ABSTRACT
The following analgesic effects have resulted from irradiating each finger joint (DIP, PIP, and MCP) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis for 20 seconds using the semiconductor laser, “uni-Laser” (10mw, 790nm) from ITO company.<br>1) Comparison of the post-exposure state with the pre-exposure state in the open test<br>i) Of 13 cases of joint pain, 7 cases showed improvement and 6 cases showed no change with no case showing aggravation.<br>ii) Duration of analgesic effect was less than 48 hours in 2 cases, less than 72 hours in 1 case, and more than 96 hours in 3 cases.<br>2) Comparison of the post-exposure state with the pre-exposure state in the single blind test on a total of 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Twelve patients were exposed to the irradiation twice per week, 10 times a session (irradiated group) and 13 were exposed to the dummy of the above (control group).<br>i) The irradiated group improved considerably in the number of painful joints, frequency of joint pain, and grasping power. The rate of improvement was superior to that of the control group (P<0.05).<br>ii) No significant improvement in duration of morning stiffness was shown in either group.