June 30, 2017

This patient is a 61-year-old retired geophysicist who resides in Texas. She has a long history of pain in the cervical and lumbar spine pain areas, with severe sciatica on the left side and moderate pain in the left upper extremity for an extensive number of years. Her symptoms have been relatively acute since 2013.

Prior to initiating treatment, an MRI of the lumbar spine was performed by her family physician on March 31, 2014. The radiological diagnosis, aside from degenerative osteoarthritis in both areas, describes a large paracentral disc herniation at L3 causing severe left lateral recess effacement and impingement at the L3 nerve root. This would appear to account for the patient’s severe left-sided radiculopathy.

The patient presented at the Meditech Clinic on June 17, 2016.

The diagnosis established reads as follows: Degenerative Osteoarthritis of the Cervical and Lumbar Spine Complicated by a Disc Herniation L3-4.

The patient had 10 therapeutic sessions on successive days at the Meditech Clinic between June 17-27. She then continued periodic therapy at home utilizing the LED Large Surface Array known as the Duo +180.

By the end of last year, her symptoms has largely disappeared and an additional MRI of the lumbar spine was performed in December 2016. The result—no evidence of any disc herniation. The patient was relatively asymptomatic with only minor pains following excessive activity. She had not required any analgesics in over one year.

Conclusion: This case demonstrates a classic example of the healing effects of Laser Therapy in cases of osteoarthritis with disc herniation resulting in complete resolution of the pathology confirmed by the pre and post treatment MRI’s.

F. Kahn, MD, FRCS(C)