Trial reportLasers in medical science2017
Does photobiomodulation therapy is better than cryotherapy in muscle recovery after a high-intensity exercise? A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in Lasers in medical science, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03593733 (Comparison Between Photobiomodulation Therapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Comparison Between Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) and a Cold-Water Immersion (CWI) in Recovery Soccer Player: Analysis of Biochemical Markers of Recovery and Muscular Oxidative Stress.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of photobiomodulation therapy on the functional performance of healthy individuals: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2023Pooled it
- Comparison between cryotherapy and photobiomodulation in muscle recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2022Pooled it
- Photobiomodulation therapy for the improvement of muscular performance and reduction of muscular fatigue associated with exercise in healthy people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2018Pooled it
- A randomised crossover trial comparing photobiomodulation therapy with other recovery strategies in CrossFit athletes.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Influence of photobiomodulation therapy on the physical performance of women during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle: A double-blind Sham-controlled randomized clinical trial.Lasers in medical science · 2023Trial
- Effects of photobiomodulation and deep water running in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.Lasers in medical science · 2022Trial
- Photobiomodulation therapy before futsal matches improves the staying time of athletes in the court and accelerates post-exercise recovery.Lasers in medical science · 2019Trial
- Low-level laser therapy in the management of plantar fasciitis: a randomized controlled trial.Lasers in medical science · 2018Trial
- Optimal timing to assess exercise-induced oxidative stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2025Review
- Photobiomodulation in cardiovascular diseases: molecular mechanisms and pharmacological approaches to enhance the therapeutics effects of light.Lasers in medical science · 2025Review
- Isolated and Combined Effects of Cold, Heat and Hypoxia Therapies on Muscle Recovery Following Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Review
- Effects of Photomodulation Therapy for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- Photobiomodulation as Medicine: Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) for Acute Tissue Injury or Sport Performance Recovery.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2024Review
- Can Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) Minimize Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Light-emitting diode phototherapy: pain relief and underlying mechanisms.Lasers in medical science · 2022Review
- Photobiomodulation and Sports: Results of a Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Post-resistance exercise photobiomodulation therapy has a more effective antioxidant effect than pre-application on muscle oxidative stress.Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2021Article
- Effect of different low-level intensity laser therapy (LLLT) irradiation protocols on the osseointegration of implants placed in grafted areas.Journal of applied oral science : revista FOB · 2021Article
- Photobiomodulation by light emitting diode applied sequentially does not alter performance in cycling athletes.Lasers in medical science · 2020Article
- Low-level laser therapy prevents muscle oxidative stress in rats subjected to high-intensity resistance exercise in a dose-dependent manner.Lasers in medical science · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) and cryotherapy, in isolated and combined forms, as muscle recovery techniques after muscle fatigue-inducing protocol. Forty volunteers were randomly divided into five groups: a placebo group (PG); a PBMT group (PBMT); a cryotherapy group (CG); a cryotherapy-PBMT group (CPG); and a PBMT-cryotherapy group (PCG). All subjects performed four sessions at 24-h intervals, during which they submitted to isometric assessment (MVC) and blood collection in the pre-exercise period, and 5 and 60 min post-exercise, while the muscle fatigue induction protocol occurred after the pre-exercise collections. In the remaining sessions performed 24, 48, and 72 h later, only blood collections and MVCs were performed. A single treatment with PBMT and/or cryotherapy was applied after only 2 min of completing the post-5-min MVC test at the first session. In the intragroup comparison, it was found that exercise led to a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the production of MVC in all groups. Comparing the results of MVCs between groups, we observed significant increases in the MVC capacity of the PBMT, CPG, and PCG volunteers in comparison with both PG and CG (p < 0.05). We observed a significant decrease in the concentrations of the biochemical markers of oxidative damage (TBARS and PC) in all groups and muscle damage (creatine kinase-CK) in the PBMT, PCG, and CPG compared with the PG (p < 0.01). The clinical impact of these findings is clear because they demonstrate that the use of phototherapy is more effective than the use of cryotherapy for muscle recovery, additionally cryotherapy decreases PBMT efficacy.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.