Effect of Helium Neon (HeNe) laser on pain tolerance and skin blood flow test in normal subjects

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of HeNe LASER on pressure pain tolerance (PTT) and skin blood flow in normal subjects. Twenty four (11 males, 13 females) healthy volunteers aged between 18-23 years (mean 21.38 + 1.28 yrs) participated in this study. All subjects were randomly assigned the side of arm into the treatments 1) placebo treatment, 2) HeNe laser treatment, applying HeNe Laser 12 mW, 333 sec, at acupuncture point (Li11). PTT was measured by pressure algometer before and immediately after treatment. Skin blood flow was monitored throughout the experiment. The results showed that PTT in HeNe Laser treatment was significantly higher than placebo treatment (p \< 0.05) (mean + SD PTT were 0.86 + 0.48 and 0.54 + 0.67 kg/cm2.). Skin blood flow in HeNe LASER treatment was significantly higher than placebo treatment (p \< 0.001) (means + SD skin blood flow were 1.87 + 2.35 Perfusion Unit (PU) and 0.43 + 2.48 PU, respectively. It is suggested that HeNe LASER could produce increasing in PTT and skin blood flow in normal subjects.