Back / Spine pain

Low Level Laser Thearpy outperforms Opioids when it comes to Musculo-Skeletal Pain! All upside and zero side effects.

2021, Journal Orthopedics and Rheumatology:
Two Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo- Controlled Trials Evaluating the Efficacy of Red 635nm Low Level Laser for the Treatment of Low Back Pain

“In meta-analysis of 35 randomized placebo-controlled trials, [11] NSAIDs reduced spinal pain and disability but provided clinically unimportant effects over placebo. For one participant to achieve clinically important pain reduction, six participants are needed to be treated with NSAIDs, rather than placebo [11]. Opioids appear to have short-term efficacy for treating chronic LBP with much less evidence supporting long-term use [12], possibly due to tolerance [13], and may not provide additional benefits over the use of NSAIDS alone [14]. Half of patients treated with opioids discontinue using them due to lack of efficacy or adverse events [15], including constipation, nausea, sedation addiction, and overdose-related mortality [12].

Noninvasive, drug-free treatments for LBP are becoming more prevalent and recommended. The American College of Physicians (ACP) developed a guideline to present evidence and provide clinical recommendations on noninvasive treatment of low back pain [16]. Included in the list of strong recommendations is the use of low-level laser therapy [16]. In addition, low-level laser became more recognized option for LBP in 2018 when The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the first laser device (Erchonia® FX-635™) as an adjunct to provide relief of minor chronic low back pain of musculoskeletal origin (K180197) [17]. The treatment administered red 635nm non-thermal laser. The objective of the following review is to analyze data from two separate doubleblind placebo-controlled studies totaling 120 subjects assessing the improvement in chronic low back pain following treatment of the red 635 nm nonthermal laser.”

Conclusions: “Based on the data of 120 subjects, the use of red 635 nm non-thermal laser is an effective means for reducing episodic chronic low back pain of musculoskeletal origin. At the end of the study, most subjects treated with the low-level laser (80%) achieved a ≥ 30% decrease in baseline LBP VAS scores vs. 28% of subjects treated with the placebo device. In addition, one of the reviewed studies documented changes in the Oswestry disability index, which demonstrated a clinically meaningful improvement in the LLLT treated group [36]. Although additional studies are warranted, the noninvasive nature of laser therapy enables this technology to serve as a primary treatment of chronic low back pain.”