Types of Laser Therapy for Horses

Laser therapy has become a popular tool for treating horses. Lasers are used for the treatment of horse injuries and can help blood flow to an injury and reduce healing time. Laser therapy is also used for treating horse lameness and for reducing soreness and inflammation. Lasers are hot or cold depending on the amount of power they deliver. Cold lasers are further separated into wave lasers and pulse lasers.

  1. Hot lasers

    • Hot lasers emit power in the thousands of watts. This type of laser therapy is used in horse surgery. Hot lasers cut cleanly into the flesh and provoke little or no bleeding; they cauterize as they cut. They are also efficient in removing unhealthy tissue from a horse without doing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Hot lasers are extremely powerful and require special handling and safety precautions so as not to overheat a horse's flesh. They are preferred for the treatment of soft tissue injuries.

    Cold Wave Lasers

    • Cold laser therapy is also known as low-level laser therapy. This is the most common form of laser therapy for horses. It is used to stimulate tissue repair and to manage a horse's pain. It pierces the horse's skin to increase cellular energy and regeneration and produce collagen for tissue repair. Continuous low-level beam lasers emit laser light continually and are used in wave laser therapy. This type of therapy is optimal for surface structures on horses. Often called acupuncture laser therapy, the continuous laser beam is directed at traumatized tissue or at various acupuncture points.

    Cold Pulse Lasers

    • Cold pulse laser therapy also uses low-level lasers. Focused red and infrared light is emitted in light pulses of very high energy and very short duration. Tissue penetration with this type of therapy is high. Since the light beams are of a very short duration there are no thermal effects in the tissues, as is the case with hot lasers which can overheat flesh. Also, the short time the beams are activated prevents the coagulation of blood in the tissues of the horse.

      Chronic back pain and purulent sinusitis in horses are treated with cold pulse laser therapy.