What are the PBM Therapy contra-indications?

Eyes

THOR lasers have divergent beams but are potentially harmful if viewed directly from a distance of less than 1.1 meters. Patient, practitioner and observers should were THOR laser safety glasses when the laser is in use.

THOR LEDs are harmless and may even be helpful for some eye diseases when treated through closed eyes.

Relative contraindications / precautions

Cancer

Do not use PBM over any known malignant lesions unless:

1. for pain relief during the terminal stages of the illness, but only with their physicians permission.
2. for cancer therapy side effects (e.g. oral mucositis, radiation dermatitis, etc), but only with their physicians permission.

Pregnancy

There is no evidence of harm to a an unborn baby however there are no safety tests either, so for medico legal reasons we recommend not treating directly over the developing foetus. It may be used on the pregnant woman for the treatment of back pain etc.

Thyroid

There is no evidence of harm and there is some evidence of benefit for treating hashimoto's thyroiditis with PBM. As with many things in life too much of what is good for us may be be harmful and so it is conceivable that a high intensity laser treatment direct to the thyroid might (temporarily) stimulate (or inhibit) some thyroid activity. We suggest not applying lasers directly over the thyroid. The THOR LED treatments are however relatively low intensity and far less likely to trigger any adverse events when treating that region of the neck.

Tattoo

Treatment over a tattoo with higher irradiance laser may cause pain as the dye absorbs the laser energy and gets hot. If treatment is painful remove treatment probe from contact and treat ~15mm from surface of skin.

Hair on the head

Treatment on the head and neck with high irradiance laser may cause pain as the melanin in the fine superficial hair follicle absorbs a lot of the laser energy. If treatment is painful remove treatment probe from contact and treat ~15mm from surface of skin.

Very dark skin

Occasionally some people with very dark skin feel an unpleasant amount of heating. If treatment is painful remove treatment probe from contact and treat ~15mm from surface of skin.

3B vs Class IV Lasers

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