Photobiomodulation
& Pain Management

Liebert, A., Bicknell, B., Markman, W. & Kiat, H. A Potential Role for Photobiomodulation Therapy in Disease Treatment and Prevention in the Era of COVID-19. 11, 1–11 (2020).

Walsh, B. L. J. Clinical applications of low level laser therapy: Current use and future potential. Australas. Dent. Mag. 80–82 (2015).

TMJ and Facial Pain

PBM is a useful tool to add to the therapeutic options for treating temporomandibular joint (TMJ) or facial pain. From simple acute cases like facial pain after long appointments to chronic TMJ cases, laser therapy will help reduce pain and inflammation, and significantly resolve muscle trismus. 

Most patients would experience significant improvement and pain relief after 9-12 sessions with two or three treatments a week. For root canal therapy or third molar extraction, PBM irradiation was shown to be beneficial in reducing acute inflammatory pain. For chronic sufferers of TMJ pain, several studies found that the majority were pain-free or had considerable improvement in comfort after PBM treatment.

Neuropathic Pain and Facial Paralysis

Neuropathic facial pain is a debilitating condition for a patient that results in living with excruciating pain and a continuous of prescription analgesics. Conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia, burning mouth syndrome, postherpetic neuralgia are examples of conditions that can be significantly improved with light therapy. 

Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome and Bell’s Palsy can result in paralysis of the facial muscles. PBM can significantly speed up the recovery of these muscles to restore symmetry and function while also alleviating the facial neuralgia.