PT Classroom - An Introdunction to OrthoLazer ׀ by Joann Pennington, PA-C, CEO

In November of 2020, I, along with five orthopedic surgeons, opened our doors to the first OrthoLazer center in the Midwest. In the month of December alone, we welcomed just under 1,000 treatments through our doors. OrthoLazer offers patients suffering from pain and/or inflammation associated with soft tissue injuries, nerve pain, arthritis, and surgery an innovative and alternative approach to reducing pain and recovering faster. Our class IV laser treatment is drug free, painless, and non-invasive.

The MLS M8, multi-wave locked system, is a dual wavelength laser. The laser fires at a continuous 808nm wavelength and 905nm pulsed wavelength, the first being our inflammation wavelength, and the second being our inflammatory wavelength. Our particular MLS M8 laser, which is proprietary to the OrthoLazer franchise is 300 times more powerful than any other Class IV therapeutic laser on the market. Laser light energy emitted during treatment from this laser can penetrate a depth of 3-5cm into the treatment field. Patients generally require six treatments for acute conditions and ten treatments for chronic conditions. These treatments take anywhere from 4 minutes to 15 minutes depending on the area that needs to be treated. There are no side effects from the treatment. The only restriction following the treatment is that the patient should not ice for 8 hours as the laser has a vasodilatory effect.

Besides the laser helping with inflammation and pain, it has numerous other beneficial effects. Is has photomechanical, photothermal, and photochemical effects. On a cellular level, the laser will increase ATP synthesis, increase the proteins that bond ATP, increase RNA synthesis, as well as increasing cell proliferation. On the tissue, the laser increases angiogenesis and the regeneration of nerves. The laser can help decrease inflammation through inhibiting pro-inflammatory molecules and vasodilation to help “wash out” the inflammation.

Our laser treatments are prescribed for patients to utilize as a modality to help them with painful inflammatory conditions along with other treatment modalities such as physical and occupational therapy to help our patients get better faster. During our early stages of existence, we have treated patients with our MLS M8 Laser to assist with acute injuries sustained, acute pain associated with surgery, as well as chronic conditions. We have experienced that these treatments have assisted our patients to successfully achieve wellness with their prescribed physical therapy protocols with significantly less need for analgesic medications and anti- inflammatory medications and injections. We are excited to be a part of this organization and are poised for local expansion throughout Wisconsin. I would love to be able to have the opportunity to show you our OrthoLazer facility in person. I can be contacted at MilwaukeeWI@ortholazer.com or 414-448-7001.