Phototherapy — a treatment modality for wound healing and pain relief

Abstract

When applied properly, phototherapy or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)has proved to be very efficient in relieving pain and improving woundhealing. However, until recently there has been a lack of scientificscrutiny concerning the clinical efficacy of this procedure. This does notmean that phototherapy does not work. A search for “laser” and“therapy” on the ISI Web of Knowledge database reported that the USAaccounts for 35.69% of the research material while only 18 papers werereported from South Africa (1987-2006) which accounts for 0.17% of the10 652 papers analyzed. Despite the lack of scientific research, clinicalresults have been exceptional. Clinicians around the world, based on theirprofessional experiences, confirm the analgesic effect of phototherapy.Unfortunately, from a strictly scientific point of view, these reports arehardly conclusive. There has been little or no standardization in theapplication of phototherapy. This review investigates key aspects ofphototherapy and the efficacy of laser therapy for specific applicationsnamely, wound healing and pain relief.(Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 10:Keywords: wound healing, pain relief, LLLT, phototherapy, laser