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Rotator Cuff Laser Treatment

Your body's rotator cuff muscles support your shoulder. Because your shoulder moves so much during the course of the day, even the slightest damage to the nerves, muscles or tendons in this area can cause arm pain and weakness. There are three types of rotator cuff injuries often treated with lasers: impingement syndrome, which involves the nerves; tendinitis, which involves the tendons; and muscle tears, which involve the muscles. Laser therapies vary, and are generally considered painless. The number of treatments required will depend on the type of rotator cuff injury.

  1. Muscle tears

    • Rotator cuff muscle tears can lead to torn arteries and capillaries, which can cut off the blood supply that is rich in oxygen and is vital to promote healing.
      High power laser therapy, or HPLT, directs photons from the laser beam directly to the damaged muscle tissues, helping to increase circulation of blood and oxygen to the area so that the cells can regenerate and repair themselves.

    Tendonitis

    • Tendons work to keep muscles attached to bone. They have a naturally poor supply of blood and oxygen, which under normal circumstances is fine. When an injury occurs in the rotator cuff tendons, however, this limited blood supply translates into long healing times.
      Similar to muscle tears, the laser beam photons deliver the right dose of energy to help the blood supply increase. This also supplies the additional oxygen necessary for quicker healing.

    Impingement Syndrome

    • Nerves, by their very nature, do not have an external blood supply, and instead rely on blood vessels located within the nerve for their survival. When a nerve in the rotator cuff becomes damaged, impingement syndrome is diagnosed and the blood supply that feeds the nerve gets pinched off.
      Again, high level laser treatments save the day by jump starting the nerves to increase blood and oxygen flow, helping the nerves to slowly but surely repair themselves.

    Cold laser therapy

    • Several laser treatment centers promote the use of low level, also referred to as cold, laser therapy to treat rotator cuff injuries. The wavelengths of cold laser therapy lasers are much shorter than that of high level lasers.
      Several studies, however, including a 1993 "Oxford Journals of Rheumatology" study titled "A Double-Blind Study of the Effectiveness of Low Level Laser Treatment of Rotator Cuff Tendinitis," indicate that the use of cold, or low level, laser therapy is not effective in treating rotator cuff injuries.

    Laser acupuncture

    • Laser acupuncture is often used used to treat rotator cuff tendinitis. Instead of traditional acupuncture needles, laser beams are focused where the needles would traditionally be placed.

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