Opinion of speech-language pathologist on the use of photobiomodulation in the vocal clinic.
Emerson Soares Pontes, Thays Garcia Vaiano, Roberto Sávio de Assunção Bastos and 1 others
PMID 37729333WHAT IT FOUND
Brazilian speech-language therapists widely report using photobiomodulation in voice practice, mostly before exercises, on the thyroid cartilage with 808-830 nm light.
The paper describes their reported training and parameters, not whether photobiomodulation improves voice.
Key findings
01All 29 surveyed speech-language therapists reported knowing photobiomodulation principles, and 28 reported familiarity with its use in the voice area.
02All participants reported using point contact irradiation, and 23 reported applying photobiomodulation bilaterally to the thyroid cartilage lamina.
03Fifteen participants reported using 3-5 J doses for vocal fold inflammatory processes, and 13 reported using 6-9 J doses to improve or train the voice.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample of 29 Brazilian speech-language-hearing therapists, so the results may not represent other countries or other voice clinicians. The study measured self-reported knowledge and practice, not patient outcomes, so it cannot show benefit or harm. The number of participants was small, and the authors note that the 2020 pandemic may have limited participation. The text and tables differ on how many participants usually used photobiomodulation: the results sentence says all, while Table 2 reports 25 of 29.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this survey as evidence that photobiomodulation improves voice. It only reports what 29 Brazilian speech-language therapists said they know and do, and the paper states that the evidence is not enough to recommend photobiomodulation for voice.