Cold Laser, My Vet, My Doctor, and How I Fixed My Painful Foot

Cold laser is becoming a sought after simple effective treatment for a variety of medical and orthopedic problems. Even my veterinarian wanted to keep my dog over the weekend, for a ear wound. When he said, “laser him.”

I said, “cold laser?”

He said, “yes.”

When I told him I had one he said, “then use it on him.” Which I did, and the wound healed quickly. I frequently use cold laser in my practice with patients in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Beverly Hills, California, and in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.

My Painful Foot and Toe

I had injured my toe somehow. One was broken, when my dog was in a rush to beat me down the stairs when the doorbell rang, he clipped me. I tumbled down the remaining stairs breaking my fifth toe. It only required a walking boot, however walking on it all day at work didn’t help the healing process. I was talking too much Motrin to ease the symptoms of walking all day. So I tried the cold Laser, and within a week it no longer hurt.

Another toe began to swell which was extremely painful. If I was walking barefoot and stubbed it, there was no telling what phrase might be uttered, and frequently the words changed. All were colorful, as the pain was intense. I stopped walking barefoot.

I saw a foot surgeon who recommended I fuse my toe. No thank you.
I remembered the cold laser, funny how even doctors make bad patients. 

Within a few sessions of using the Cold Laser, the pain, redness, swelling disappeared. I could bend the toe without pain. Something I had not done in a couple of years. Patients do tend to ignore symptoms, until the right doctor comes along or the right idea.

Animals and Athletes Don’t Respond to Placebo

Having edited two medical textbooks, written eight medical textbook chapters, numerous scientific articles and abstracts, I am well familiar with medical studies.

The concept of placebo is important. In my studies, and interest in mind body medicine, I noted an interesting phenomenon. Animals and typically athletes don’t respond to placebo. A lame race horse will not run faster, with a sugar pill.

My dog did not know what cold laser was, and moreover I am a multi-sport athlete I know I don’t respond to placebo. I tried numerous medical treatments on my foot, and I continued to hurt for several years. I wasn’t going to go for a toe fusion. If my dog responded to a non-healing wound, what did I have to lose? Nothing. When I quickly got better, I knew it was not placebo it worked simply, painlessly, and effectively.

Not surprising, now every NFL team has one in their trainers toolbox.

What Is the Difference Between a Cold Laser and a Hot Laser?

A cold laser is not really cold, it is painless, with no real temperature fro the light waves emitted. A hot laser, on the other hand, is just that hot. It is used to burn off warts, skin ailments, tattoos, sun damage, cauterize blood vessels in the operative room, remove tissue in surgery, and a host of other things.

Have you seen the laser pointers in lectures? Cold laser. A gun sight laser is another cold laser. Not all cold lasers have the same intensity light energy or wavelength to create a therapeutic medical effect. Light waves and physics are much too in depth to explain, suffice it to say the therapeutic effect of cold laser is felt to stimulate healing by inducing a repair response at the cellular level. Everything occurs intracellular or between cells on a microscopic level. There are cellular components which assist in repair, as well as injury. Stimulating repair versus injury mechanisms is the key.

Cellular Repair

Many nutraceuticals (vitamins), can trace there effects quite elegantly to cellular repair responses. Vitamin C and antioxidants are know toxic free radical scavengers. Free radicals are known to damage cells. There are so many toxins we are exposed to from our food, what we ingest unknowingly, to environmental factors, I call the unseen damage we keep accumulating over time.

Exercise, proper nutrition and supplements may help when you understand this properly. We all know the dangers of smoking. Drugs and alcohol can age you prematurely by cellular damage. Last but not least, take in enough water. However not in plastic bottles.

Plastic can leach into your water. Water filtration in some cases is a good option, no different than fish oil. Fish carry toxins from our polluted water in their fat. Unsure fish oil especially higher doses for medicinal effects carry higher toxin levels. Quality fish oil is filtered free of toxins, much like water filtration systems.

Dennis M. Lox M.D. Sports and Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Lox addresses the whole body, not just your knee, hip, shoulder, back, or toe.

Understanding diet and exercise are often very important to help you reach your Regenerative Medicine goals.

Dr. Lox maintains an active practice in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Beverly Hills, California, and in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.