Red Light Therapy and Athlete Recovery

Adapted from: 830 nm light-emitting diode (led) phototherapy significantly reduced return-to-play in injured university athletes: a pilot study (2016) by Foley and colleagues

For athletes, recovering from injury and getting back into sport needs to be as quick as possible. Lately, red light therapy has been a topic of discussion in the sports world that suggests that near-infrared light emitting diode (also known as LED) therapy on pain management increased blood flow and relaxation in muscle spasms1. This 15-month long study published in 2016 assessed the role of LED phototherapy in return-to-play injured university athletes1.

The results of the study found that 65 athletes achieved significant pain relief and that their return-to-play time overall was significantly shorter at about 9.6 days1. This was compared to the average predicted return-to-play time of 19.23 days. Out of 112 athletes, only 8 athletes reported being dissatisfied1.

The researchers of this study suggest that the most important factors in return-to-play time post-injury recovery were pain, inflammation, and repair to tissues1. While this study did not include control groups, it showed that LED phototherapy safely reduced return-to-play time in university athletes with various types of injuries1.

Red Light Therapy

For over 30 years, near infrared low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been known to have effects on wound healing, inflammation, edema control, and pain support1. LLLT can be an effective addition to common sports injury approaches like the PRICE approach. The PRICE approach involves: (P) protect the injury, (R) rest and protect the injury to decrease swelling, (I) icing the injury to decrease pain and swelling, (C) compress the injury with a wrap or brace to control swelling and, (E) elevating the injury to also decrease swelling and pain. In another study on tendinopathy pain, LLLT was hypothesized to increase cellular respiration and the production of energy which may enhance blood flow and reduces pain to ultimately support tendon repair2.

References:

1. Foley J, Vasily DB, Bradle J, Rudio C, Calderhead RG. 830 nm light-emitting diode (led) phototherapy significantly reduced return-to-play in injured university athletes: a pilot study. Laser Ther. 2016;25(1):35-42. doi:10.5978/islsm.16-OR-03

2. Doyle AT, Lauber C, Sabine K. The Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy on Pain Associated With Tendinopathy: A Critically Appraised Topic. J Sport Rehabil. 2016;25(1):83-90.