Method for treating musculoskeletal injury
First Claim
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1. A method for treating musculoskeletal injury, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a low level laser therapy probe having an end face and comprising a plurality of laser energy sources, each laser energy source for emitting a laser energy beam having a wavelength in the visible to near-infrared range, the probe configured so that the laser energy beams overlap at a distance of about 0.5 to about 2.0 cm from the probe end face, the laser energy sources each having a power output sufficient to produce a combined mean power of over about 100 mW at the point of overlap;
at at least one treatment point on skin adjacent a musculoskeletal injury site, using the probe end face to apply pressure adequate to blanch the skin; and
at the at least one treatment point, activating the low level laser therapy probe.
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Abstract
A method for the treatment of musculoskeletal injury using low level laser therapy. In one embodiment, a therapist applies pressure adequate to blanch the skin at a treatment point on skin adjacent a site of musculoskeletal injury, and applies laser energy having a wavelength of about 630 nm to about 904 nm, with laser apparatus having a mean power output of about 100 mW to about 500 mW, for a treatment time sufficient to deliver at a laser energy dosage of about 1 joule/point to about 10 joules/point. Treatment times, total dosage, and number of treatment points are determined by the therapist trained in LLLT.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for treating musculoskeletal injury, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a low level laser therapy probe having an end face and comprising a plurality of laser energy sources, each laser energy source for emitting a laser energy beam having a wavelength in the visible to near-infrared range, the probe configured so that the laser energy beams overlap at a distance of about 0.5 to about 2.0 cm from the probe end face, the laser energy sources each having a power output sufficient to produce a combined mean power of over about 100 mW at the point of overlap;
at at least one treatment point on skin adjacent a musculoskeletal injury site, using the probe end face to apply pressure adequate to blanch the skin; and
at the at least one treatment point, activating the low level laser therapy probe.
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2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein providing a low level laser therapy probe comprises
providing the low level laser therapy probe with laser energy sources each having a mean power output sufficient to produce a combined mean power up to about 500 mW at the point of overlap.
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3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein providing a low level laser therapy probe comprises providing the low level laser therapy probe with laser energy sources for emitting laser energy having a wavelength of about 630 nm to about 904 nm.
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4. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein activating the low level laser therapy probe at the at least one treatment point comprises the step of activating the low level laser energy probe for a period sufficient to apply a laser energy dosage of about 1 joule/point to about 10 joules per/point.
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5. A method in accordance with claim 1 comprising treating a plurality of treatment points.
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6. A method in accordance with claim 5 comprising treating a plurality of treatment points separated by about 1 cm.
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7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein providing the low level laser therapy probe comprises providing the low level laser therapy probe configured so that the laser energy beams overlap at a distance of about 1.7 cm from the probe end face.
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8. A method of using a low level laser therapy apparatus having a plurality of laser energy sources in a probe having a probe head, each of the laser energy sources configured to emit from the probe head a laser energy beam having a wavelength in the visible to near-infrared range, the probe configured so that the laser energy beams converge at a distance of about 0.5 to about 2.0 cm from the probe head, the method comprising the steps of:
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at at least one treatment point on skin adjacent a musculoskeletal injury site, applying pressure with the probe head, the pressure adequate to blanch the skin; and
wherein the plurality of laser energy sources have a combined mean power of about 100 mW to about 500 mW at the point of convergence of the laser energy beams, energizing the laser energy source.
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9. A method in accordance with claim 8 wherein energizing the laser energy sources comprises the step of energizing the laser energy sources for a treatment time sufficient to deliver a laser energy dosage of about 1 joule/point to about 10 joules/point.
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10. A method in accordance with claim 8 further comprising the step of determining the location of the at least one treatment point within a region of skin adjacent the musculoskeletal injury site.
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11. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein determining the location of the at least one treatment point comprises determining the location of a plurality of treatment points within a region of skin adjacent the musculoskeletal injury site.
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12. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein determining the location of a plurality of treatment points comprises the step of separating the treatment points by about 1 cm.
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13. A method for treating musculoskeletal injury using low level laser therapy, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a low level laser therapy probe having a plurality of identical laser energy sources each emitting a laser energy beam in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range, the probe configured so that the laser energy beams converge at a distance of about 0.5 cm to about 2.0 cm from an end face of the probe, each laser energy source having a mean power output sufficient to produce a combined mean power of about 100 mW to about 500 mW at the point of overlap;
contacting with the probe end face at least one treatment point on an area of skin adjacent the musculoskeletal injury;
applying pressure to the at least one treatment point with the probe end face; and
energizing the probe laser energy sources for a treatment time sufficient to deliver a pre-selected dosage of laser energy from about 1 joule/point to about 10 joules/point as determined using the combined mean power of the laser energy sources at the point of overlap.
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Specification