Tennis elbow is one of the most common forms of tendinitis, an inflammatory disease that causes elbow pain, often so severe that it hurts to lift a glass of water to your mouth. Unfortunately, treating tennis elbow is time-consuming. There are several methods to choose from: therapeutic ultrasound, microcurrent, magnetic therapy and soft laser. They work in different ways and help in different ways. You can get the best results if you use more than one method. In this article, I will show you how to use the B-Cure soft laser device at home to treat tennis elbow or tendinitis
Application and effects of the soft laser
When treating with a soft laser, hold the device over the painful area and direct the laser beam at the pain. The light penetrates the tissue being treated. The cells “absorb” the energy, which triggers ATP (energy) production and protein synthesis, which has stopped due to inflammation. In other words, the soft laser effectively stimulates your body’s self-healing processes and releases pain-relieving substances.
The effects of soft laser treatment take time to develop, as regeneration processes – while your body “corrects the damage” – take time. Just think how long it takes for a broken bone to heal! Treating tennis elbow that has been there for months, getting rid of the inflammation, doesn’t take minutes either.
But soft laser treatment does make a real difference, meaning that laser treatment is not symptomatic, but curative.
B-Cure soft laser treatment of tennis elbow and tendinitis
There are three different B-Cure devices to choose from. They all emit the same wavelength of laser beam, so they have the same healing effect. The difference is in the energy output of the devices, which means that they “deliver” the same amount of energy in different amounts of time.
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- Laser Power Class 1
- 808 nanometer laser beam
- PW (pulsed) laser
- 250mW power
- 6 minutes / 5 Joule
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This takes 6 minutes for the Classic (3.75 Joule), 5 minutes for the Sport (4.5 Joule) and 4.5 minutes for the Pro. That’s how long you need to hold the device at a given point to inject the amount of energy needed for recovery.
Turn the device on and use the plus button to set the recommended treatment time.
Place the device on the painful area, directly on the skin. The laser light cannot pass through clothing or bandages, so the treatment will be ineffective!
Keep the device still in this position until the set time has elapsed. The device warns you of this. Then repeat the same procedure at the next treatment point.
The soft laser treatment is not noticeable. The absorbed energy causes the area to heat up, but this is measured in tenths of a degree Celsius at most.
You may feel an increase in pain during the first few sessions. Do not be alarmed! This is a natural process and signals the start of the healing process. In response to treatment, toxins (poisons) are released from inflamed tissues and this is signalled by your body as pain. This will stop after 1-2 treatments.
It takes several days, at least 10-12 days, for the inflammation to go away. If you feel the symptoms lessening, do not interrupt the treatment. Stop only after complete healing has been achieved.
Important to note: Doubling the treatment time will not enhance the effect, in fact, too much energy will stop the healing. That is, keep the device on one point only and only for the recommended duration and no longer.
What results can you expect?
Soft laser treatment is not “all-powerful” – nor is any other medical treatment. You cannot always expect a permanent solution.
Success depends on many things. For example, how much you can rest your arm or how long you have been in pain. You should start using the soft laser as soon as possible after the onset of pain, in order to stop the inflammation.
If your symptoms have persisted for years, you can expect success if you use several methods at once, each reinforcing the other to help you heal. As I suggested in the introduction, in addition to the soft laser, therapeutic ultrasound, microcurrent, magnetic therapy and soft laser can be used.