Living with pain — whether from an injury, arthritis, or a chronic condition — can make even simple tasks exhausting. Many treatments rely on medication, injections, or invasive procedures. But what if there was a safe, drug-free, and non-invasive way to ease pain and support healing?
That’s where laser therapy for pain management comes in. In this post, I’ll explain what laser therapy is, how it works, and share my own experiences using it both as a chiropractor in clinic and as a patient myself.
What Is Laser Therapy?
Laser therapy (also called low-level laser therapy or photobiomodulation) uses light energy to stimulate healing. Unlike surgical lasers, it doesn’t cut or burn. Instead, it penetrates tissue and helps your body repair itself.
Laser therapy can:
- Relieve acute and chronic pain
- Reduce inflammation and swelling
- Improve circulation
- Speed up healing after injury
- Restore mobility and flexibility
It’s safe, non-invasive, and comes with very few side effects.
How Does Laser Therapy Work for Pain Relief?
Laser light triggers a process called photobiomodulation. This boosts energy inside your cells, improves blood flow, and reduces inflammation. The result: less pain and faster healing.
Patients often notice:
- Reduced stiffness
- Less muscle tension
- Better range of motion
- Faster recovery after flare-ups or injury
Real Experiences: Using Laser Therapy in My Clinic
Over the years, I’ve used laser therapy for musculoskeletal pain both on its own and alongside other treatments. Here are some of the ways I’ve seen it help patients:
Fibromyalgia: Gentle but Effective
One of the most surprising successes I’ve had with laser therapy is in patients with fibromyalgia. Because even light touch can aggravate pain pathways, hands-on treatment options are limited. Progress can be frustratingly slow.
Laser therapy, however, is completely painless. Patients often don’t feel a thing during treatment, yet over time they report taking less pain medication and tolerating more gentle movement. For some, laser therapy was the very first step toward better quality of life.
Emergency Pain Cases: A Doorway to Relief
I’ve also seen laser therapy make an immediate difference in patients who arrive in such severe pain that I can’t even complete a proper assessment. In those cases, I begin with laser therapy simply to reduce pain enough so we can move forward.
More than once, I’ve watched a patient walk in bent over and leave the same session upright, mobile, and hopeful. That initial relief then allows us to continue with a full treatment plan.
When Patients Feel Nothing — But Everything Changes
Because laser pain therapy is painless, many patients are skeptical at first. They feel nothing during treatment and wonder if it’s working. Yet time and again, they return to tell me they woke up pain-free for the first time in years.
For me, these experiences prove that while laser therapy isn’t a magic cure for every condition, it’s a powerful tool to reduce pain, restore mobility, and open the door to recovery.
Conditions Laser Therapy Can Help With
From my experience, laser therapy can be an excellent option for a variety of conditions:
- Back or neck pain– from acute disc herniations to muscular tightness.
- Arthritis and joint pain– reduces swelling and inflammation, improving mobility.
- Sports injuries, sprains, tendonitis– speeds up natural healing and reduces pain.
- Nerve pain– modulates pain pathways and decreases inflammation.
- Fibromyalgia– completely painless, making it one of the few effective options for sensitive patients.
- Bursitis– rapidly reduces swelling; I’ve seen an olecranon bursitis shrink by half in just one 20-minute session.
I’ve also used laser therapy to support healing after surgery. For example, after my own C-section, I noticed my scar felt much more comfortable after a laser session — the pain and itchiness eased for days at a time.
On a personal note, I even used the laser with a family member recovering from chemotherapy. She had nerve pain in her arms and hands and couldn’t touch anything cold without discomfort; a common side effect known as chemo induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). After treatment, she noticed less aching and was able to handle items straight from the fridge without pain almost straight away.
The Bottom Line: Does Laser Therapy Work?
So, does laser therapy for pain management really work? In my experience, yes. It can:
- Relieve pain
- Reduce inflammation
- Improve mobility
- Support faster recovery
I’ve seen patients regain movement, find relief from chronic pain, and recover faster thanks to laser therapy. In my opinion, there’s almost no downside — and so much to gain.
👉 If you’re curious about whether laser therapy for pain relief could help your condition, get in touch. We’d be happy to discuss your options.
