Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 21, 2026
Author Spotlight: Treating Knee Osteoarthritis with Tuina - A New Perspective
Published on: January 12, 2024
Laser acupuncture therapy in patients with treatment-resistant temporomandibular disorders
Wen-Long Hu1, Chih-Hao Chang2, Yu-Chiang Hung3
1Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Fooyin University College of Nursing, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Objective:
To investigate the clinical effects of laser acupuncture therapy for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) after ineffective previous treatments.
Methods:
A retrospective observational study was conducted in 29 treatment-resistant TMD patients (25 women, 4 men; age range, 17-67 years). Subjects were treated 3 times per week for 4 weeks with the Handylaser Trion (GaAlAs laser diode, 810 nm, 150 mW, pulsed waves), which delivered 0.375 J of energy (5 s) to ST7, ST6, and LI4 and 3 J (40 s) to each Ashi point, 7.5-26.25 J/cm2 in total. The visual analog scale (VAS) and maximal mouth opening (MMO) were evaluated before and after treatment.
Results:
VAS analysis showed that the patients were free of pain at rest (endpoint) after 5.90±6.08 sessions of laser acupuncture for acute TMD and after 16.21±17.98 sessions for chronic TMD. The VAS score on palpation of the temporomandibular joint reduced to 0.30±0.67 for patients with acute TMD (p = 0.005) and to 0.47±0.84 for those with chronic TMD (p<0.001). The MMO significantly increased in patients with acute TMD (7.80±5.43 mm, p = 0.008) and in patients with chronic TMD (15.58±7.87 mm, p<0.001).
Conclusions:
Our study shows that laser acupuncture therapy improves the symptoms of treatment-resistant TMD. Further studies with a more appropriate design, involving long-term follow-up examinations in a larger patient sample, are needed to evaluate its efficacy.
