First, let’s start by saying there are a number of excellent therapeutic lasers in Canada’s market. Many manufacturers/distributors do their best to provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

On the other hand, some make purposeful choices in their marketing to confuse or misdirect you. Here we will address four of the most common sleight-of-hand techniques.

1. Enormous Peak Power of 50,000 mW or 100,000 mW

Peak Power is typically discussed by lasers manufacturers that can only operate in Superpulsed mode. While these large numbers seem impressive, Peak Power is completely immaterial to outcomes or treatment times, and the companies promoting them know that.

In reality, Output Power determines treatment times and any potential therapeutic outcomes.

If they do not provide you the actual Output Power for the device, then for easy math, divide the Peak Power by 1,000 as this will usually be close to the Output Power the machine will generate.

2. 905 nm Wavelength to Reach 5 cm Deep

A weak laser with the “right” wavelength will not get you to 5 cm of depth. You will not invest the treatment time required with a weak laser to treat those depths (up to 35 hours per treatment). See our Dosage and Treatment Time blog.

The “Therapeutic Window” for wavelengths is from 650 nm to 1,000 nm. However, it is widely accepted that the longer invisible wavelengths of 800 nm - 900 nm are the optimal treatment range and penetrate deeper than those at the shorter end of this spectrum (650nm-800nm).

There is much research proving outcomes related to wavelength. However, some manufacturers forget to tell you that all of this research was done with lasers powerful enough to deliver sufficient Joules within a reasonable time frame.

The actual wavelength of the diodes therapeutic lasers are using has more to do with what diodes are available to the manufacturers versus what the “ideal” wavelength may be. So the research is done somewhat backward. The lasers the researchers are using have a specific wavelength, so all they can do is prove that, that particular wavelength works (assuming Output Power and Dosage is also correct).

3. Superpulsed Lasers Push the Photons Deeper

This statement simply isn’t true. Lasers that can only operate in a Superpulsed mode do so because their diodes would get too hot and break if they operated in a continuous mode. So if pulsing a laser simply turns the light on and off, how would that make it go further?

Practitioners using lasers that can operate in continuous mode sometimes “pulse” the laser to reduce the thermal effect on the skin. In the end, the dosage is based on the total Joules being delivered. Pulsing a laser increases the treatment time because you are delivering fewer Joules per second (the laser is off for part of each second). If the laser produces a lot of heat, pulsing may be required to assure you can deliver the total dose of Joules without creating too much heat on the skin.

4. Fast Treatment Times

Here you will need to look at the fine print. Many manufacturers advertise “fast treatment times” and will provide you the Joules per minute (or second) their unit delivers as evidence.

Others, however, have a different approach. They provide you with fancy protocols for various conditions using time and application methods but do not equate the treatment time to the Joules being delivered. These “treatments”offer “fast treatment times” but are often not based on the available, peer reviewed research.

We find it very unfortunate that many of the above marketing tricks are allowed to continue. Promoting false information creates confusion in the market and enables manufacturers to charge large sums of money for lasers with minimal potential for outcomes. We hope this resource can help clarify some of these claims, but if you are still confused, talk to one of our laser experts before you decide on your new equipment.