Adelaide Cold Laser
The Research · Adelaide
Don't take our word for it.
What has been studied, how strong the evidence is, and how to read it honestly.
Including where it is weak.
Go deeperHow it is studied
What the research proposes is happening.
Photobiomodulation is the research term for studying how light may influence the way cells behave. The laboratory model describes light being absorbed by structures inside the cell, and researchers propose that this may change how a cell produces and uses energy.12
That is a description of a research model. It is not a statement about what is happening in you. Laboratory work and clinical trials answer different questions, and a mechanism that looks plausible in a cell does not by itself tell you whether a treatment helps a person. Those trials are the next section.
This describes what researchers propose, not a result you should expect. Cold laser is not suitable for everyone. All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
The sources
What has been studied, and how strongly.
Each card names a concern, how confident the research currently is, and links to the studies themselves. Two things are worth saying before you read them.
Research about a treatment is not a prediction about you. And device relevance is not device equivalence: a study using one piece of equipment, applied one way, does not automatically describe what happens in this clinic. We have not matched any study's protocol to our own and we are not going to claim we have.
Very low certainty
Knee osteoarthritis
Photobiomodulation has been studied for knee osteoarthritis pain. What the research finds depends heavily on the protocol used, and reviewers rate the overall certainty of this evidence as very low.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 31662383 PubMed 38775202
Limited, protocol dependent
Plantar fasciitis
Photobiomodulation has been studied for plantar heel pain. Findings differ between protocols, part of the evidence rests on single studies, and what those studies report applies to the conditions they ran under rather than generally.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 36171024 PubMed 30653125 PubMed 29273892
Limited certainty
Frozen shoulder
Research has examined photobiomodulation for frozen shoulder. Certainty is limited, some of the supporting context comes from broader shoulder research rather than frozen shoulder specifically, and one strand sits inside a single study where it was one part of a combined approach.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 25271097 PubMed 28554433 PubMed 40857136
Mixed, protocol dependent
Tennis elbow
The studies here differ in protocol and in what they were compared against, and several findings rest on a single study. More studies is not the same as more certainty.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 18510742 PubMed 40856482 PubMed 41047274 PubMed 41400750 PubMed 41449210
Very low certainty
Jaw pain related to TMD
Randomised trials have studied photobiomodulation for jaw pain related to temporomandibular disorders, looking at pain and jaw movement. Protocols vary widely between trials and reviewers rate the certainty as very low. Jaw pain has many possible causes, and some of them belong with your dentist or GP rather than here.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 40096874 PubMed 39284729
Mixed evidence
Chronic neck pain
Randomised trials have studied photobiomodulation for neck pain, including a systematic review and meta analysis. The picture is mixed rather than settled, the studies vary considerably, and the reviewers themselves called for larger and longer trials.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Read the sources PubMed 19913903 PubMed 24155802
These cards describe what research has examined, not what will happen for you, and none of them is a claim that cold laser treats or resolves any of these concerns. Cold laser is not suitable for everyone. This is general information, not medical advice. All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
How to read it
What this evidence cannot tell you.
The quality is not the same across those cards. Some of it rests on a single study. Some carries a low or very low certainty rating from the reviewers themselves. None of it supports calling this a settled question, and you will not find it described that way here.
That is not the same as saying the research shows nothing. The honest position sits between two extremes: that this is settled, and that it is worthless. Neither is what the literature actually says. It is a field that is still developing.
A trial reports what happened, on average, across a group of people who met that trial's criteria, using that trial's equipment and protocol. It cannot tell you whether you are like those people, or whether this suits what is actually going on with you.
All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
So if you have read this far and you are still weighing it up, more reading is probably not the thing that settles it. Having the problem looked at is, because that is the point where a general question about research becomes a specific question about you. And if the answer is that cold laser is not the right fit, you will be told that plainly.
This is general information about published research, not medical advice, and not a promise of any particular result. Cold laser is not suitable for everyone. Dr Sam Johnson (Chiropractor) is a registered chiropractor. All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Before you book
The questions this page usually raises.
Does this research prove it will work for me?
No. Research describes what happened for groups of people inside trials. It cannot predict your response, and nothing on this page should be read as a promise of one. Working out whether cold laser is even a reasonable option for your situation is part of what an assessment is for. Individual responses vary.
Why isn't my concern listed here?
This page lists the concerns where we hold verified sources. It is not a list of everything cold laser gets used for, and a concern being absent is not a statement that it has been ruled out. If yours is not here, ask us and we will give you an honest answer, including if that answer is that we do not have good evidence either way.
Can I actually read the studies myself?
Yes, and we would encourage it. Every source above links to its PubMed listing, where the summary is free to read. Some full papers sit behind a publisher's paywall. If you want to talk through what one of them says, bring it in.
Doesn't a longer list of studies mean it works better?
No, and it is worth being clear about that. Volume is not certainty. A concern with several small studies that disagree with each other is less settled than one with fewer, better designed ones. That is why each card above names how confident the research is.
What does a consultation cost, and is reading this a substitute for one?
The initial consultation is $99, and $120 after that. There are no lock-in plans. Cold laser is a private service and health funds do not currently apply to it, so there is no rebate to claim on it. Reading the research is a good place to start, but it cannot tell you what is going on in your particular case, and that is the part that decides whether any of this is relevant to you.
Ready when you are
Still not sure what to make of it?
That is a fair place to land after reading the above, and it is exactly what a first consultation is for. We will look at the problem, tell you whether cold laser may be a reasonable option for you, and if it is not, we will say so. Where possible, treatment is provided on your first visit.* The decision is always yours.
Initial consultation $99 · no lock-in
Dr Sam Johnson (Chiropractor)
BSc, MChiro (Macquarie University)
Cold Laser: Initial Consultation
$99 · 30 min · Plympton Park
A first cold laser consultation with Dr Sam Johnson (Chiropractor) at 528 Marion Road, Plympton Park.
Your first visit
Book your consultation
- No lock-in plans
- Treatment on your first visit where possible*
- The decision is always yours
Book a Consultation
Prefer to talk first? Call (08) 8297 5277, or send us a message.
*Where possible, treatment is provided on your first visit. Cold laser is not suitable for everyone. All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.
Get in touch
Got a question the research didn't answer?
Ask us anything you like, including the sceptical questions. We see people with a wide range of conditions and concerns, and we will do our best to let you know whether cold laser may be the right fit for you.
This is general information, not medical advice. All care is provided subject to clinical assessment and individual suitability. Individual responses to treatment vary.