Laser Therapy for Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI)

Workers who spend significant time on assembly lines, typing, or performing other motions again and again are at risk for developing a Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). In recent years, new injuries are stemming from constant use of wireless hand-held devices, creating afflictions to add to the list such as “Blackberry Thumb.” Yoga, physical therapy, acupuncture and even surgery have long been used to treat these ailments. However, laser therapy has emerged as an alternative that may heal these injuries in less time than traditional methods.

What is an RSI?

Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) are injuries to the soft tissue of the body caused by overuse or misuse. Soft tissue includes tendons, ligaments, muscles, fascia, nerves and blood vessels. The parts of the body most often affected are the neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands and fingers.

Repetitive Strain Injury is the term applied to a variety of conditions affecting the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, or joints. RSI is often work-related and results when a person makes too many of the same motions over a long period of time. It is characterized by numbness, pain, and a wasting and weakening of muscles.

There are specific injuries that are RSIs, including tendinitis, thoracic outlet syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome, which is the most prevalent of this type of injury. Symptoms of RSI include tingling, numbness, pain, aching, swelling, and loss of strength and/or dexterity. Not everyone will have every symptom, nor is there a definite order in which people experience symptoms. Moreover, RSI signs may not occur until several hours, days, months, or even years after the activity which causes them.

What is Laser Therapy?

Laser therapy used for RSIs is a non-invasive laser stimulation, which uses low-level (cold) laser beams focused on pain points in the wrist and hand. The term “cold laser” refers to the use of low-intensity or low levels of laser light. The technique, called Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT), is said to promote cell repair and reduce inflammation related to carpal tunnel syndrome and other such injuries. Cold laser therapy should not be confused with conventional laser surgery, which is uses hot lasers and is a proven treatment for some cancers and other medical problems.

LLLT requires at least ten short treatment sessions, and can be performed by physical therapists, chiropractors, or doctors. Patients report a tingling (such as the sensation you would feel if you hit your funny bone) as the nerves are stimulated, as well as increased warmth in the hands. Some proponents suggest this therapy as a pre-surgery option, while others believe LLLT works well enough to try as the initial healing method without trying traditional routes such as anti-inflammatory medication and physical therapy.

How Can Laser Therapy Help Cure an RSI?

Proponents of laser therapy declare it a good tool to aid tissue repair (including nerve regeneration) and excellent for bone formation. The typical cold laser is said to speed healing of a non-union fracture in the hand or foot by three times—meaning a fracture heals in two weeks as opposed to six. Laser therapy can also be used as a safe alternative to acupuncture when applied to acupuncture points. This is particularly good for needle phobic patients.

Laser therapy is pain free, works from the infrared spectrum, and penetrates up to three centimeters into the muscles tendons and ligaments of the body. Once the treatment site is targeted, the laser light stimulates the mitochondria of the cell within muscles, tendons or ligaments, causing them to oxidize and duplicate. This accelerates the cell division and increases healing at twice the normal rate.

What Do The Experts Say?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers these laser therapies experimental, and allows them to be used in studies based on some evidence that they may provide temporary pain relief. Although the FDA states that stronger proof is needed before this therapy is embraced as a cure for an RSI, they agree that some types of pain, inflammation, and wound healing can be aided with laser therapy. Insurance companies also consider cold laser therapy experimental and investigational, as more studies need to be conducted.

The overwhelming consensus is that this therapy will likely help—but to what extent remains unknown. No research available today suggests that this therapy could cause harm, so it is certainly worth it for patients to inquire about this form of laser therapy with their physician should they suffer from an RSI.