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Degenerative Joint Disease of the ankle

Keywords Osteoarthritis of the ankle, OA ankle, degenerative joint disease of the talocrural joint, wear and tear of the ankle joint, DJD of the ankle, ankle arthritis

Treatment Plan

Twice a week for a minimum of 4 weeks, then treat weekly for four weeks, then treat every two weeks, then monthly / as needed to minimise symptoms

IntentionStimulate lymph nodes

to reduce inflammation &

oedema

Heal injuries and local inflammation

De-activate trigger points

Analgesia

Probe

LED Cluster LED Cluster 810nm 200mW laser 810nm 1W laser Cluster

Pulse 2.5Hz 2.5Hz Continuous Continuous

Tx Time 1 Min 1 Min 30 seconds 30 seconds

Tx Targets

Ipsilateral inguinal andpopliteal lymph nodes

Synovium of ankle joint - anterior, posterior, medial and lateral talocrual and subtalar joint area - can treat achilles tendon / plantar fascia if needed

Any local associated trigger points - ones shown below are examples

L2-L5 spinous processes and ipsilateral nerve root exits

The colours represent which probe to use and where to place it - illustrated for right ankle

version 16.1

Specific Evidence:

A systematic review of low level laser therapy with location-specific doses for pain from chronic joint disorders. Bjordal JM, Couppe C, Chow RT,Tuner J, Ljunggren EA Aust J Physiother 2003 49(2) 107-16

Meta-Analysis of Pain Relief Effects by Laser Irradiation on Joint Areas. Jang, H, Lee H. Photomed Laser Surg 2012 Jun 29  

A Improvement of pain and disability in elderly patients with degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee treated with narrow-band light therapy. Stelian J, Gil I, Habot B, Rosenthal M, Abramovici I, Kutok N, Khahil. J Am Geriatr Soc 1992 Jan 40(1) 38525

Efficacy of low level laser therapy associated with exercises in knee osteoarthritis: a randomized double-blind study. Alfredo PP, Bjordal JM, Dreyer SH, Meneses SR, Zaguetti G, Ovanessian V, Fukuda TY, Junior WS,Martins RA, Casarotto RA, MarquesAP ClinRehabil 2011 Dec14

Assis L, Almeida T, Milares LP, Dos Passos N, Araujo B, Bublitz C, Veronez S, Renno AC Musculoskeletal Atrophy in an Experimental Model of Knee Osteoarthritis: The Effects of Exercise Training and Low-Level Laser Therapy. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2014 Oct 8

Barabas K, Bakos J, Zeitler Z, Balint G, Nagy E, Lakatos T, Kekesi AK, Gaspar L, Szekanecz Z Effects of laser treatment on the expression of cytosolic proteins in the synovium of patients with osteoarthritis. Lasers Surg Med 2014 Jun 7

Soleimanpour H, Gahramani K, Taheri R, Golzari SE, Safari S, Esfanjani RM, Iranpour A The effect of low-level laser therapy on knee osteoarthritis: prospective, descriptive study. Lasers Med Sci 2014 Apr 15

Alghadir A, Omar MT, Al-Askar AB, Al-Muteri NK Effect of low-level laser therapy in patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis: a single-blinded randomized clinical study. Lasers Med Sci 2013 Aug 3

General evidence across disease category: Arthropathies

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THOR logo 450 WIDE.pdf 26/9/07 22:55:23