(also known as low level laser therapy or low level LED therapy)

At some point, I’ll be adding information about red light therapy devices you can buy to use at home, as this is more convenient and cheaper in the long run than attending clinics – watch this space or email me if you’d like me to send you more information: alison at concussionrecovery.uk

Photobiomodulation (PBM) is basically exposure to specific wavelengths and red and near-infra red light at specific intensities for specific periods of time. Most of the light gets scattered when it reaches your skin but a tiny percentage can penetrate deeper, up to several centimetres, depending on the area of the body, and this is enough to improve various molecular and cellular processes so that your body and brain can repair and regenerate themselves.

It was pioneered in Eastern Europe and the USSR in the 1960s, initially using low-intensity lasers. Now LEDs are mainly used. It’s non-invasive and, in over fifty years of use, no side effects have been found (though there are a few contraindications, so check with your doctor/health professional first).  It’s been researched in the West for over twenty years and is now starting to be used by private clinics and, more slowly, by health services for certain conditions. The best equipment, fortuitously, is being developed by a company called Thor Laser in England (as well as TheraLight in the US) and is gradually becoming available for use in private clinics around the UK.

This clinic in Derby, England, has a lot of information about it on their website: Brain PBM Therapy

Here are a couple of scientific articles about it too. If you’re not familiar with the format of scientific papers, you can read the abstract at the beginning for an overview, then dip into the less technical sections as you like. If you want to read more academic articles, contact me and I can send you links and/or pdfs of papers I’ve downloaded.

Photobiomodulation for Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke (Hamblin, 2018)
Brain Photobiomodulation Therapy: A Narrative Review (Salehpour et al, 2018)

If you’re thinking of getting it, I’d encourage you to phone the clinics which offer it and talk to them about it. I’ve spoken to folk at a few different clinics and they’ve all been really helpful and happy to give me more information on the treatment and on other clinics. Most of the people I’ve spoken to seem to think that the best option is to go on a whole body red light bed if you can get access to one. The one I have used is made by NovoTHOR but there is another by TheraLight and both are high-spec. You can check the company websites to find the locations of their light beds:

Novothor.com – locations
TheraLight.com – locations

The whole body light bed allows you to get a lot of light into your body and system as a whole, although the light isn’t being targeted at your head specifically. If you aren’t near a whole body light bed, some clinics instead have the Thor Laser desktop unit – also very good – where the light is applied over small areas sequentially, focusing on your head and neck. There are other types of red light equipment becoming available but Thor Laser/NovoTHOR and TheraLight seem to be the best.

I used the whole body red light bed at a clinic in Cardiff. There are several clinics dotted about England and in Scotland there’s a whole body bed in Bridge of Weir, about fifteen miles west of Glasgow, plus clinics in Glasgow and Stirling which have the desktop unit and know how to use it for brain injury.

Below are the clinics I’ve been in contact with. You’ll be able to find more, and if you do, please let me know and I’ll list them here. You can search online using the term “photobiomodulation” (the preferred term among researchers) but also try “red light therapy” and “low-level laser (or LED) therapy”.

Glasgow and Stirling – Sports Therapy Scotland
Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire – The Health Hub
Leyland, Lancashire – The Wellness Practice
York – Active Care Chiropractic
Derby – PBM Therapy Clinic
Cardiff – The House of Human Potential

It’s generally recommended that you have at least 8-10 sessions to see an effect. I felt more clear-headed (and just generally lovely) after two sessions. However, if you have it only occasionally, the effects may not last. Research suggests you need regular sessions for it to be effective. I initially had it three times a week for three weeks and this appeared to increase my clarity and decrease my grogginess.  Later, I had it weekly for a couple of months. This was less effective and the positive effects seemed to fade after a couple of days, so I’m looking into buying a device to use at home.

You might need to have it regularly for at least several months in order for any benefits to stabilise. Doctor Fred Kahn, one of the pioneers of photobiomodulation in the West (featured in Norman Doidge’s book) recommends treating brain injuries 2-3 times a week and continuing for a couple of months after the person has recovered. Although it’s established that photobiomodulation does help recovery from brain injury and stroke (and can improve the functioning of healthy brains), the exact treatment parameters are still being worked out. The sooner you can get it after your injury the better though studies have shown it can still help even years afterwards, and my experience bears this out too.

For the full body light beds, clinics generally charge £40-60 per session, and a bit more for using the desktop unit as it takes longer. If you can afford it, it could be worth trying. As well as helping your brain heal, the red light also has beneficial effects on the rest of your body too (including reducing inflammation and promoting nervous system regeneration), and can help alleviate pain and a variety of other conditions, so it’s a win-win situation. Maybe in a few decades it’ll be available on the NHS…