Laser
Class IV therapeutic laser
Drug free, pain free relief for pain, inflammation and healing, cleared for veterinary use since 2005 and run here as standard treatment, not an upsell.
Chapter 01
What a Class IV laser is actually doing
The laser delivers light energy into tissue to relieve pain and inflammation and support healing, with no drugs and no discomfort to the patient. It has been FDA-cleared for veterinary use since 2005, so this is an established piece of clinical equipment, not a new or experimental one.
Because nothing is injected and nothing is sedated for it, a laser session sits easily alongside whatever else your pet is already being treated for. It is one more tool in the room, used on the tissue that needs it.
A calm cream cavapoo-type dog at Best Friends Veterinary Care in Iowa City
It is standard here, not an upsell
This is the detail that sets this clinic apart from a lot of practices that treat a laser as an optional extra you have to ask for and pay more for. At Best Friends it is provided as standard post-operative treatment on every surgery patient's surgical site, and on gum tissue after every dental procedure. If your pet has surgery or a dental cleaning here, the laser is already part of the plan.
Dr. Kim Vercande has a stated special interest in laser therapy, which is part of why it is built into the clinic's normal way of doing surgical and dental aftercare rather than sold separately.
Chapter 03
Acute and chronic protocols
A treatment session runs two to ten minutes per area, depending on what is being treated. For acute conditions, that covers wounds, fractures, abscesses, sprains, strains, general muscle discomfort, cystitis, soreness at an injection site, insect bites, and pododermatitis.
Chronic conditions are treated differently: the plan moves through an induction phase, then a transition phase, then a maintenance phase, tapering down over time to treatment every three to six weeks as your pet's response allows.
What the studies say about healing time
The clinic states this plainly rather than dressing it up: studies show that laser-treated wounds heal in one third to one half less time than wounds that go without it. That is the extent of the claim, stated as the evidence states it.
It is one reason the laser is applied automatically after surgery and dental work here rather than reserved for cases that ask for it by name.
Best Friends, Free parking at the clinic. Visa, Mastercard, Discover, cash and personal check. Call (319) 341-7111.