Veterinarians are always looking for new ways to care for your dog and help it recover faster, especially in terms of pain. Along with other veterinary services, laser treatment for dogs offers numerous benefits. It is painless, non-invasive, doesn’t use surgery or drugs, and is used to treat a variety of medical conditions.
This treatment can also be performed together with your dog’s existing treatments because it does not interfere with them.
When we have a pet we want it to live as long as possible and be healthy. Dogs are our best friends. They give us unconditional love and many beautiful memories. Also, the presence of dogs in our lives can significantly reduce blood pressure and stress.
What is laser treatment for dogs and how does it work?
Laser treatment for dogs uses deeply penetrating light to promote a chain of chemical reactions known as photobiostimulation. Laser therapy is a new, non-invasive and painless treatment for treating pain, inflammation, and edema and repairing superficial injuries, including burns. Its rapid effects on inflammation come from stimulating blood and lymphatic circulation.
The laser supports the restoration of tissues and the formation of scar tissue through biostimulation. It also accelerates the healing process and reduces inflammation. In the management of chronic pain, laser treatment for dogs can provide spectacular results.
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How do you know if your dog is in pain or has a discomfort?
When a dog is in pain or has a general discomfort it will show the following clinical signs:
- Abnormal sitting or lying posture
- Bedtime restlessness or generalized restlessness
- Restlessness
- Crying, moaning, or other vocalizations
- Lameness – the dog is unable to stand up or lie down
- Difficulty getting into a car or going down stairs
- State of apathy – the dog does not wag its tail and is no longer happy when it sees you
- Lack of appetite
- Shaking
If your dog shows these clinical signs, it is recommended to take it to a veterinarian urgently. After the consultation, the vet will give your dog a diagnosis and start the treatment.
Treatment may include anti-inflammatory medication, surgery, and/or laser therapy.
Does laser treatment for dogs really work?
In humans, there are over 2,500 clinical studies conducted on the effectiveness of laser treatment in various conditions, including pain management. This method of treatment has won FDA approval for treating chronic pain in humans.
Following these studies and benefits on humans, laser therapy has been successfully implemented on pets as well.
Studies in dogs with T3-L3 myelopathy secondary to an intervertebral disc herniation that have undergone surgery show that laser treatment can reduce walking time. Researchers took 36 dogs that suffered from acute paraparesis/paraplegia due to acute intervertebral disc herniation into the study and divided them into two groups:
- A control group in which only surgery was performed.
- A laser treatment group where the surgery was followed by laser treatment for 5 days.
The results of the study highlighted the fact that laser therapy helped to reduce the walking time of the dogs in group 2.
In dogs with infected skin wounds, laser therapy had some benefits also. 14 dogs with traumatic bites or lacerated wounds were taken into study and divided into three groups:
Group A – this group received 6J/cm2 low laser therapy.
Group B – this group received 2J/cm2 low laser therapy.
Group C – this group received placebo low laser therapy.
The patients in group B were the ones who had improved wound scores.
Dogs suffering from non-inflammatory alopecia had good results after low laser therapy was used. In this study, seven different breeds that suffered from this medical condition were taken into evaluation. Laser treatment was applied to them twice a week for a maximum of two months in the hairless areas. After the treatment, in six out of seven dogs, the laser therapy was beneficial and the hair started to grow
Conclusion
According to studies, laser treatment for dogs is an effective method to treat various conditions, such as inflammation and pain, non-inflammatory alopecia, and infected wounds. Laser treatment for dogs also has other uses such as oral conditions (in gingivitis or periodontitis), nerve lesions, anal and perianal fistulas, and others.
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