The Edison resident described the discomfort, which originated in her right thumb and wrist, as a "sharp pain shooting up (her) arm." Sometimes it would hurt so badly that it would keep her awake at night.

"I thought it was part of old age," she said.

But those days of pain have become fewer and farther apart since Kenny began receiving cold-laser therapy treatments at Raritan Bay Medical Center's outpatient physical therapy clinic in Edison.

Physical therapist Jerome Del Rosario has been administering cold-laser treatments for more than a year. He said doctors refer patients to the treatment for a variety of maladies, including carpel-tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, arthritis, tennis elbow and golfer's elbow.

The treatment is simple and fast. Del Rosario turns on the cold-laser therapy machine, adjusts it to the proper energy range for the particular treatment, and applies the device — which is about half the size of a computer mouse — to the affected area. The device emits a low-level laser light, which penetrates the skin.

For Kenny's treatment, the application lasted no more than a couple of minutes. Although she described the process as pain-free, she experienced some tingling in the affected area. Following the treatment, she said she sometimes experiences a dull ache, but added, "I wouldn't complain about it."

Dr. Derrick DeSilva, an Edison-based general internist and co-chair of the Department of Complementary Medicine at Raritan Bay Medical Center, has recommended cold-laser therapy to his patients, of which Kenny is one. He finds the treatment is especially effective on injuries to ligaments, joints and tendons.

"There's very little blood flow to a tendon or a ligament versus to a muscle," DeSilva explained. "The way things heal is by blood flow — by getting the blood there, by getting the nutrients there, by getting the oxygen there. That's how something heals. If there's no flow, or if there's little flow, it's very difficult to heal.

"What (cold-laser therapy) does is that it stimulates healing from a very deep level. It stimulates the cells . . . it stimulates blood flow. And as a result, when you get blood flow there, the theory is that it will increase healing and healing time."

What DeSilva perhaps finds most appealing about the treatment is that "it literally takes a minute to do. That's what's amazing."

Del Rosario said cold-laser therapy may be used alone or with a combination of other treatments.

"I sometimes use this first, instead of using the ultrasound or the conventional electrical stimulation or the moist heat," he said. "I use this first as a preparation — to kind of prepare the area (for other treatments)."

Del Rosario finds it particularly beneficial when doing it in conjunction with ultrasound that employs topical medication. Cold-laser therapy, he said, opens up the pores on the skin and allows the medication to penetrate more effectively.

DeSilva said he typically employs thiamine, B-complex and a natural anti-inflammatory, such as turmeric, to treat his patients.

"So now what I do is I give them those things, plus the laser therapy," said DeSilva.

The internist acknowledged that cold-laser therapy is not successful for all patients.

"It doesn't work on everybody," DeSilva allowed. "In my experience, it's probably worked 40 to 50 percent of the time. . . It probably takes six to eight to 10 treatments."

Both DeSilva and Del Rosario have used cold-laser therapy on themselves, and they said it has helped their conditions.

"I've had good results with my tennis elbow," said DeSilva.

"I had tendonitis on my biceps," Del Rosario explained. "I gave it two or three treatments, and after the second time it felt better. I was like, "Gee, it really works.' "

Kenny found the treatment beneficial as well.

"It definitely has helped a lot," said Kenny. "I would recommend it."

In Del Rosario's estimation, as much as 80 percent of the patients he has treated respond favorably to cold-laser therapy.

"I think we're blessed to have it," he said.