Phototherapy for Improvement of Performance and Exercise Recovery: Comparison of 3 Commercially Available Devices
Thiago De Marchi1, Vinicius Mazzochi Schmitt2, Carla Danúbia da Silva Fabro1
1Postgraduate Program in Biotechnology, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Laboratory, University of Caxias do Sul, Brazil.
Context:
Recent 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.
Objective:
To evaluate the magnitude of observed phototherapeutic effects with 3 commercially available devices.
Design:
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study.
Setting:
Laboratory.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Forty 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.
Results:
Maximum 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).
Conclusions:
Low-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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