Alberto Salazar Has Laser-Like Focus In Oregon

The cutting-edge technology is used to treat injuries at the Nike Oregon Project.

What do lasers have to do with running? Everything, if you’re Nike Oregon project head coach Alberto Salazar.

Salazar, who won the New York City Marathon three times and the Boston Marathon once from 1980-1982, said in a recent Portland Business Journal story that he employs lasers instead of drugs to help his runners recover from injuries.

Using Multi Radiance Medical lasers, which are approved by the FDA, Salazar keeps his athletes healthy and fit without the use of drugs—which erases the possibility of someone abusing the painkillers, a common occurrence these days.

Salazar said the lasers are used on lower-body injuries.

“To manage acute and chronic pain and reduce inflammation,” Salazar said when asked why he uses the lasers. “When an athlete runs that one extra 400-meter interval that they shouldn’t have, the resulting injury can mean several more weeks of downtime. The sooner we can interrupt the injury process and start therapy, the faster the recovery.”

He said an athlete will undergo a laser treatment “at the first sign of an injury” in order to keep it in check. So instead of having the athlete pop some painkillers and head out for the next workout, Salazar has the runner use laser therapy instead.

“We believe in cutting edge, non-invasive technology like Multi Radiance lasers and look forward to the day when such innovations will be widely accepted by the sports medicine community,” Salazar said. “If this type of technology had been available when I was still competing, I could have continued to train through injuries with considerably less damage.”

For More: Portland Business Journal