining movement. As healing progresses, the emphasis gradually changes towards restoring range, strength and load tolerance. Eventually, rehabilitation needs to start looking much more like the activity you’re returning to.
Pain relief can be useful, but it isn’t the end goal.
This is an important distinction with any treatment modality. If something reduces pain, that’s useful. But feeling better doesn’t automatically mean the tissue is ready for everything you want to throw at it.
- If an Achilles feels better after treatment but hasn’t rebuilt the capacity required for running, jumping or hills, returning immediately to full training can simply recreate the problem.
- The same applies to a shoulder that needs to tolerate hanging and dynamic pole work or a hamstring that needs strength at the ranges required for splits.
- Symptoms are only one part of the picture.
Do you always need laser?
No.
And that’s probably one of the most important things to understand.
- Not every injury requires laser therapy, and it shouldn’t be automatically added to every treatment.
- Sometimes education, modifying training and an appropriate exercise programme are all that’s required.
- In other situations, a treatment such as laser may help manage pain or irritability and make it easier to progress rehabilitation.
The decision should depend on the presentation, stage of healing and what we’re actually trying to achieve.
Rehabilitation still does the heavy lifting.
Technology in rehabilitation is continually developing, and having additional treatment options is useful. But the fundamentals haven’t changed. We still need to understand what is injured, what contributed to it, and what that person needs to do next.
- For one person that might mean getting back to a comfortable 5K.
- For another, it’s preparing for a triathlon.
- For someone else, it’s hanging one-handed from a pole, performing an aerial sequence or returning to loaded flexibility work.
- Those are very different goals.
And that’s why rehabilitation needs to be individual. Laser therapy can be a useful part of that process. But ultimately, the interesting bit isn’t the laser. It’s what we can help you get back to doing afterwards.
See you in the clinic,
Jane x
Chartered Physiotherapist & Team Free Your Body Therapy