Disc Disease in Dogs and Laser Therapy

Laser therapy for disc disease and spinal cord injury has become a mainstream treatment for dogs. Why? Laser therapy decreases pain and increases rate of healing. Dogs feel better faster. Laser therapy reduces scarring within the damaged spinal cord and increases the rate at which damaged nerves reconnect with each other. With less scarring and better nerve conduction, the spinal cord has less damage. Laser therapy also decreases inflammation and reduces the number of free radicals. Because of all these effects, dogs treated with laser therapy recover to a greater degree and recover more quickly than do dogs not receiving laser therapy.

Research supporting use of laser to treat disc disease in dogs was done at the University of Florida. They studied how long it took dogs with damage done in the spine (T3-L3) so that it affected the hind legs but not the front legs to recover after surgery. Dogs with laser treatment after surgery were walking within 3-5 days while those that didn’t receive laser therapy required 2 weeks to walk.

We treat a variety of dogs with spinal cord problems and use laser therapy for all of them. In addition, I recommend rehab exercises & diet changes. Most of our clients start an Omega 3 fatty acid and a TCM herbal formulas such as Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang (Supple Spine), Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Benefit Hips & Knees). Omega 3 fatty acids and TCM herbal formulas help decrease the likelihood that the injury will reoccur. For some dogs, injectable joint medications such as Cartrophen and Adequan also speed recovery and decrease likelihood of reoccurrence.