When it comes to buying a cold laser for the home, many people are overwhelmed with the conflicting claims, specifications and hyper-marketing literature. It is our job at ColdLasers.Org to help you understand all your options and we know that none of the lasers on the market have any exceptional technology. They all work on solid technology (controlling the dosage in photobiomodulation), not based on hype or cosmic pseudosciences, and photobiomodulation provides solid results so there is no need to fabricate extraordinary claims. Since we sell more different brands than anyone else, we can help you understand the strength and weakness of every cold laser option. If you need help, call us at 1-800-388- and we will do our best to guide you. This article is about home cold lasers and not about lasers for doctors' offices, veterinary and companion pet lasers or equine cold lasers.
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The following table shows some recommendations for home-use lasers. See below for more general info about what makes a great laser.
Laser
Application
MSRP*
TQ Solo PortableAccording to the current FDA standards, an FDA cleared cold lasers can be sold for 3 main issues:
These are the main 3 benefits of a cold laser. Considering that 28% of Americans are in pain at any one time, it is no surprise that there is a wide range of cold lasers available for home and office use. The underlying technology is based on using light to stimulate the cells into producing ATP, which is the food that cells need to repair damage.
Selecting the Best Cold Laser for Home Use
When it comes to choosing a cold laser for home use, there are several different factors that will have a big impact on your decision.
1. Do you have a preference about the wavelength of the device? 70% of cold lasers operate in the 800nm to 860nm wavelength for therapeutic treatments. There is some research that indicates 810nm is most effective for rebuilding deep tissue, so the Chattanooga, Avant, PowerMedic, 3b Scientific or EVOlaser 810nm systems are great options. There are also several manufacturers (Like Erchonia and Aura) that claim the best results are in the 600 to 680nm wavelength range. There are several top brands (TerraQuant, Thor, K-laser and Avant) that operate in multiple wavelengths. Avant is the best multi-wavelength class 3b system.
2. Do you want pulsed, continuous or both types of waves? 80% of the manufacturers offer pulsed waves and these manufacturers typically advise people to use pulsing for better long-term healing. Pulsing the lasers can allow for higher peak power levels while still being safe. On the other side, continuous wave lasers allow for higher dosages in the same treatment time and they allow for saturation of a damaged area with photons. Apollo lasers are continuous wave only. Terraquant systems and PowerMedic are pulsing only. All the other systems on this site offer both. Research shows that continuous wave (CW) is best for nervous system damage like neuropathies, while pulsing is best for most other applications. If possible, it is best to buy a laser that does both pulsing and continuous.
3. How much power do you need? One of the biggest debates in the industry is about power requirements, and there is no one right answer. In general, more power = shorter treatment times or higher dosages in the same treatment times. If the power is too low, the treatment might never get enough energy into the tissue to have a big impact. Longer, lower power-level treatments can often get the job done for minor problems. The exception is super low power-level devices (less than 100mW) like you find on Ebay and Amazon. A class 4 laser system will deliver 100 to times more power. Higher power equipment gives users the chance to excite more cells in the target area. Power is especially critical in treating deep damage like in neuropathy and large damaged areas like hips.
Recommended Cold Lasers for Home Use
We will beat anyone's price on any laser.
Conditions Typically Treated with Home Cold Lasers Many of the following conditions are covered by a standard protocol that comes with the cold lasers systems. Others will require a custom protocol. If you buy a product from ColdLasers.Org, we will support you in finding these additional protocols. Home cold lasers can be used to treat the pain and inflammation associated with:There are many other applications for the device that cannot be listed here. To check and see if there have been successful research studies done on a specific condition click here and enter the condition.
Contra-indications for Home Use of Cold Lasers
Selecting the best cold laser for home use is not as hard as it seems. If you have the budget, the Avant LZ30 is a great class 3b and the EVOlaser 810 9-watt is a great class 4 system. They are both amazing products. If safety is the highest priority or you want something over-the-counter, the family of TerraQuant products offer great performance for less money.
Try to stay away from products based on pseudo-science and magic (quantum waves, soliton wave, zero point energy, scalar waves) and check the laser specifications to avoid buying something that is actually LED or too low power to have much impact. Avoid the fringe manufacturers and stick to products based on photobiomodulation and you will get the same results at home that you get in the doctor's office.
Here are a few reasons to buy from ColdLasers.Org Brick and MortarThis guide was created to combat some of the misinformation on the web about cold lasers and PhotoBioModulation (PBM). This is a straight-forward and comprehensive guide to cold lasers and high dosage lasers, ranging from low-cost home systems to high-end systems for practitioners. You can use this guide in conjunction with our therapy laser comparison table to see most of the major players in the cold laser market and how they compare based on specifications and prices. There are over clinical studies and hundreds of books, videos, and other resources showing the effectiveness of laser therapy that you can search using the Laser-Therapy.US research tool. There are currently over 300,000 health care providers using cold lasers in their practice and over 750,000 laser users. Laser therapy is not an "experimental" therapy as insurance companies often say when they deny a claim for a laser.
Even though most traditional MDs stay away from laser therapy, it is widely used by chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists, herbalists, functional medicine specialists, vets, dentists, podiatrists and many other health care providers that focus on root cause of health care problems (like mitochondrial malfunctions) as opposed to focusing on the symptoms. Although lasers are not a cure-all, there should be little doubt that cold lasers are effective in treating a wide variety of problems. The majority of therapeutic lasers are used to treat damaged tissue and structural (bone, joint, and ligament) problems but the use of laser therapy to treat trigger points, acupoints, and lymph nodes is rapidly growing. Cold lasers are FDA registered for pain reduction, inflammation reduction, and increasing blood flow.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of Best Home Cold Laser Therapy Devices. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
The main 3 specifications that people use to compare systems are:
1. Power:
Power is measured in milliwatts [mW] for class 1 to 3b systems and watts [W] for class 4 systems.
2. Wavelength
Wavelength is measured in nanometers [nm]. Each wavelength interacts with cells differently.
3. Pulsing
Some systems are continuous wave [CW] only, meaning that the laser is on 100% of the time. Some are pulsing only. Better systems are both. Some problems are best solved with pulsing
and some problems are best solved with CW. As problems get more complex, pulsing becomes more critical.
These variables control the quality of light and how it travels though, and reacts with, tissues. Dosage is the measure of total light energy put into the tissue. It is measured in Joules. Many people also care about the warranty, service and training associated with the laser. Please call for these specifics about each option.
In general, a laser's ability to successfully treat a wide variety of conditions is mostly based on output power at an appropriate wavelength, with some contribution added from pulsing.
In general, the addition of pulsing to laser therapy reduces how quickly you build up the energy dosage. For a fixed treatment time, the addition of pulsing makes up for the lower dosage and then some. The best option is to set the laser on pulsing and increase the treatment time to achieve the same dosage. Most of the body of scientific research in this area is focused on dosage (which is the total energy put into the treatment area). There is less emphasis on using exotic wavelengths and pulsing frequencies, although there is still some evidence of its' importance as well.
Based primarily on Dr. Hamblin's research and publications, we prefer 800nm to 860nm for nervous system and vascular issues. Followed by 600nm to 660nm, 980nm is the preferred option for pain control, and 905nm is preferred for blood work and other situations when safety is the highest priority. At this point, it appears that all the wavelengths are appropriate for treating structural or cellular damage.
Much of the misinformation about cold lasers is related to power levels and how they affect the safety and effectiveness of the product. Low power laser manufacturers have lots of ways to justify why their product is the best, but the overall market agrees that power is the single most important factor in determining the efficacy of cold lasers. With the exception of some class 4 lasers (which might have the capability to burn tissue if used incorrectly), more power is better because it allows practitioners to give patients higher dosage when it is appropriate. Many laser manufacturers have a doctor on staff who can write a recommendation letter to make sure that each buyer is getting proper supervision and training.
Lasers come in classes
1 through 4:
Class 1 lasers can be purchased for use at home on humans, and they have a maximum power of 5mW continuous per diode. Class 1b allows lasers to be up to 500mW but they still can not cause eye damage unless the bean is refocused. Several
manufacturers make higher power lasers that qualify as a class 1 or 2 by pulsing the laser. Just don't waste your time buying anything that looks like a laser pointer.
Class 3b lasers are designed for practitioners, but can also be purchased for use at home. Class 3 lasers must be less than 500mW per laser diode continuous output. Several
manufacturers have higher power units that use multiple diodes that have TOTAL power level in the class 4 range, but they are safe enough to qualify as a
class 3b device because they have less chance of eye damage and no chance of tissue heating damage. Many laser manufacturers have a doctor on staff who can write a recommendation letter to meet the requirements, so they can sell you a laser.
Class 4 lasers are any laser that has one or more laser beams with an output of 500mW or more (Avant tested their system to prove that they can deliver class 3b safety out of 700mW diodes.
Class 4 lasers between 0.5 watt and 104 watts can do damage to the eye or tissue if improperly
used. This danger is easily eliminated with training. The FDA has softened the standards so that Class 4 lasers can be sold for home use. They can be
purchased without any restrictions for use on pets and horses but need a prescription for home use on humans. Some laser manufacturers have a doctor on staff who can train new owners on how to get the best results with their laser.
The best lasers offer multiple wavelengths. This gives you more flexibility in treating a wider range of problems.
The next factor to consider is pulsing frequency and/or continuous wave operation. A laser can be turned on and off quickly to pulse the laser or it can sweep (operate at a constantly changing pulse frequency). Companies like Erchonia use extremely low power lasers (less than 20mW) and claim that all the" heavy lifting" is done with the pulsing and not the dosage. There is also a theory that the cells can become acclimated to any type of continuous input including continuous wave lasers and the pulsing helps keep the body from becoming desensitized to the laser therapy.
Continuous Wave (CW) light is best for getting higher dosages quickly so companies like Apollo make only CW lasers. They say that no one knows what the best pulsing frequency is, so why waste your time guessing and increasing the treatment times? More expensive lasers do both because sometimes you want the maximum dosage to give people an immediate improvement in their symptoms and sometimes you are OK with a lower dosage if you can get a stronger stimulation effect in the cells. Some conditions can take months of treatments, so some people might give up if they don't see an immediate improvement and stop the therapy. To prevent quitting, many practitioners start out the therapy routine with a higher dosage and then bring it down over time. Lasers with both continuous wave and pulsed wave allow practitioners and home users to optimize each treatment protocol based on the condition and the patient's expectations.
A recent summary study of laser therapy research by Huang et al. came to the conclusion that pulsing is best for most applications, except nervous system therapy.
There are a handful of other things to consider as well. This includes the quality of training (we offer the best in the industry), support literature, and the depth of their protocol library. Practitioners often put a high value on flexibility and power while home owners want an easy to use and safe product. If you are looking at a system on sketchy websites (that can cost less $), you might want to read our article about laser scams and questionable products.
In general, more powerful lasers provide faster results and shorter treatment times, so it can be good to buy as much power as you can afford.
Class 4: If you are a practitioner who is concerned about faster recoveries and shorter treatment times, and you have a structured environment, start looking at the class 4 lasers like the ReGen Laser, ATPmax or EVOlaser. These are elite lasers that offer high dosages and/or quick treatment times. This system have multistep internal protocols so it is really easy to get amazing results your first day with the laser. If you are a practitioner who wants a simple, yet powerful laser, with no risk of tissue heating, look at the Apollo desktop. These types of systems can be overkill for laser acupuncture, except the Apollo which offers an optional 500mW pinpoint probe and point finder.
If you are looking for a hands-free class 4 systems, the ReGen Laser, ATPmax and the EVOLaser offer hands-free options.
Class 3: The best overall value in class 3 lasers are the Avant portables. They blow away the competition (like Erchonia') based on the specifications; Avant systems do everything well. The Avant Lasers offer RED, Violet and IR wavelengths, both pulsing and CW output, and both broad and pinpoint treatments in one compact package. Another great handheld option is the PowerMedic Pro laser. Their acupuncture probe is one of the best options because it is optimized for that application. For a desktop class 3 system, consider the Chattanooga Vectra Genisys (professionals only). Chattanooga is somewhat of an industry standard in PT and they make multi-modality systems. For unattended treatments, consider the Avant with a stand. We also sell the legendary ML830'.
Class 1, 2 & 1m: If safety is a high priority, the TerraQuant/MR4 series laser are a great option.. There are more TerraQuant lasers in the world than all the other brands put together. Because they use super-pulsing technology, they have higher peak power level than you can normally get in a sub-3b class laser. Remember to stay away from anything that looks like a laser pointer, as these systems are typically limited to 5mW and deliver such a tiny dosage that most people would consider them worthless. Class 1m lasers are limited to 500mW (the same as a class 3b) but cannot cause eye damage unless the laser is focused through a lens. Therefore, a class 1m can be about 100 times stronger than a class 2 or class 1.
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We know it can be confusing. If you need help, please call us at 1-800-388-. We will be happy to answer any question about therapy lasers and we can make specific recommendations based on your needs.
For more FDA Approved Cold Laser Therapy Deviceinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
Here are a few reasons to buy from ColdLasers.Org Brick and Mortar