What to Expect from Laser Therapy for Your Foot Pain

MLS laser therapy is an advanced treatment option we may recommend for patients who’ve had trouble seeing results from more traditional treatments for their foot or ankle pain. We’re proud to be able to provide such technology to our patients when needed!

Of course, being told someone wants to try a laser on your source of pain can very well lead to a good deal of questions. MLS laser therapy is not as drastic or extreme a measure as it may initially sound. In fact, it can be a viable way to avoid truly more extreme measures, such as surgery.

Let’s answer some questions about laser therapy, including how it is used and what you can expect during treatment. If you have any further questions that aren’t addressed here, you are always free to bring them up whenever you see us. We’ll always be happy to provide you the information you need.

What Happens During MLS Laser Therapy?

Laser therapy is conducted over a certain number of sessions. This is usually 6-10 in total but can vary depending upon the condition being treated and its severity. These sessions are typically divided into 2 or 3 per week.

Each session is short, often running about 30 minutes or fewer. There is nothing you need to do to prepare beforehand. 

You will be asked to lie back and relax as we apply the laser system to the site of your discomfort. The laser is strong enough to reach beneath the layers of your skin but is not intense enough to burn, hurt, or cause any damage. Many patients report feeling a warming sensation if anything.

Once a session is finished, you are completely free to go about your day as normal. You don’t have to worry about bandages, ointments, or any sort of aftercare whatsoever.

Many patients report starting to feel positive results after their very first treatment, but some do not. The benefits of the treatment are meant to stack with each successive session, however, so you should start to feel better and better each time you come to see us. If you don’t, of course, we will re-evaluate the situation and adjust or change treatment, if needed.

How May MLS Laser Therapy Help My Pain?

MLS laser is a regenerative form of treatment, meaning that its goal is to stimulate and aid the body’s own natural healing processes without the use of any foreign or unnatural means.

The laser system uses specific wavelengths of light energy to cause a minor disruption at the site of an injury or damage. This causes the body to respond in several beneficial ways:

• Cellular activity to the area increases. This includes their repair processes. 
• Blood flow to the area is increased. And with it comes more of the growth factors and nutrients your cells need to complete their work.
• Immune response increases. The disruption triggers your immune response to protect the area.
• Inflammation can decrease. As more blood is carried in, more excess fluid can be carried out, helping to reduce swelling in the area.
• Pain relief can decrease. Transmission of pain signals to local nerves can become partially blocked as part of the recovery response. And, as the source of the pain heals, the pain signals themselves should begin to stop entirely.

MLS laser can be effective not only for acute sources of pain, such as sudden sports injuries but also for sources of chronic foot and ankle pain. In many cases of chronic pain, the body has eventually “given up” on recovery. MLS laser treatment has the potential to effectively “kickstart” the process and aid it through.

Would MLS Laser Therapy Be the Only Treatment I Need?

While MLS laser therapy can provide superb results for many patients. However, as with any treatment, it will not be the best recommendation for everyone.

First, certain conditions are more favorable toward MLS laser than others. Soft tissue injuries tend to be more responsive than others. Conditions such as plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, tendinitis, and nerve pain are good examples.

And even for cases such as those above, more traditional forms of treatment such as rest, ice, and stretching can be effective, and avoid the need to come to our office a few times per week over the next several weeks. If more traditional forms of treatment are not effective, or it’s clear they would not be from the start, then MLS laser may become a real consideration.

Additionally, MLS laser may be able to treat the symptoms of your condition, but the underlying sources of the problem may remain. Comprehensive treatment means identifying and properly addressing the causes of the problem as well, to help prevent it or other problems from recurring.

So, MLS might be one part of an overall treatment plan that includes other steps. For example, we might also recommend custom orthotics if an abnormality in foot structure contributed to the original problem, or changes to your footwear and/or workout routines if overuse is a factor. 

Find the Foot and Ankle Relief You Need Here

Whether MLS laser therapy or other treatments will help you find the relief from acute or chronic foot and ankle pain you need, you must make the first step to receive the professional evaluation and care you need.

Schedule an appointment with Community Foot Clinic of McPherson by calling (620) 241-3313 or by filling out our online contact form.