Cold Laser Frequently Asked Questions And Answers
Are Cold Lasers safe?
All the cold lasers sold by ColdLasers.Org have are safe when used properly. Cold laser must be used according to the manufacturerâ??s instructions. TerraQuant also has a an FDA Clearance and CE certification, a mark of European safety and legal compliance. Certain parts of the body like the eyes and Thyroid are sensitive to laser light but the protocol manuals that come with each laser cover safe usage.
My medical condition isn't listed in the clinical studies. Can it be treated with a cold laser?
TerraQuant cold lasers are suitable for pain, wound and skin conditions. Other condition have been treated using medical cold lasers (see clinical studies listed on this site). Doctors often prescribe cold laser therapy for patients that are not responding to traditional therapy and new therapies are being developed constantly. Always consult your doctor.
My medical condition has not been diagnosed. Can I still use TerraQuant?
No. Your doctor must first diagnose your medical condition.
What about Visual Safety or Eye Damage?
No one should look directly at the Terraquant emitter for more than 30 seconds. The TerraQuant emitters are designed with low power concentration (no hot spot) so they provide maximum visual safety. Whether or not you decide to use the safely goggles is largely the matter of personal preference and comfort.
Is Terraquant cold laser therapy safe?
Yes. Laser therapy is a drug-free, non invasive alternative therapy. In many cases it provide superior healing ability to conventional treatment. Use the following guidelines:
- Never shine the laser directly into the eye
- Do not use cold lasers on any neoplastic tissue (tumors, cancers or abnormal tissue)
- Pregnant patients should refrain from laser therapy applied directly on the abdomen.
What happens if something goes wrong with my device?
TerraQuant comes with a full two-year warranty. Should anything go wrong during the warranty period, we will either repair or replace your device free of charge.
What is the delivery time?
ColdLasers.Org ships most orders within 48 hours via FedEx, UPS or US Post Office.
What is your return policy.
All returned TerraQuant Lasers are subject to a restocking fee of up to 30% depending on the conditions.
What Can I do with my cold laser after my condition is corrected?
ColdLasers.Org supports the sales of cold laser using an open market page. Used lasers should be still under the 2-year warranty period. Buyers typically pay between 30% and 50% of the original purchase price for used equipment in excellent condition. In some cases, this can get the cost of using a TerraQuant laser down to less than the cost of 20 treatments ($60).
How Cold Lasers compare to LEDs.
Light emitting diodes (LED) are tiny light bulbs. But unlike ordinary incandescent bulbs, they do not have a filament that will burn out. They are illuminated solely by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. LEDâ??s produce incoherent light just like an ordinary light bulb does. Light from LEDâ??s have very little tissue penetration compared to laser light. By applying the first law of photochemistry (Grotthus-Draper Law), which states that light must be absorbed by a molecule before photochemistry can occur, one can immediately conclude that light from LEDâ??s would work only on the more shallow levels of tissue. For conditions that require deeper penetration than skin layers, a laser is the best option.
How does a pulsed laser vs. continuous wave lasers.
In general, lasers diodes are either pulsed or continuous wave. The continuous wave (CW) diodes emit laser energy for the entire time it is electrically driven, hence its name. Pulsed diodes emit a radiation impulse with a high amplitude or intensity and duration of which is typically extremely short (100 to 200 nanoseconds). Continuous wave lasers produce a fixed level of power during the emission. High power continuous laser are used to cut and burn tissue so only extremely low level continuous laser can be used for deep tissue cold laser therapy. Pulsed lasers, as the name implies, produce a high power level impulse of light for a very brief duration for each pulse. It is the high power level during each pulse that drives the light energy deep to the target tissue. Even though the pulse peaks at a high power level there are no thermal effects in the tissue because the pulses are of extremely short duration. Therefore, the peak power of a pulsed laser can be much high than a comparable continuous laser. By using pulsed lasers, one is able to more effectively drive light energy (photons) deeper into the tissue. The laser components and electronic technologies required to use pulsed diodes are more advanced and expensive than those used in CW diodes. This is the main reasons over 90% of the therapeutic lasers in the North American market are low power CW lasers. Some CW lasers provide power and healing effects on the order of typical $10 laser pointer.
Can laser therapy cause heat damage or cancer in the tissue?
No. The Terraquant cold laser system uses average power levels and a light source (non-ionizing) that do not allow heat-damage or carcinogenic (cancer-causing) effects. Due to increased blood circulation resulting from cold laser therapy, there is sometimes a sensation of warmth in the treated area.
How deep into the tissue can laser light penetrate?
The level of tissue penetration is based on optical characteristics of the laser beam and the concentration and depth of the chromospheres, which according to the wavelength are absorbed at different percentages. For example, water absorbs almost 100 percent of the laser irradiation in the 10,600 nanometer wavelength. That is why CO2 gas laser are used in surgical applications for cutting tissue. Other factors affecting the depth of penetration are the technical design of the laser device and the treatment technique used. There is no exact limit with respect to the penetration of the light. The laser light gets weaker the further from the surface it penetrates with a limit at which the light intensity is so low that no biological effect of the light can be measured. Other factors that may effect the depth of penetration include tissue type, pigmentation and foreign substances on the skin surface. Bone, muscles and other soft tissues are transparent to certain laser lights, which means that laser light can safely penetrate these elements.
The radiation in the visible spectrum (400 to 600 nanometers) is absorbed by the melanin in the skin.The whole extension of the visible (420 to 750 nanometers) is absorbed by composite tetrapyrrolics. In the infrared, which covers about 10,000 nanometers of the light spectrum, water is the main chromospheres or absorbing material. Fortunately, there exists a narrow band in the light spectrum where water is not a highly efficient chromospheres, thereby allowing light energy to penetrate tissue that is rich in water content. There is a narrow band, ( 600 to 1,060 nanometers) that is called the therapeutic window. Within the therapeutic window, cold lasers have the best properties for deep penetration. Towards the lower end of the therapeutic window, ( 600 to 730 nanometers) have less penetration and are suitable for superficial applications such as in acupuncture. The Terraquant Elite and LS50 have penetrations up to 5 inches under typical conditions.