If you’re anything like me you know how annoying ankle sprains can be. I’ve played soccer since I was 13, and you’d think that at 30 I’d be used to it… nope! It seems like it gets worse every time now that I’m getting older, it’s been lasting longer. I still love playing so don’t want to give that up, but really needed something to help manage the unrelenting pain.

I’ve seen a physical therapist for a few years now, but honestly those treatments never seem to help and I’m sick of wasting time and money at the clinic. So I started the good old Google search for other ways to make the pain go away, and I came across these weird electronic devices that supposedly are amazing at relieving pain. They used something called low level laser therapy, or something like that. All the sites kept referring to LLLT anyways. Not going to lie I was a little skeptical of these things actually working since they kinda look like my kid’s video game controller, but they had some pretty decent reviews, so I thought what the heck? Let’s give it a shot. And then I saw how much these things costs.

Holy s*** these things are expensive! Most of the ones I was looking at are well over $1000. Not kidding, if you look at this article "A Guide to Cold Lasers for Home Use" it compares different ones on the market and how insanely expensive they are. Who has that kind of money to blow on something that may or may not work? I could book a week long vacation at that price! I kept looking for a cheaper version because at this point I really wanted to try it but didn’t want to spend that much.

Eventually I stumbled on one called the Handy Cure or HC. This one looks exactly like the other devices that were priced around $1,000, but I was finding it for just under $500. Still a ridiculous amount of money for something that looks like a kid’s toy, but at this point I decided to throw in the towel and get it since it was the cheapest one I could find. Plus, as far as I can tell it's the exact same device.  

It came fairly quickly, a little over a week if I remember correctly. The device is really easy to use, you just point the laser where it hurts and when the time is up it just stops for you. It is kind of annoying having to sit there and hold it for the 3-5 minutes it takes, but beats waiting at the doctor’s office for an hour. I didn’t really notice much of a difference at first, but I read online that it takes awhile for it to actually work, and after a couple of weeks I really noticed the pain lessening. Now I’ve noticed I get over the sprain pain a lot faster, which is great because I don’t have to miss games. I also noticed that the swelling goes down a lot faster too. Still hate how expensive this thing was, because even though it was the cheapest one, it was still really overpriced, but will say that it really does work.  

I’ve used it for more than just ankle sprains too. I tried it on my knees after a particularly rough game and it definitely helped. My daughter hurt her back after a nasty fall at gymnastics a few weeks ago, so I let her borrow my Handy Cure, and after using it for a week she said she felt a lot better. I’ve gotten her to use it on her wrist too since she puts a lot of pressure on them doing cartwheels and flips, and she says they hurt a lot less after practice now.  

It may be a lot of money, but I will admit that it does help heal your injuries a lot quicker than any other treatment I’ve tried. Some of the other devices are supposed to be more powerful, so not sure if that would speed up the healing time or not, but if you have the money it's something to look into.  

Please feel free to share your own experiences and comment on my blog, with your own experiences and other devices you may have tested and how well they worked for you. I kinda made it my thing to get to the bottom of the LLLT technology.

Jes