Effects of Diode Laser Irradiation on Superficial Blood Flow in College Sumo Wrestlers: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Sumo wrestling is a very powerful and competitive contact sport played by extremely fit and highly trained competitors. Due to the extremely competitive nature of the sport and the required training, injuries are common both during training and the actual competition. Long-term lay-up of the competitor has to be avoided in order to maintain the level of muscle tone and mental concentration generated by the grueling training, so postinjury recovery time is kept to a minimum. A noninvasive therapy is therefore required, and the recent interest in the successful application of low level laser therapy (LLLT) in pain attenuation for a large number of pain types suggested that it might offer a new tool for sumo-related injuries. The current trial, with ten sports university sumo wrestlers, examined the effect of LLLT on injuries of the knee (five subjects) and foot (five subjects), using laser speckle flowmetry to assess the possible increase in superficial blood flow which has been associated with both pain attenuation and accelerated wound healing. An 830 nm 60 mW GaAlAs diode LLLT system was applied on one point for 5 min (approximately 15 J/cm 2 ), and laser speckle flowmetry was performed before, during, immediately after, at 30 min and 60 min after irradiation. Decreased blood flow was seen intrairradiation, but an increase, significant in 7 of the 10 subjects was seen immediately postirradiation. This was maintained at significantly elevated levels in 4 subjects, while the remaining six decreased slightly, but in all ten subjects elevated levels of superficial blood flow were seen at one hour postirradiation, compared with preirradiation. LLLT is noninvasive, easy to apply, well tolerated and adverse side effect free. It is suggested that, following further trials to elucidate dosimetry and possible wavelength specificity, LLLT may well offer an exciting new tool to the sports clinician treating injured sumo wrestlers.

He‐Ne laser effects on blood microcirculation during wound healing: A method of in vivo study through laser Doppler flowmetry

“…There are several reports documenting significant positive effects of low-intensity laser therapy (LILT) on biological systems [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. However, this therapy has yet to gain wide acceptance in the medical community.…”

“…Several reports demonstrated that LILT and blood flow effects in vivo are related to wavelengths longer than 780 nm [1,2,[4][5][6][7][8]. In vitro studies with wavelengths between 632.8 and 660 nm showed effects on blood cells, such as changes in erythrocyte aggregation and increased proliferation of lymphocytes [9][10][11].…”

The effect of low level laser therapy for pain in major muscles controlling two joints

“…From the standpoint of posture control, when the posture is such that the body fails to follow the line denoting its center of gravity, chronic pain is more liable to develop in the muscles involved. There has been a lot of basic research 4,5,6) , and many clinical studies 7,8,9,10,11,12,13) carried out involving LLLT. Some previous reports have discussed the type of LLLT device 14) , wavelength-specific benefits 15) and evaluation of treatment methods.…”

Phototherapy in Sports Medicine: A Personal Overview

“…(1) Phototherapy, combining in its widest sense laser surgery, laser therapy and light emitting diode (LED) therapy is currently applied in sports medicine with the objectives of not only diagnosis and treatment of sportsrelated diseases and disorders, and attenuation of pain, (2) but also to help improve the physical strength and fortify the autoimmunological system of the athlete, professional or amateur. Acute exercise has been correlated with a lowering of the autoimmune function through excessive production of reactive oxygen species, but LLLT has been shown to decrease the ROS production.…”