The effect of low power LASER acupuncture on experimental pain threshold in normal subjects

Background: Acupuncture is an indispensable part of traditional Chinese medicine for relief of pain. The purpose of this study was the immediate & latent of low power LASER Ga-Al-As irradiation applied to acupuncture points on experimental pain threshold. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on seventy adult women ranging from 20 to 40 years old assigned randomly into two groups. LASER group (n=33) received low power Laser (LPL) Ga-Al-As to appropriate acupuncture points for wrist pain, control group (n=37) did not receive laser. This was a single blind research. We measured experimentally the induced pain threshold at ipsilateral nondominant wrist following electrical stimulus, once before treatment and three times after treatment with short intervals.Results: The LASER group demonstrated a statistically significant (p=0.001) increase in mean value for pain threshold in 10 minutes after treatment, but not the control group. Also, changes of pain threshold in LASER group were greater than the control. This increase remained significant only for 10 minutes after treatment measurements (p=0.001).Conclusion: Low power LASER Ga-Al-As radiation to acupuncture points can increase experimentally induced pain threshold.