Pain Therapy: Low-intensity electromagnetic millimeter waves

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Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006 Jun;3(2):201-7.

Low-intensity electromagnetic millimeter waves for pain therapy.

Usichenko TI, Edinger H, Gizhko VV, Lehmann C, Wendt M, Feyerherd F.

Millimeter wave therapy (MWT), a non-invasive complementary

therapeutic technique is claimed to possess analgesic properties. We

reviewed the clinical studies describing the pain-relief effect of

MWT. Medline-based search according to review criteria and evaluation

of methodological quality of the retrieved studies was performed. Of

13 studies, 9 of them were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), only

three studies yielded more than 3 points on the Oxford scale of

methodological quality of RCTs. MWT was reported to be effective in

the treatment of headache, arthritic, neuropathic and acute

postoperative pain. The rapid onset of pain relief during MWT lasting

hours to days after, remote to the site of exposure (acupuncture

points), was the most characteristic feature in MWT application for

pain relief. The most commonly used parameters of MWT were the MW

frequencies between 30 and 70 GHz and power density up to 10 mW cm(-

2). The promising results from pilot case series studies and small-

size RCTs for analgesic/hypoalgesic effects of MWT should be verified

in large-scale RCTs on the effectiveness of this treatment method.