Phototherapy for Burns

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Phototherapy is an optimal supplementation for many medical treatments, supporting regeneration and healing processes. It supports various phases of natural regeneration and is inflammation retarding and pain reducing

It improves perfusion, assists the development of new blood vessels, enhances lymphatic drainage and triggers general metabolic activity. Phototherapy can be combined with standard treatment concepts without untoward side effects and is therefore a valuable supplementary treatment for all forms of wound care.

For burns specifically, if the wound is cleansed and then phototherapy is applied as soon as possible after the original injury and before other treatments, earlier wound closure may be achieved. This in turn allows earlier application of pressure dressings and reduces painful and unsightly scarring as the wound heals.

Phototherapy has been used for burn wounds in hospitals in Southern England since as far back as World War II, when it was used for treatment of pilots and air crew injured during the Battle of Britain and various studies have also been conducted at he University Hospital of Gent, Begium.

Burns usually need to be treated over much larger areas than is convenient using low-power laser, even with the largest cluster probe. Swiss manufacturers have taken the lead in non-laser phototherapy and the wider coverage of these devices is particularly useful for burns.

Some non-laser devices treat with fixed-frequency bands which include infra-red. Whilst this is undoubtedly effective for wounds in general, the heating effect is unwelcome when treating burns patients.

Q.Light® PRO offers treatment with or without infra-red and a treatment diameter of up to 40cm, with four-stage aperture control and built-in timer.

Q.Products AG has the largest range of flexible and specialised devices, using parts or the whole of the visible light spectrum and near infra-red where appropriate and different frequencies of light penetrate the skin to different depths, as shown below.

Burn treatment at University Hospital, Gent