Low-Level Lasers Effective In Chronic Neck Pain
Without knowing how it works, researchers conducting a meta-analysis have found low-intensity laser therapy to effectively relieve chronic neck pain.
The non-invasive treatment, pooled data from 16-randomized, controlled trials indicated both short and medium-term pain relief as reported by patients.
Writing online in The Lancet, the review favourably compares low-level laser therapy with other popular and widely used therapies, especially with pharmacological interventions, evidence for which is sparse and side effects common.
Targeting muscles and vertebral joints, usually at the back or side of the neck, the procedure involves shining low-intensity laser beams, able to penetrate several centimetres of tissue.
It is possible that the radiation has anti-inflammatory effects as it inhibits prostaglandins and/or cytokines, alternatively, it may reduce oxidative stress and muscle fatigue, or the laser light alters nerve signalling at the neuromuscular junction, or else elicits overt nerve blockade.
Between 10 to 24% of people suffer from chronic neck pain, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, which highlights the need for simple though effective treatment.
- Login or register to post comments
Print
Email to friend
You May Also Like..
Must reads
Parents across the globe have been finding it very difficult to manage the social aspect of their children. It is a known fact that children these...
A brave 50-year-old woman who was born with a rare eye disorder called Aniridia has agreed to go under a clinical trial. Aniridia is characterized...
Under the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, there would be special rights given to same-sex couples, which would...
In order to improve NHS, there would be some facilities given to patients and one of them is that they would be able to analyze the performance of...
Snoring usually arises when breathing is obstructed. However, the most common cause of snoring is that the muscles in and around the throat relax...
The coalition of Alzheimer's Society and Saga Homecare has revealed after conducting a poll that a majority of people in the world are concerned...
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that new plans being made under new NHS Information Strategy would allow individuals in England to...
It has been revealed in a study, published in Nature Medicine, conducted by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco,...
