At Hurst Podiatry, we offer K Laser therapy services to treat a wide range of conditions at our podiatry clinic.

If you’re experiencing pain or any issues with your feet and/or lower limbs in Melbourne, book an appointment to see us now.

What is laser therapy and how does it work?

Laser therapy is a treatment option we have available here at Hurst Podiatry. To understand it, we’ve broken it down into a simple explanation and a technical explantion.

The simple answer:

Laser therapy works by using specific infrared frequencies of light the body responds to, this stimulates:

1. Increased ATP production (the energy our bodies cells run off) which increases recovery levels by basically allowing the cells to use the extra energy to go faster
2. Increasing oxygen levels to the cells to help feed cells for their higher energy requirements created when working faster
3. Increased blood flow to carry all the extra oxygen around
4. Stimulating healing at skin level and killing germs on the skins surface

The effects of this are:

• Faster healing time
• Increased blood flow
• Reduced chance of infection
• Reduction of pain
• Reduced inflammation and swelling

The Technical answer:

Laser therapy is the application of light (red and infrared) over injuries to create therapeutic effects. Laser therapy works on the cells by a process called photobiomodualtion this is when specific frequencies of light act upon chromophores within our bodies cells.

Chromophores (chromo=colour phores = carrier) are chemical entities within our bodies cells that will absorb and interact with specific frequencies of light.

In simpler terms particular frequencies of infrared light will stimulate particular colour carrying portions of our bodies cells. Through much research we know which chromophores interact with which frequency of light. In laser therapy the four frequencies of light and their target chromophores are:

• 800nm which targets copper chromophores, copper chromophores corresponds to ATP production. ATP is the main energy molecule that makes our cells go, boosting this encourages faster healing and recovery of cells in tissues like bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles
• 905nm which acts on hemoglobin to boost cells by increasing their oxygen uptake. This is needed because we’ve sent the recovering cells into overdrive by increasing ATP usage the extra oxygen helps power them at a faster rate
• 970nm which activates water as a chromophore or as water exists mainly in our body as blood, this wavelength will target and stimulate blood flow. This will help carry around all our extra oxygen we’ve stimulated that we need to power those cells that in overdrive recovering
• 660nm is our final light source unlike the others this is actually visible level of light. 660nm light is absorbed by melanin which the pigment in our skin so this type of light acts more superficially acting to prevent microbial infection and promote tissue healing at a more superficial level

Why a k laser?

When we decided we wanted to add laser therapy to our clinic because of its excellent clinical results we did a LOT of research.

We found that K laser is the most powerful and diverse unit on the market. It is capable of operating at both low and high power settings and has terrific extensive clinical research vindicating its effectiveness.

We believe in offering the best and believe the K laser is best in show for podiatric laser therapy. There are only a few located in the state so we’re very proud to offer ours up for use to you.

What does the K laser treat and how?

The K laser can be used very diversely – at Hurst Podiatry, it is most commonly used to treat the below conditions:

1. Wart therapy

K laser is a very effective tool in the treatment of warts or verrucae on the feet.

We use its high power pulse setting to burn away the wart tissue this has proved highly effective and is much more successful than many other chemist and alternative wart treatments.

The treatment itself though can be quite painful so we often administer a local anesthetic prior to treatment to ensure the patient is comfortable.

Number of treatments:

This is dictated by the size and depth of the wart in most case 1 maybe 2 appointments are required.

2. Wound Treatment

Research has shown wounds treated with K laser typically recover around 40% faster than they otherwise would.

The combination of the stimulation of cellular healing, additional blood and oxygen plus the antimicrobial effect of the laser mean that wounds get on the road to recovery much quicker.

Number of treatments:

This is dictated by the size and depth of the wound in most cases it is required twice a week for three weeks and then fortnightly after that until the wound is healed.

3. Nail fungus

Laser works by selectively targeting the fungal cells, the laser heats up in the infected cell and destroying them in the process. The surrounding healthy skin will not be selected in the process and will remain unaffected therefore you will not experience any pain.

For this reason, laser treatment does not require any local anaesthesia, and there is no recovery period. It’s a simple walk-in, walk-out procedure with no side effects and no visible harm to the nail or skin. Research and effectiveness rate of about 85% for treating fungal nails with K laser.

How many treatments will I require?

We normally recommend five weekly treatments. At this point we allow the nail to grow out gradually and check in several months late to check in on its progress. If we haven’t got total resolution at this point a couple more treatments may be administered.

4. Muscle, joint, tendon, bone and ligament injuries

Laser therapy works by using specific infrared frequencies of light the body responds to stimulate

1. Increased cell energy and recovery levels
2. Increasing oxygen levels to the cells to help feed them for their higher energy requirements
3. Increased blood flow carry all the oxygen around
4. Stimulating healing at skin level and killing germs on the skins surface

This process is universally beneficial to bones, tendons, ligaments muscles and tendons and as such can help treat any injuries affecting any of these types of tissue. This makes K laser a wonderfully diverse tool.

Among the many conditions musculoskeletal injuries that our team are trained to use are:

• Plantar fasciitis
• Stress fractures
• Acute fractures
• Various tendinopathies
• Bursitis
• Ankle sprains
• Chronic knee pain
• Achilles tendinopathy
• Bunion pain
• Synovitis
• Plantar plate tears
• Turf toe
• Baxters neuropathy
• Medial tibial stress syndrome
• Retrocalcaneal bursitis
• Syndemosis injuries
• Osteoarthritis

5. Chillblains

Chillblains are caused by an overreaction of the blood vessels in the extremities(most commonly the toes) to cold weather and rapid temperature changes.

In some people the blood vessel will shut off quickly starving the toes of blood flow and oxygen. Historically there has not been many good treatment options for chillblains beyond trying to stop the toe from getting too cold.

The k laser though can stimulate healing and recovery in toes affected by chillblains and achieve some fantastic result by increasing blood and cellular recovery.

How much treatment will I require:

Generally when treating chillblains with K laser only one or two sessions are required to create healing.