What You Need to Know Before Undergoing Cold Laser Therapy for Knee Pain Relief

It doesn’t happen very often but whenever I receive e-mails from individuals with knee pain who tell me that they’ve had cold laser therapy in the past, and that it didn’t ‘work’ for them I always think of my patient Mrs. Gray…

Mrs. Gray came to my office because she was suffering with severe knee pain. During her consultation with me she complained of constant knee pain that prevented her from walking or standing without a cane. She even suffered with pain at night that kept her from sleeping. She could not get up ‘normally’ from a chair or a seated position. Instead, she would have to use the arms on the chair to push herself up and stand there for a second to get situated before she even took her first step. She rated her overall knee pain a 9 on a scale of 0-10 (ten being unbearable knee pain).

Mrs. Gray’s x-rays confirmed what I already had suspected – she had severe arthritis and cartilage loss. As a matter of fact, she had one of the worst knees I’d ever seen on an x-ray (and that should tell you something since I’ve studied thousands of x-rays of the knee). She was definitely ‘bone on bone’ and needed a total knee replacement on the right knee. Unfortunately, because of other health problems her doctor did not recommend she undergo a total knee replacement.

Since she was not a candidate for total knee replacements, and she wanted conservative care to treat and manage her knee pain she was an excellent candidate for cold laser therapy. After explaining cold laser treatments to her, reviewing her prognosis, and the steps we were going to take to try to provide her with some knee pain relief she was ready to get started with care.

That was when Mrs. Gray told me something that completely surprised me…

Mrs. Gray hesitantly told me that over a year ago she had already tried ‘cold laser treatments’ at another office without success!

Of course I was taken aback by what she had just told me.

Why was she coming to see ME if she already had cold laser treatments somewhere else AND THEY DIDN’T WORK FOR HER?

Her shocking response was what prompted me to write this article…

She started to explain that a couple of years ago she had received information about my cold laser knee program. And after reading through the information she went to my website and decided that cold laser therapy would probably be a good option for her. She knew that I specifically treated knee conditions and that I had developed cold laser protocols designed for knee pain sufferers.

However, since I was located in Irving and she lived over an hour away she didn’t think much about calling different doctors in her area to see if they used cold laser therapy.

She proceeded to tell me that the only reason she went to see this other doctor was because he was down the street from where she lived, and his office had a cold laser. So she assumed that the treatment was the same.

Boy was she wrong…

She continued to tell me that she went to this doctor’s office for at least two months for cold laser treatments but it never gave her any relief. So she gave up on cold laser therapy and decided that it wasn’t going to help her….

That was until she saw me in the newspaper over a year later…

Mrs. Gray was in so much pain that once again she ordered my free report and read every page of it. She went back on my website and realized that the cold laser therapy treatment she had received from the other doctor was NOTHING like the cold laser knee program my patients and I were describing on my website or in the literature she received.

I already knew that just because she didn’t experience knee pain relief with the other doctor it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t get results under my care.

And thank goodness I was right.

After completing just one treatment at my office Mrs. Gray turned to me and said, “The treatment I had with the other doctor didn’t look or feel anything like what you just did with me. Now I know what a real cold laser treatment is like.”

According to Mrs. Gray there were several glaring differences between the way he and I practiced:

• First, the doctor she visited treated lots of different joints and conditions. He didn’t really focus solely on the knee joint or cold laser therapy. He just happened to have a cold laser in his practice. On the other hand, since 2001 I’ve focused solely on treating the knee joint with cold laser therapy, and I’ve had great success with helping hundreds of knee pain sufferers avoid knee surgery. The bottom line is if you’re looking for a doctor who uses cold laser’s to treat knee pain make sure that this is their primary focus in practice.
• Second, he only used one cold laser on her knee joint for a few minutes and he moved it around constantly. In my office, we may use up to 8 different cold lasers on the knee joint. And depending on the condition we may use 3-5 of them simultaneously. In addition, since we are using true cold lasers we never move the lasers around.
• Third, physiotherapy was never consistently prescribed in combination with cold laser therapy. On the days she did get physiotherapy she was hooked up to machines and was left unattended. This NEVER happens under my care. You are never left unattended and physiotherapy is always used in combination with cold laser therapy in order to provide substantial lasting pain relief.
• Finally, Mrs. Gray did not experience results with this other doctor, but in my office Mrs. Gray experienced knee pain relief she was hoping for, and at the end of her treatment plan her pain scale went from a 9 to a 4-5. She was able to walk and stand longer without the use of a cane. She was also able to get up from a seated position and just start walking without having to stop and stand there for a second to get her ‘knees under her’.

To this day, Mrs. Gray continues to come to my office whenever she feels like her knees need a maintenance treatment. In her particular case she understands that she will have to continue to come in for a periodic treatment as long as she wants to conservatively relieve and manage her pain.

Mrs. Gray would have never experienced knee pain relief if she continued to believe that cold laser treatments were the same in every office.

So now, whenever I receive e-mails from individuals with knee pain who tell me that they’ve had cold laser therapy in the past, and that it didn’t ‘work’ for them I always ask them the following questions:

1. Is cold laser therapy the doctors’ specialty or is it just another piece of equipment in their office that they advertise?

2. Do they use multiple cold lasers in their office?

3. Is the doctor combining cold laser therapy with the appropriate physiotherapy needed to treat your condition?

The bottom line is that every doctor is unique, and as the patient, it’s your job to find the one that is knowledgeable, works well with your personality, and can ultimately help your condition.

If you live in the Dallas, Fort Worth or surrounding areas call our office at 214- 596-1051 or go to http://www.helpmykneepain.com to find out if you have a condition that can be treated by Dr. Schnee’s Cold Laser Knee Program.

Dr. Alexandra K. Schnee, B.S.,D.C.,-Your Cold Laser Doctor for the Non-Surgical Treatment of Knee Pain for Knee Pain Relief for the Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas Area-“ Dr. Schnee's Cold Laser Knee Program Has Been Helping People with Knee Pain in the Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding areas since 2001.”

©AKS2011