Lasers accelerate healing of broken bones

Broken bones can sideline anyone for months, but now a high tech device is helping heal those bones and other injuries faster.Advertisement

Many professional sports teams already use it, and now this healing invention is helping the rest of us.

While Judi Charron was painting her kitchen last november, she fell off a stool and broke her wrist.

The break required a metal stabilizer that Judi was expected to wear for at least three months.

Twice a week her chiropractor C.J. Valenti used a cold laser on her wrist to stimulate healing.

"Due to that fact I got rid of that contraption I'd say at least six weeks ahead of schedule, the doctor was very surprised," said Judy.

No one's sure exactly why it works, but there are theories.

"What a cold laser does is simply increase the energy that a cell can produce and quite frankly the more energy a cell can produce, the faster the cells can heal," explained Valenti.

Erchonia is the first company that received FDA approval for using cold laser for accelerated healing.

Valenti says the technology's been used in the states for about ten years, but in Europe it's been used for three decades.

The laser has different frequency settings for bone and soft tissue.

Valenti uses it almost every day in his practice.

Treatments take about five minutes and are covered by insurance.

The Erchonia laser can be used to help speed healing in bone, open wounds, burns, tissue injury, deep tissue injury or active infections.

WKYC-TV, Cleveland, Ohio
Source: http://www.wbir.com/news/health/story.aspx?storyid=48022