Efficacy of low power laser therapy in fibromyalgia: a single-blind, placebo-controlled trial
04/08/18LLLT using a diode laser in successful treatment of a herniated lumbar/sacral disc
04/08/18Oezdemir F, Birtane M, Kokino S
Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Medical Faculty of Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.
PMID: 11434469 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Clinical Rheumatology (2001) 20(3): 181-184
Pain is a major symptom in cervical osteoarthritis (COA). Low-power laser (LPL) therapy has been claimed to reduce pain in musculoskeletal pathologies, but there have been concerns about this point. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of LPL therapy and related functional changes in COA. Sixty patients between 20 and 65 years of age were clinically and radiologically diagnosed COA were included in the study. They were randomized into two equal groups according to the therapies applied, either with LPL or placebo laser. Patients in each group were investigated blindly in terms of pain and pain-related physical finds, such as increased paravertebral muscle spasm, loss of lordosis and range of neck motion restriction before and after therapy. Functional improvements were also evaluated. Pain, paravertebral muscle spasm, lordosis angle, the range of neck motion and function were observed to improve significantly in the LPL group, but no improvement was found in the placebo group. LPL seems to be successful in relieving pain and improving function in osteoarthritic diseases.
