Research

We often hear requests from patients who wish to see research about laser therapy.  There are decades of research behind laser therapy, the following links are the major places that one can go searching for topics of interest.

Please feel free to print up research on any topic you find below on laser therapy and take it directly to any healthcare practitioner who makes the ignorant claim, “There is NO/LITTLE research on laser therapy.”  They are quite incorrect.

Enjoy!

Healing Light Seminars - Laser Research Library

This is a great link to look up laser therapy research as it relates to many different health conditions.  This is the easiest, although not the most comprehensive, place to look at research on laser therapy.

Pubmed - “PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.”

Pubmed is where anyone can search for studies on nearly any medical topic.  If you’d like to search for studies on laser therapy for a particular condition, enter the pertinent search terms including:

  • Proper medical term for the issue (ie. “arthritis” or “arthralgia”, NOT “joint pain”)
  • Try multiple searches using the various terms used in the research for laser therapy, including:
    • low level laser therapy
    • LLLT
    • low intensity laser therapy
    • LILT
    • laser photobiostimulation
    • low power laser therapy
    • laser acupuncture
  • I have personally had good success on my laser research searches at Pubmed using the terms “low laser therapy” plus the proper medical term for the condition you are interested in. An example of search results gained by looking under “low laser therapy arthritis” can be viewed here.
    • European Medical Laser Association (EMLA) LaserLink - “EMLA LaserLink is part of the project of the European Medical Laser Association (EMLA) of creation of a online library of the most important research papers published from different sources, published in different countries and in different languages.”

    Photomedicine and Laser Surgery - “The official journal of the World Association for Laser Therapy (WALT) and the North American Association for Laser Therapy (NAALT).  Published 6 times a year, Photomedicine and Laser Surgery covers basic and clinical research, expanded applications, and procedures in medicine, surgery, dentistry, safety, new instrumentation, optical diagnostics, and the broad range of activities related to the understanding and applications of biophotonics in medicine.”

    Lasers in Medical Science - The official journal of the International Academy for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

    Lasers in Surgery and Medicine - “LSM publishes the highest quality research and clinical manuscripts in areas relating to the use of lasers in medicine and biology. The journal publishes basic and clinical studies on the therapeutic and diagnostic use of lasers in all the surgical and medical specialties.”

    Journal of Laser Applications - “The official journal of the Laser Institute of America and serves as the major international forum for exchanging ideas and information in disciplines that apply laser technology. Internationally known editors, reviewers, and columnists deliver the latest results of their research worldwide, dealing with the diverse, practical applications of photonic technology.

    Journal of Oral Laser Applications - The official publication of the International Society for Oral Laser Applications (SOLA). The use of lasers in daily dental practice continues to grow, and evermore exact specifications are available for treating patients comfortably and safely. To keep dentists informed, the Journal of Oral Laser Applications (JOLA) will present overviews of established indications and applications in all fields of dentistry, as well as reports of ongoing scientific developments in laser technology that will impact dental practice in the future.