Laser Acupuncture Analgesia: An Overview

Abstract

In recent years, low power laser therapy has become a popular treatment modality. While its use as an alternative to needles in acupuncture is contentious, the studies reviewed above demonstrate the possibility of analgesic effects with such treatments. However, the majority of the trials conducted to date can be criticised on a number of points. This has contributed to the criticism surrounding the technique. Furthermore, the clinical significance of such treatment parameters as wavelength, energy density and pulsing frequency are poorly understood. Further research is therefore necessary on a number of levels: clinically to validate the claims made on behalf of lasers, and experimentally to identify optimum values for treatment parameters. Hopefully, as research in this field progresses, clinicians will benefit from firm treatment guidelines. While in the final analysis lasers will probably never be able to replace needles, the potential advantages in their use in HLTVor hepatitis patients are obvious. Squeamish or very young patients may also react more favourably to laser rather than needle acupuncture. To this end, laser acupuncture represents a challenging and interesting field for future research.