Category Archives: Research

43 LLLT papers for your review, including reduced muscle fatigue when training, improved nerve conduction in diabetic polyneuropathy, improved bold flow in patients with vertebrobasilar insufficiency, improved hair density and hair thickness in women, improved healing of dry sockets after tooth extraction, a paper I co-authored showing how LLLT reduces cognitive deficits and inhibits microglial activation after TBI in mice, and many many more.

Effects of low-level laser therapy (808 nm) on isokinetic muscle performance of young women submitted to endurance training: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

de Brito Vieira WH, Ferraresi C, de Andrade Perez SE, Baldissera V, Parizotto NA

Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Campus Universitario Lagoa Nova), Av. Senador Salgado Filho, 3000, 59072-970, Natal, RN, Brazil, hericksonfisio@yahoo.com.br.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has shown efficacy in muscle bioenergetic activation and its effects could influence the mechanical performance of this tissue during physical exercise. This study tested whether endurance training associated with LLLT could increase human muscle performance in isokinetic dynamometry when compared to the same … Continue reading →

Thirty-Three new LLLT papers for you this month including; pretreatment of untrained runners in which LLLT increased performance and reduced oxidative damage, yet another trial on oral mucositis (that is now 14 RCTs according to my calculations), this time using LED extra-orally to cheeks and throat tissues on children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, a paper published on LED treatment of cellulite applied during treadmill training claims reduced saddlebag and thigh circumference (controlled, but not a randomised or blinded study).

There is also an in-vitro study on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation with 810nm laser and its effect on NF-kB (from Harvard). This is important – we all need to learn more about NF-kB, because it governs many cellular functions (including inflammation and cell death); and they found that NF-kB can be stimulated by light induced ROS to protect healthy cells. You may also have heard that oxidative stress (caused by ROS) can also be reversed by treatment with LLLT, how weird is that! This is easily explained but I’m not going … Continue reading →

22 new papers for your review. The BMJ clinical evidence recommendations for tennis elbow now include LLLT, next on the list is a systematic review with meta-analysis of LLLT on oral mucositis, this finds reduced pain, severity and duration of OM symptoms. There is also a laser vs ultrasound clinical trial on shoulder myofascial pain, and lab rat studies on red vs IR for laser-induced analgesia, reduced scarring post MI following laser irradiated stem cells transplanted to bone marrow, one on sciatic pain and another study on acute lung inflammation (an adult respiratory distress syndrome model).

Tennis elbow.

Bisset L, Coombes B, Vicenzino B

Department of Health and Rehabilitation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

INTRODUCTION: Lateral pain in the elbow affects up to 3% of the population, and is considered an overload injury of the extensor tendons of the forearm where they attach at the lateral epicondyle. Although usually self-limiting, symptoms may persist for over … Continue reading →

This month we have 25 new Low Level Laser Therapy papers for your review including: Laser and exercise for subacromial impingement syndrome, yet more on radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis (when will the oncologists catch on?) and a study on how LLLT affects differentiation (and proliferation) of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into neurons and osteoblasts.

Not all LLLT research is a success as a paper on third molar extraction below shows. Suitable wavelength,  power density, treatment time, pulses (?), locations and treatment intervals are essential for success. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was somewhere you could learn about LLLT parameters? Good news! There are training courses you can attend all over the world (almost) look here. Today I am in Australia having delivered courses in Sydney and Melbourne, last week I was in Washington DC and Atalanta GA (USA).  Next week I will be in Boston MA and Chicago IL (USA) then next month in Leeds (UK),  Toronto (Canada) and Philadelphia. Click here to find your nearest training course.

A bumper edition of 36 papers this month with some very interesting reading. At long last Roberta Chow (with a star studded cast of co-authors)  have published a systematic review of the inhibitory effects of LLLT on peripheral nerves and relevance to analgesia.  There is an RCT showing that LLLT is better than chiropractic manipulation for cervical facet dysfunction, but joint manipulation + laser is best, a study on pain during dental tooth-cavity preparation on children, three papers on oral mucositis and two on wound healing.

Inhibitory Effects of Laser Irradiation on Peripheral Mammalian Nerves and Relevance to Analgesic Effects: A Systematic Review.

Chow R, Armati P, Laakso EL, Bjordal JM, Baxter GD

1 Nerve Research Foundation, Brain and Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney , Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia .

Abstract Objective: The objective of this review was to systematically identify experimental studies of non-ablative laser irradiation (LI) on peripheral nerve morphology, physiology, and function. The findings were then evaluated with special reference to the neurophysiology of pain and implications for the analgesic … Continue reading →

21 new papers for you to review this month. No blockbuster news, however there are some items of interest for the LLLT nerds: A clinical trial where laser beats SaliCept and alvogyl in the treatment of alveolar osteitis (a dry socket), an ex-vivo study on protein expression in the synovial membrane taken from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the neuroprotective effects of LLLT in a light-induced photoreceptor degeneration study (in rats).

Comparison of Alvogyl, SaliCept Patch, and Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Management of Alveolar Osteitis.
Kaya, GS, Yapici, G, Savas Z, Gungormus M

Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ataturk University, Faculty of Dentistry, Erzurum, Turkey.

PURPOSE:: The aim of the present randomized prospective clinical trial was to compare the effects of alvogyl, the SaliCept patch, and low-level laser therapy in the management of alveolar osteitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS:: The study population included 104 patients who had been referred to our clinic with a complaint of alveolar osteitis. The patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: group 1, curettage … Continue reading →

28 LLLT papers for you this month, including two systematic reviews: One for osteoarthritis of the hand and the other on dentin hypersensitivity. An intriguing review of the cytochrome c oxidase mechanism for the NO / ROS nerds amongst you. There are four clinical trials: chronic rhinosinusitis (at last a cure for the common cold?), healing after tooth extraction, recovery of muscular strength following muscle fatigue and laser acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis. Two papers from one of the gods of phototherapy Kendric Smith, and several clinical retrospectives from the Japanese journal “Laser Therapy. Over to you now, what do you think? – there is a comments section available for you on the blog so go there and write back to me, I’d love to have your comments.