Aching Muscles Got You Pained? Study Shows 830nm Laser Treatment
Can Reduce It! – Gur et. al. (2004)

62 patients with myofascial pain syndrome with a trigger point in the neck or upper back region were randomly divided into two equal groups according to therapy applied.

• Laser Therapy plus stretching exercises
• Stretching exercises only

The outcome measures were pain measured with visual analogue scale (VAS), algometry on the trigger point, algometric difference, thermographic difference and thermal asymmetry. Comparison was made within and between the groups pre- and post-therapeutically and three weeks after therapy.

Treatment was applied during 10 daily sessions with a Ga-As-Al laser. The evaluation of the patients was performed three times; before the treatment, at the end of the treatment and 3 weeks after the treatment ended by a physician unaware of the therapy applied. The parameters evaluated were quantified by VAS, algometry, and thermography.

All five pain related and thermographic parameters were observed to improve in group 1 patients in the first evaluation after therapy and this significant improvement persisted in the second evaluation 3 weeks after the treatment. However, only spontaneous pain and algometric value were found to improve in the patients belonging to the group that did not receive laser treatment.