Whilst Laser therapy per se doesn’t cause damage or worsen an injury, a human operator with poor technique will do damage.Tissue damage is an operator technique problem. The correct treatment motion is one of scanning the treatment head across an area, not using the head to repeatedly fire on a specific spot.
Exacerbation of a joint or disc problem may well be from a heavy-handed operator. We have seen videos of operators looking like they are using the treatment head to plough through the poor pet’s frame. The aim is to Glide, not Gough the treatment head along the treatment area.
The primary aim of laser therapy is Not massage and certainly never at the intensity level of a Deep Tissue or even a Swedish massage. Yet, we see cases where the therapist seems to have used the laser tool to apply an unneeded and potentially damaging physical level of tissue compression and manipulation during the laser sessions.
Summary:Keep it Smooth.
Scan, Don’t Loiter
Glide, Don’t Gouge.
Check out the short snippet below on the correct off-contact technique.