A handheld, low-level light used on the skin after an exam. No incision, no drug in the device, and no meaningful heat.
The device
Cold lasers at this office are handheld. Dr. Levitt places the unit directly over the area being treated. The time is 30 seconds to several minutes. The clock depends on how large the region is and on the dose that unit is set to deliver. You stay dressed except where the skin has to be reached. There is no incision.
“Cold” means the beam is not trying to cut or to cook tissue. The practical difference is minimal temperature change: about 0.1 to 0.5 degrees Celsius if the skin warms at all. If you came in expecting a hot lamp or a surgical laser, this is a different tool. Cold laser therapy also does not put a medication through the skin.
It sits beside the other care already offered here, not in front of the exam. Adjustments, targeted ice, exercise, and orthotics are separate decisions. Laser is added when the finding is something a light stimulus might reasonably calm, such as a stubborn tendon or a sore spinal region, and it is dropped when repeat checks show no change.
Where it is used
The list is the one this office publishes. It is not a claim that light fixes each of them.
Back pain is a larger problem, because laser is only one piece of that plan. Carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, bursitis, and tendonitis are local tendon and joint problems the exam has to confirm. Arthritis here means the joint wear people already know they have, not a promise to rebuild cartilage. Fibromyalgia is a widespread pain problem without a single known cause on our conditions notes. Laser does not become the treatment for it by default. Wound healing, if it is discussed at all, is an adjunct. Open, infected, or surgical wounds belong with the clinician managing the wound.
A visit
The first appointment is still a history and a physical exam. Bring prior notes if another office has them. Dr. Levitt decides whether light belongs in the plan after that, not because you asked for cold laser therapy by name. X-rays are taken only when they would change the plan.
If laser is used, you are positioned so the region is easy to reach. The device rests on or just over the skin. You should be able to say if anything feels sharp or too warm. Eye protection and aim matter: the beam is not pointed at the eyes. The visit can also include an adjustment or ice when those fit. It is not a gadget tour.
Home care is usually the exercise or the ice instruction, not a laser you take with you. This office does not sell a home laser, and it does not quote a device price. Payment at the desk is cash, check, or card, the same as the rest of the practice. Call 952-920-7535 or use the new-patient form. The office is at 6200 Excelsior Blvd, Suite 201, Saint Louis Park, MN 55416.
Limits
It will not close a fracture, drain an infection, or stand in for a surgeon when a nerve is failing. It will not reverse a herniated disc on an MRI. It is a poor substitute for the emergency department after major trauma. People sometimes hope a painless tool means a painless guarantee. The absence of a burn does not mean the underlying problem has to improve on a schedule.
We also do not describe a biochemical pathway, a cell-energy number, or a success rate. Those figures are not in the office’s own description of the device. What is in the description is simple: light, short contact, little or no heat, no drug, no incision, used as one option among others.
If you want the mechanical side of a joint problem, start with adjustments. If the area is hot and swollen in the first days, ice is the tool written for that, not laser. Neck pain, back pain, and disc problems have their own pages so this one can stay about the light.
Expectations
Some people notice less guarding after a cluster of visits. Some notice nothing, which is useful information. We compare the same movements next time. A tendon that is unchanged after a fair trial does not get an open-ended laser schedule. Activity advice stays specific to the body part. There is no recovery date printed in advance.
An elbow that hurts when you grip a coffee mug is a small target. The contact is short. The test next time is the grip, not a speech about cellular healing. A low back is a larger target, so the minutes run longer, and the test is sitting or bending, which back-pain care already explains. Laser does not become more “advanced” because the area is bigger.
Carpal tunnel symptoms need a neck and wrist screen before anyone aims a light at the wrist and calls it done. The median nerve’s story can start higher than the wrist. If the neck reproduces the hand symptoms, neck care is the better focus and laser on the wrist may be irrelevant. Tennis elbow that is actually a neck problem fails the same way.
Fibromyalgia is on the published list and is the easiest condition to overtreat with a device. Widespread pain does not mean widespread laser. If we use it, it is on a region that is disproportionately angry, and it stops when that region’s exam does not change. Wound healing stays an adjunct. A wound that is opening, draining, or was just closed in an operating room is managed by the clinician who owns the wound.
You can read, or you can talk, during the minutes the device is on. You should not be surprised by heat. If you are, we stop and we check the unit. Sessions are in the treatment room at the Saint Louis Park office, not a course you finish at home with a gadget bought online.
Questions
The answers match the device this office actually uses.
It is a low-level light treatment. The device is handheld, about the size of a flashlight, and the doctor holds it on the skin over the irritated area. A session on one region runs from 30 seconds to several minutes, depending on the area and the dose the unit delivers. It is not a heat lamp and not a surgical laser.
It is non-invasive, with no incision and no drug in the device. The intensity raises tissue temperature only minimally, on the order of 0.1 to 0.5 degrees Celsius if the skin warms at all. Most people feel little or nothing while it is on. Tell us if the skin is uncomfortable.
It is one option inside a plan, after an exam. It is not a walk-in light treatment and it does not replace a history. If the exam says the problem is not something light can reasonably affect, we will not add it to fill the visit.
We do not quote a number before we see you. A recent strain and a long-standing tendon problem are not the same plan. If the findings are not changing, laser stops. There is no promise that a set of sessions will clear the pain.
Laser is not a clearance for a red-flag illness: unexplained weight loss, night pain that never changes, fever, a known cancer in the area being treated, or an eye problem under the beam. Those need a physician. We also do not aim the device at the eyes.
Often paired with
Use those pages for the condition. Come back here when the question is the laser itself.
Address
6200 Excelsior Blvd, Suite 201
Saint Louis Park, MN 55416
Phone
952-920-7535Hours
