There are a number of books which relate to the area of phototherapy and so before looking through the research references below please browse through the selection of books listed which can be ordered from Amazon. Put in my own titles and then write up a collection which is referenced of all the resources and then publish.

Chronic Neck Pain

Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) review of chronic neck pain published in The Lancet, clinical study published in The Journal of Pain and acknowledged in lastest consensus state by The World Health Organisation: Bone and Joint Task Force

The Lancet report declares that neck pain is approaching epidemic proportions with 10 - 24% of the population affected. Health economic reports from USA and European Union state that musculoskeletal injury and disease costs €240 Billion / €194 Billion annually. The paper also reports that pharmacological therapies for neck pain are widely used but have "not shown any conclusive evidence of benefit" The BMJ agrees "There isn't any specific research that shows drugs help neck pain". There is now more evidence for the use of laser for neck pain than any other medical procedure. The Lancet report says "(Relief using) Laser for neck pain lasted for up to 22 weeks.Trials of LLLT for knee osteoarthritis tendinopathies and low back pain reported similar results". "This contrasts with drug therapies where the effect ends rapidly when treatment is discontinued."

BRIEF SUMMARY OF LASER STUDIES REVIEWED FOR THE LANCET:
16 RCT's of acceptable methodological quality
Mean duration of symptoms 7.5 years +/-36.9months
Mean baseline of pain intensity 56.9mm +/-7.5mm
RESULTS:
Reduce pain intensity
Reduced disability
Reduces recurrence of acute neck pain
Mean Pain intensity reduction over placebo 20mm (95%CI: 17.1 to 29.8 @ 10-22 weeks)
COMMENT:
This establishes LLLT as an evidence based treatment for neck pain. It is at least equivalent to and probably better than other accepted medical treatments for neck pain read more on Pub Med.gov

Br J Sports Med. 2010 Jul 20

Frozen shoulder: the effectiveness of conservative and surgical interventions–systematic review.

Favejee MM, Huisstede BM, Koes BW.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Background A variety of therapeutic interventions is available for restoring motion and diminishing pain in patients with frozen shoulder. An overview article concerning the evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions is lacking. Objective To provide an evidence-based overview regarding the effectiveness of conservative and surgical interventions to treat the frozen shoulder. Methods The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Cinahl and Pedro were searched for relevant systematic reviews and randomised clinical trials (RCTs). Two reviewers independently selected relevant studies, assessed the methodological quality and extracted data. A best-evidence synthesis was used to summarise the results. Results Five Cochrane reviews and 18 RCTs were included studying the effectiveness of oral medication, injection therapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, arthrographic distension and suprascapular nerve block (SSNB). Conclusions We found strong evidence for the effectiveness of steroid injections and laser therapy in short-term and moderate evidence for steroid injections in mid-term follow-up. Moderate evidence was found in favour of mobilisation techniques in the short and long term, for the effectiveness of arthrographic distension alone and as an addition to active physiotherapy in the short term, for the effectiveness of oral steroids compared with no treatment or placebo in the short term, and for the effectiveness of SSNB compared with acupuncture, placebo or steroid injections. For other commonly used interventions no or only limited evidence of effectiveness was found. Most of the included studies reported short-term results, whereas symptoms of frozen shoulder may last up to 4 years. High quality RCTs studying long-term results are clearly needed in this field.

International Association for Study of Pain finds “strong evidence” for LLLT

A guidance document on myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) published on the International Association for Study of Pain web site finds “strong evidence” for Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT). read more Myofascial pain syndrome is often confused with fibromyalgia so it may be worth reading this blog to help understand the difference.

Acne

An action spectrum for blue and near ultraviolet inactivation of Propionibacterium acnues; with emphasis on a possible porphrin photosensitisation. Kjeldstad B, Jhonsson. Photochemistry-Photobiology 1986: 43(1); 67-70

Singlet oxygen (1 delta g) generation from coproporphyrin in Propionbacterium acnes on irradiation. Arakane K, Ryu A, Hayashi C, Masunaga T, Scinmoto K, Mashiko S, Nagano T, Hirobe M.

Effect of Visible Light on Reactive Oxygen Species Production

R. Lubart, H. Friedman, R. Lavie, N. Grossman. M. Sinyakov and S. Belotsky. Dept of Chemistry and Physics, Dept of Life Sciences Bar'Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel

Visible light promotes proliferation of normal skin cells. Grossman, N., Reuveni, H., Halevy, S., Lubart, R.,; J. INvest. Dermatol., 102649A (1994)

Improvement of rhelogic parameters, ligand- and oxygen -binding capacity of erthrocytes of circulating blood after exposure of the body surface of visible polarized light. K.A. Samoilova, K.D. Obolenskaya, A.V.Vologdina, N.V. Mineeva, N.Yu Romanenko, M.F. Balljuzek: Published 8th Congress of European Society of Photobiology. Book of Abstracts, P/106, p.145, Granada (1999)

— A single unit emits a broad range of light wavelengths at a constant intensity for safe light therapy
— Employs innovative new technology for visible results.
— Is a mobile, easily manageable and maintenance-free device.
— Developed and produced by BIOPTRON AG, Switzerland.
— BIOPTRON’s technology is endorsed and used by leading physicians in major universities and clinics across        five continents.

>>back to top