Photobiomodulation series, 2 of 4
Going Skin Deep: Laser Therapy for Wounds, Hot Spots and Healing
By Dr Ryan Morgan, Onward Veterinary Services ·
When most people hear "laser therapy," they picture an older dog having a sore hip treated.
But sometimes we do not need to look beneath the skin at all. Wounds. Surgical incisions. Inflamed skin. Those miserable, wet, angry patches we call hot spots. These are some of the most useful applications for photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT).
Helping the body do what it already knows how to do
Your pet's body is remarkably good at healing itself. When tissue is injured it launches a coordinated repair: blood flow changes, inflammation arrives, new tissue forms, collagen builds, new blood vessels develop.
Our job is often not to take that over. It is to create better conditions for it.
PBMT uses carefully selected wavelengths of light to influence the cells doing that work. Research has found effects on circulation, new blood-vessel formation, collagen production and several of the cells involved in wound healing. In plainer terms, we use light to encourage healing.
What about hot spots?
If your dog has ever had one, you know how quickly it goes sideways. A small irritated patch can turn overnight into a large, red, wet and painful lesion.
A 2025 veterinary report followed eight dogs with acute hot spots treated using a fluorescent-light form of PBM. All eight lesions resolved within a maximum of two weekly treatment sessions.
Eight dogs is not a universal cure for hot spots. Larger studies are needed, and a patient may still need treatment for the infection, allergy or parasite that started it. But it is a glimpse of where this technology may take us.
What about wounds and surgery?
Wound care is where photobiomodulation has attracted the most interest. Studies suggest it can support several of the processes healthy repair depends on.
That does not mean we shine a laser on a wound and make it disappear. Cleaning still matters. Preventing licking still matters. Treating infection matters. And working out why a wound is not healing matters most of all. PBMT is one more way to support that process.
The goal isn't "laser everything"
A new tool is not valuable because we can use it on every patient. It is valuable when we know when to use it, and when not to.
Sometimes a skin problem needs antibiotics. Sometimes it needs allergy management. Sometimes it needs surgery. Sometimes the most important treatment is preventing your dog from licking it!
And sometimes PBMT can be added to that plan to support healing and comfort. That is what multimodal medicine means: treatments chosen because they make sense together, not one therapy asked to do everything.
Next week we're moving somewhere you might really not expect a laser: the mouth.
And stay with us after this series, because next month we're going from light to needles, exploring why Medical Acupuncture is much more than simply "putting needles in sore muscles."
There's some fascinating science hiding behind those tiny needles.