Red Light Therapy for Fibromyalgia: Scientific Evidence

42 people with fibromyalgia took part in a randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial published in 2023 that tested whole-body light therapy against a placebo. Participants received 12 sessions of 660 nm and 850 nm light at 28 mW/cm², 25.2 J/cm², and 336 mW to 967 W, for 20 minutes per session, 3 times weekly over 4 weeks, with pain, quality of life, physical activity, and psychological factors assessed before, during, and after treatment, and again 2 weeks later. Pain and quality of life improved significantly by the end of treatment and at follow-up, and fear of movement and confidence in managing symptoms also improved, though pain catastrophizing showed no significant difference between groups at any point.

Comparing an experimental group receiving laser acupuncture against a control group, a pilot randomized controlled clinical trial from 2022 tested pulsed laser acupuncture (LA) for pain and heart rate variability in 20 women with fibromyalgia aged 40 to 80. The experimental group of 10 received an individualized protocol using an 808 nm device at 120 mW and 36.5 Hz, delivering 3 to 5 J/cm² to specific acupuncture points twice weekly over 3 weeks. Pain intensity dropped significantly across all 3 pain scales used in the study, but the researchers found no significant difference in heart rate variability between the groups.

Researchers in 2022 tested whole-body light therapy on 40 adults with fibromyalgia aged 34 to 64 in a triple-blinded randomized clinical trial. Participants lay in a full-body light bed delivering 660 nm and 850 nm light at 28 mW/cm², 25.2 J/cm², and 336 mW to 967 W, for 20 minutes per session, 3 times weekly over 4 weeks. Researchers measured blood pressure, pain thresholds at 13 tender points, and tissue firmness, and found significant improvements in blood pressure rhythm, pain thresholds, and tissue elasticity after treatment. The light therapy was associated with no known side effects, though the authors called for further studies to confirm the findings.

160 women with fibromyalgia were split across 3 treatment groups in a 2018 randomized blinded controlled trial to find out whether light therapy, exercise, or their combination produced the best results. Light therapy was applied through a 9-diode cluster at 640 nm, 875 nm, and 905 nm to 11 body sites, including the jaw joint, back of the head, and tender points, for 5 minutes once weekly over 10 weeks, delivering 39.3 J per location, with effects measured after both a single session and the full course. Both approaches independently improved pain thresholds and reduced anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbance across the treatment period. It was concluded that combining light therapy with exercise produced the greatest overall gains in pain relief and quality of life.

A woman with long-standing drug-resistant fibromyalgia who had failed conventional treatment took part in a 2018 case-based review that tested high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) at 3 power levels using the Phoenix Thera-lase device at 1275 nm. Treatments were administered at 1 W, 42 W, and 75 W from a distance of 12 inches for 60 seconds per point across the paraspinous region and tender points in the shoulders and hips, with sessions lasting 30 to 40 minutes at a frequency of 4 per week. The review reported that the 1 W treatment produced only minimal symptom relief, while the 42 W and 75 W treatments were associated with dramatic reductions in pain, improved sleep quality, and increased physical activity lasting 4 to 10 days after each session. Researchers noted that the patient was able to discontinue opioid-containing medication following the higher power treatments and called for further sham-controlled studies to confirm these findings.

Pain, anxiety, and quality of life improved with laser while trunk flexibility responded to taping in a 2016 placebo-randomized controlled clinical trial of 45 female fibromyalgia patients across 3 groups of 15. The laser group received 850 nm light at 2 J/cm² and 40 mW for 3 minutes daily over 21 days applied to the back and head, while the taping group received kinesiotape and the third group received placebo laser, with all groups assessed before and after treatment. Night pain and functional status improved across all 3 groups, and the authors concluded that kinesiotape may be a viable alternative to laser in fibromyalgia rehabilitation given its similar overall effect.

Researchers in 2014 tested whether low-level laser therapy (LLLT) could outperform a sham procedure for fibromyalgia in a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial of 20 patients. The active group of 10 women averaging 39.4 years received a gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) diode laser at 670 nm, 20 mW, and 4 J/cm² at 570 mW/cm² for 7 seconds per point across all 18 fibromyalgia tender points, 3 times weekly over 28 days. Pain, functional status, and overall fibromyalgia impact all improved significantly more with LLLT than with sham, though tender point counts fell significantly in both groups. No side effects or complications were reported in either group.

Class IV laser heat therapy (LHT) at 810 nm and 980 nm was tested against sham heat therapy in a 2013 double-blind randomized controlled trial of 38 women with fibromyalgia averaging 52 years of age, with 20 assigned to LHT and 18 to sham. Treatment was applied at 10.63 J/cm², 10 W, and 600 to 4200 J for 60 seconds per point across 7 tender points on the neck, shoulders, and back, totaling 7 minutes per session, twice weekly over 28 days. Significantly greater reductions in pain and upper body flexibility gains emerged in the LHT group compared with sham, while fibromyalgia impact scores improved in the LHT group alone.

A randomized controlled trial from 2002 allocated 75 fibromyalgia patients equally to 3 groups: active GaAs low-power laser (LPL) at 904 nm and 2 J/cm², placebo laser, and low-dose amitriptyline at 10 mg nightly. The LPL group received 3-minute sessions per tender point daily on weekdays for 14 days, while the amitriptyline group was treated for 56 days. The study reported that the laser group showed greater reductions in pain intensity and fatigue than both other groups, while amitriptyline produced greater improvements in morning stiffness, depression, and quality of life scores compared with placebo. The results said that GaAs LPL was well tolerated and may serve as a standalone or supplementary treatment for fibromyalgia.

40 female patients with fibromyalgia took part in a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in 2002 that tested whether low-energy laser therapy could outperform a placebo laser. Participants were assigned to either active GaAs laser treatment at 904 nm and 2 J/cm² or a placebo laser, with sessions applied daily except weekends for 14 days to 9 tender point sites across the body, including the trapezius, gluteal, and knee regions. The study reported that both groups showed significant improvements, but the active laser group showed greater reductions in pain, muscle spasm, morning stiffness, and total tender point count compared with the placebo group (p<0.05). None of the participants reported any side effects.

An umbrella review published in 2025 pooled 15 meta-analyses covering 204 randomized controlled trials and over 9,000 participants to assess the effects of photobiomodulation (PBM) across multiple health conditions including fibromyalgia. Reviewed studies used a wide range of protocols, with wavelengths between roughly 400 and 1080 nm, irradiance between 20 and 2375 mW/cm², and doses between roughly 0.0075 and 216 J/cm², applied over treatment periods ranging from 1 to 182 days. For fibromyalgia specifically, the review found moderate-certainty evidence that PBM was associated with reduced fatigue, while most other health outcomes assessed across the review showed low or very low certainty of evidence. The authors concluded that further high-quality trials are needed before PBM can be widely adopted in clinical practice.

A critical literary review published in 2019 examined how low level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used to manage fibromyalgia pain. The review drew on studies using wavelengths between 633 and 904 nm applied by direct skin contact to trigger points, tender points, acupuncture points, paravertebral areas, large blood vessels, transcranial sites, and muscle tension zones, with session lengths ranging from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and treatment courses of 5 to 16 sessions over 5 days. It was found that LLLT may be partially effective for fibromyalgia, but only when a comprehensive treatment approach is used. The review stressed that selecting the correct wavelength, power, and exposure time, while limiting total treatment time and number of sessions, may be necessary for meaningful pain relief.

Tender point counts and fibromyalgia impact scores fell with low-level laser therapy (LLLT), but pain scores measured on a visual scale did not, according to a 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials. The review pooled LLLT studies using 670 nm and 830 nm light at 2 J/cm² and 11.2 to 50 mW, applied to tender points, trigger points, or the whole body for 28 seconds to 3 minutes per session, at frequencies of 10 to 15 sessions per week over 7 to 28 days. Thermal therapy reduced pain scores, tender point counts, and fibromyalgia impact scores, while electrical nerve stimulation reduced pain scores only.

A 56-day laser program tested across 7 zones of the body showed only partial results for fibromyalgia in a 2011 randomized controlled trial of 31 women. Active laser treatment using the Girlase E11010 device at 895 to 915 nm and 1 W delivered 0.0007 J per point across 6 frequencies per session for 42 minutes, 6 times weekly, while a placebo group followed the same protocol without active emission. The study reported significant improvements in weariness and difficulty sleeping for the laser group, but could not demonstrate significant benefit across the remaining fibromyalgia symptoms measured. The authors concluded that further research is needed to confirm the influence of the girlase E11010 on fibromyalgia symptom improvement.

The same laser session that produced a slight response in healthy women did nothing for those with fibromyalgia in a 2020 observational study of 37 female participants, with fibromyalgia patients averaging 50 years of age and healthy controls averaging 44. A GaAlAs laser at 840 nm, 30 mW, 4 J per point, and 2500 Hz was applied directly to the skin for 90 seconds across 6 points on the thigh muscle twice weekly, with laser and placebo sessions held 7 days apart. No improvement in leg muscle strength or endurance was observed in the fibromyalgia group, and it was concluded that the condition may limit the body's ability to benefit from laser treatment.

A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial from 2018 tested whether adding low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to a functional exercise program could improve outcomes for 22 women with fibromyalgia beyond exercise alone. Both groups completed the same exercise program 3 times weekly for 8 weeks, with the active group receiving 808 nm LLLT at 100 mW, 4 J per point, and 142.85 J/cm² applied to the thigh, hamstring, and calf muscles for 40 seconds per point after each session, while the placebo group received an inactive device. The final evaluation reported improvements in pain, functional performance, quality of life, and depression over 8 weeks, but adding LLLT to exercise produced no additional gains compared with exercise alone.

Comparing laser therapy combined with stretching against stretching alone, a randomized controlled trial from 2007 assigned 20 fibromyalgia patients to 2 groups of 10 to assess whether adding laser improved pain and quality of life outcomes. The laser and stretching group received 830 nm laser at 3 J/cm² and 30 mW applied to tender points across multiple body sites, while both groups followed the same muscle stretching exercise program over 35 days. Pain was assessed using a visual analog scale and pressure pain threshold testing, and quality of life was measured using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and SF-36. While both groups showed significant improvements in pain, tender point sensitivity, and quality of life (all p<0.05), the study found no significant difference between them, suggesting laser may not add meaningful benefit beyond stretching alone for fibromyalgia.

In 1991, a double-blind randomized controlled trial evaluated whether low-level laser therapy (LLLT) could reduce chronic myofascial pain in the neck and shoulder girdle in 36 female participants. Continuous GaAlAs laser at 830 nm was applied to tender points in the neck and shoulder region across 6 treatment sessions over 14 days, with each session delivering 4.5 to 22.5 J depending on the number of points treated, and compared against a placebo laser. Researchers found no significant difference between the LLLT group and the placebo group in either pain relief or analgesic tablet intake. None of the participants reported any side effects.