DJO, LLC, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sports medicine products including soft goods, Orthologic® bone growth stimulators, Durakold cold therapy products, Axmed equipment, Encore® orthopedic soft goods and Aircast® bracing and support devices, has acquired an innovative technology to treat pain using laser therapy.
From bracing to photomodulation, DJO has come a long way from its 1978 founding by lawyer Ken Reed and Philadelphia Eagles offensive line captain Mark Nordquist in a Carlsbad, California, garage. Photomodulation, the non-invasive treatment for pain, is the technology DJO is adding to its portfolio of sports medicine treatments, is coming from the acquisition of LiteCure, a company founded in 2006 in Delaware.
This laser therapy relies on, according to LiteCure, photomodulation—a process whereby “photons enter the tissue and interact with the cytochrome c complex within mitochondria.” This interaction leads to an “increase in cellular metabolism, decrease in pain, reduction in muscle spasm, and improved microcirculation to injured tissue.”
The new product portfolio for DJO carries the brand LightForce® Therapy Lasers. They have been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and can be used to treat pain in the temporomandibular joint, neck, shoulder, elbow, upper back, and low back. The lasers can also be used to treat sciatica, arthritis, sports injuries, soft tissue damage, and plantar fasciitis.
Laser therapy can shorten post-activity recovery times and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. More than 250 professional and college athletic training programs utilize LightForce Therapy Lasers.
Laser therapy treatments are administered directly to skin. The treatments are quick, and typically do not last more than 10 minutes. Patients normally undergo a series of treatments, sometimes multiple treatments per week, as the benefits of laser therapy are cumulative. While many therapy plans require no more than 12 treatments, chronic conditions may require additional treatments.
LiteCure Founder and CEO Brian Pryor, Ph.D., has developed numerous lasers and light-based technologies. Pryor stated, “With DJO’s expanded reach and resources, we are excited to increase awareness and adoption of deep tissue laser therapy.”
Pryor continued, “We are passionate about the clinical benefits of photobiomodulation as well as the benefits it brings to a practice when adding this modality.”
