Hi, my name is Dr. Steve Minors of Rehab Effects in Austin, Texas. Today we'll be discussing
and showing how cold laser can work on certain reflex points. In the previous segment we
discussed the Flex Withdrawal Reflex. So the application that's going to occur right now
is how the cold laser can effect the Flex Withdrawal Reflex and allow someone to return
to their sport or to work at a faster rate and with less pain. So, we're going to actually
check their Flex Withdrawal Reflex. Quick review. Flex Withdrawal Reflex starts in the
brain, goes down through the neck and through the spine via the spin thalamic reticular
tract and ends at about the fourth lumbar level in the low back. So in checking this
we're going to have the patient raise their leg and actually it should be the therapist
or doctor who raises the leg as high as possible until you get to the end of that springy motion.
You really can't go much further. So you come to here. And this is just short of about ninety
degrees at this point. Then you check the other side. And you're going past ninety degrees.
There's a little bit of knee bent here, just as there was in the other one. So we have
a positive flexor withdrawal reflex on the right. The way that we can confirm this is
to have the patient therapy localize the area where it starts, which is behind the ear.
Therapy localizing that part of the brain and performing the straight leg raise test
again. And at this point we come to a little past ninety degrees. That confirms that we
do have a positive flexor withdrawal reflex. As I mentioned before with the flexor withdrawal
reflex, the reason why we test the straight leg raise is because when it's a positive
flexor withdrawal reflex the extensor muscles, such as the calf, the hamstring, and the butt
muscles go into contracture. They get really tight. And as a result we realize that that
needs to be addressed. So we're going to do that with the cold laser right now.
We set the appropriate frequencies. And we put the cold laser on that area behind the
ear for approximately thirty to sixty seconds. Then we will recheck it. Okay great. Let's
check that. Without the patient therapy localizing that
area as she did before, we're going to check the straight leg test again.
And at this point she has gone slightly passed ninety degrees a little bit more than she
did before. So this informs us that we are resolving the flex withdrawal reflex. So,
for patients that may come in with a pulled hamstring that they may have suffered during
running or some type of sports activity, injured their low back at work or at home, this type
of therapy is indicated.