Laser Therapy For Gout

Thanks to Stéphane Magnenat at Flickr for this cool laser light image. Click image for more details.

In "Photobiomodulation of pain and inflammation in microcrystalline arthropathies: experimental and clinical results.", Soriano and colleagues studied several groups of people with gout or other crystal deposit diseases (pseudo gout and hydroxyapatite arthropathy).

Each disease group was split into two treatment groups. Treatment was either diclofenac, a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) or low level laser therapy.

The researchers found that laser treatment was effective for all three joint diseases:

Both laser therapy and diclofenac achieved rapid pain relief in patients with acute gouty arthritis without significant differences in efficacy. Laser therapy was more effective than diclofenac in patients with chronic pyrophosphate arthropathy and in patients with chronic apatite deposition disease.

I note that gout patients were treated with 75mg of diclofenac twice per day, whereas the other two diseases were treated with 50mg twice per day. Could this different dose account for the slightly lower success rate of laser therapy for gout compared with the other two diseases?

Whatever the reason, it is clear that cold laser therapy is effective in reducing gout pain. This was endorsed by the Meditech clinic, who reported in Gout and Laser Therapy:

Rapid resolution of pain and inflammation are infallible indicators of change in the affected joints. These two patients noted nearly 100% reduction in pain following their first treatment.

Obviously, this treatment will do nothing to fix gout in the long term - you need to lower uric acid below 6mg/dL in order to do this. However, all urate lowering therapy takes a few months, or over a year in severe cases, even when it is managed and monitored correctly. Low level light therapy seems an extremely effective way to manage pain during this period. I can find no evidence of side effects, though there is potential risk of eye damage, therefore you should always use protective goggles when using this type of cold laser treatment.

What's your experience of cold laser therapy? Have you questions about low level laser treatment. Discuss your experences, questions, or opinions in the laser therapy for gout forum.