Class 4 Laser Therapy After a Car Accident
How it works and does it really help?
After a car accident, it is very common to feel sore, stiff, overwhelmed, and unsure about what your body is doing.
Your neck may hurt when you turn your head. Your shoulders may feel tight or heavy, your lower back may ache when you move, bend, or get out of the car. Some people feel pain immediately, others feel relatively okay at first and then notice more soreness over the next day or two.
That can be unsettling, especially when you’re already dealing with insurance calls, missed work, car repairs, appointments and everything else that seems to come along with an accident.
One of the treatments we may use to help make this early stage of recovery a bit more comfortable is class 4 laser therapy.
What is Class 4 Laser Therapy?
Class 4 Laser Therapy utilizes focused red and near-infrared (NIR) therapeutic light over a painful or injured area to reach deep into the muscles, ligaments, and joints to help stimulate regeneration of damaged tissues. In medical research, you may also see it called high intensity laser therapy.
The light interacts with the tissue through a process called photobiomodulation. Research suggests that this can influence pain signals and some of the biological processes that reduce inflammation and speed up tissue recovery.
This can be particularly helpful after a car accident as your muscles and joints may become over-protective after the sudden forces of a collision. These muscles tighten up in an effort to be on guard for your body, but unfortunately can cause a lot of pain and discomfort as a result. Reducing that pain and sensitivity gives us a better opportunity to start restoring normal movement, and let the already injured and tired muscles finally get a chance to rest.
What does laser therapy feel like?
Some patients feel a little apprehensive when they hear the word “laser”, but the actual treatment is usually very comfortable, and non-invasive.
Before any laser therapy, we start with an examination. We want to understand how the collision happened, where you are hurting, how well you can move and whether you are experiencing symptoms such as numbness, tingling, dizziness or headaches that may require additional evaluation.
If laser therapy is clinically appropriate, both you and the provider will wear protective eye wear. The laser applicator is then moved over the skin in the area we are treating, avoiding any tattoos. There are no needles and no electrical shock.
Most people simply notice a gentle, comfortable deep warmth, akin to sitting in the sun.
Treatment time varies depending on the body part, the size of the area, and the amount of energy being delivered, often lasting between 3 and 10 minutes per session. Afterward, there is generally no special recovery period. We typically move directly into chiropractic treatment, gentle mobility work or rehabilitation exercises depending on what your body needs that day.
The therapeutic and biological healing effects continue working for up to 24 hours after each session.
Can laser therapy help neck pain from Whiplash?
When your neck pain is caused by whiplash motions due to traumatic impact, it can make simple things feel surprisingly difficult. Turning your head, sitting at your computer and event sleep can become frustrating because you cannot find a comfortable position.
Research on high intensity laser therapy for neck pain is encouraging. A 2023 systematic review found evidence that laser therapy could help reduce pain and improve several measures of neck range of motion compared with placebo treatment.
Laser therapy is not a cure for the effects of whiplash, and it cannot erase what happened during the accident, but it can help reduce pain and sensitivity so that turning your head, moving, and starting rehabilitation feels more manageable.
That can be extremely valuable early on in recovery.
Laser is only one part of our tool box to help you recover
After an accident, we do not want you to feel like your recovery depends on a machine.
Laser therapy is one tool. Chiropractic care may help you move more comfortably. Manual therapy may help decrease muscle guarding. Exercise helps to restore strength, mobility, coordination, and confidence.
And sometimes one of the most helpful things we can do is to educate you on what is happening in your body, so that every painful movement does not seem like another injury.
Clinical guidelines for whiplash support this broader approach, including education, appropriate manual therapy, range-of-motion exercises, strengthening, and gradual return to normal activity.
We often explain it this way: Laser therapy may help turn the pain down. Rehabilitation helps build you back up.
Your next step
If you are experiencing neck pain, lower back pain, stiffness, or muscle soreness after a motor vehicle accident, book an appointment with us for a consultation.
We will take the time to listen to what happened, understand what you are feeling, examine the areas that are bothering you, and explain what we find in a way that makes sense.
If Class 4 laser therapy is appropriate, we can use it alongside chiropractic care and rehabilitation modalities to help make the recovery process more comfortable.
You have already been through enough with the accident.
Your treatment should feel supportive, clear, and focused on helping you move forward.
References
Abdildin, Y., Tapinova, K., Jyeniskhan, N., & Viderman, D. (2023). High-intensity laser therapy in low back pain management: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Lasers in Medical Science, 38(1), 166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-023-03827-w
Bussières, A. E., Stewart, G., Al-Zoubi, F., et al. (2016). The treatment of neck pain-associated disorders and whiplash-associated disorders: A clinical practice guideline. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 39(8), 523–564.e27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.08.007