Trial reportJournal of athletic training2017
Phototherapy for Improvement of Performance and Exercise Recovery: Comparison of 3 Commercially Available Devices.
Trial report in Journal of athletic training, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison between cryotherapy and photobiomodulation in muscle recovery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lasers in medical science · 2022Pooled it
- Does Acupuncture Benefit Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness After Strenuous Exercise? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Pooled it
- Influence of irradiance on photobiomodulation therapy for muscle performance in healthy individuals in a strength training program for lower limbs. A double-blind randomized controlled trial.Lasers in medical science · 2025Trial
- Effect of low-level laser therapy on quadriceps and foot muscle fatigue in children with spastic diplegia: a randomized controlled study.Lasers in medical science · 2023Trial
- Effects of photobiomodulation on muscle strength in post-menopausal women submitted to a resistance training program.Lasers in medical science · 2020Trial
- Photobiomodulation therapy before futsal matches improves the staying time of athletes in the court and accelerates post-exercise recovery.Lasers in medical science · 2019Trial
- Infrared Low-Level Laser Therapy (Photobiomodulation Therapy) before Intense Progressive Running Test of High-Level Soccer Players: Effects on Functional, Muscle Damage, Inflammatory, and Oxidative Stress Markers-A Randomized Controlled Trial.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2019Trial
- When is the best moment to apply photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) when associated to a treadmill endurance-training program? A randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial.Lasers in medical science · 2018Trial
- Comparison of photobiomodulation therapy and suprascapular nerve-pulsed radiofrequency in chronic shoulder pain: a randomized controlled, single-blind, clinical trial.Lasers in medical science · 2017Trial
- Topical Application of Jojoba Oil Suppresses Exercise-Induced Inflammatory Gene Expression in Mouse Skeletal Muscle.Biomolecules · 2025Article
- Impact of Photobiomodulation Therapy Dosing Strategies on Strength, Clinical Outcomes, and Metabolic Responses: A Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of lasers in medical sciences · 2025Article
- Effects of photobiomodulation therapy associated with motor control exercise for chronic non-specific low back pain: protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Pilates Method and/or Photobiomodulation Therapy Combined to Static Magnetic Field in Women with Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Effects of the association of different volumes of strength training with photobiomodulation therapy on insulin resistance: A protocol for a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2022Article
- Can Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) Minimize Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Photobiomodulation and Sports: Results of a Narrative Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Immediate effects of photobiomodulation therapy combined with a static magnetic field on the subsequent performance: a preliminary randomized crossover triple-blinded placebo-controlled trial.Biomedical optics express · 2021Article
- Does Photobiomodulation Therapy Enhance Maximal Muscle Strength and Muscle Recovery?Journal of human kinetics · 2020Article
- Does photobiomodulation therapy combined to static magnetic field (PBMT-sMF) promote ergogenic effects even when the exercised muscle group is not irradiated? A randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2020Article
- What is the optimal time-response window for the use of photobiomodulation therapy combined with static magnetic field (PBMT-sMF) for the improvement of exercise performance and recovery, and for how long the effects last? A randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 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
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextRecent studies suggest the prophylactic use of low-powered laser/light has ergogenic effects on athletic performance and postactivity recovery. Manufacturers of high-powered lasers/light devices claim that these can produce the same clinical benefits with increased power and decreased irradiation time; however, research with high-powered lasers is lacking.
objectiveTo evaluate the magnitude of observed phototherapeutic effects with 3 commercially available devices.
designRandomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.
settingLaboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER
participantsForty healthy untrained male participants. INTERVENTION(S): Participants were randomized into 4 groups: placebo, high-powered continuous laser/light, low-powered continuous laser/light, or low-powered pulsed laser/light (comprising both lasers and light-emitting diodes). A single dose of 180 J or placebo was applied to the quadriceps. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Maximum voluntary contraction, delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and creatine kinase (CK) activity from baseline to 96 hours after the eccentric exercise protocol.
resultsMaximum voluntary contraction was maintained in the low-powered pulsed laser/light group compared with placebo and high-powered continuous laser/light groups in all time points (P < .05). Low-powered pulsed laser/light demonstrated less DOMS than all groups at all time points (P < .05). High-powered continuous laser/light did not demonstrate any positive effects on maximum voluntary contraction, CK activity, or DOMS compared with any group at any time point. Creatine kinase activity was decreased in low-powered pulsed laser/light compared with placebo (P < .05) and high-powered continuous laser/light (P < .05) at all time points. High-powered continuous laser/light resulted in increased CK activity compared with placebo from 1 to 24 hours (P < .05).
conclusionsLow-powered pulsed laser/light demonstrated better results than either low-powered continuous laser/light or high-powered continuous laser/light in all outcome measures when compared with placebo. The increase in CK activity using the high-powered continuous laser/light compared with placebo warrants further research to investigate its effect on other factors related to muscle damage.
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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.