G A, Swathi, Maiya, G Arun, Shetty, Shiran et al. · Lasers in medical science · 2026 · DOI
A systematic review of seven randomised controlled trials examined whether photobiomodulation therapy (a light-based treatment) could reduce pain and improve quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome. The review reported short-term reductions in pain intensity and improvements in quality of life, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in study participants. However, the studies included were quite different from one another, which limits how widely these findings can be generalised; the authors note that larger, more standardised clinical trials are needed to clarify the actual role of this treatment.
Although this review examined fibromyalgia syndrome rather than ME/CFS, some patients with ME/CFS experience overlapping chronic pain and sleep disturbance. By analogy, understanding whether photobiomodulation may be associated with pain or quality-of-life changes in one chronic pain disorder may inform future research priorities in ME/CFS. However, the relevance of fibromyalgia-derived evidence to ME/CFS remains unclear, as the underlying pathophysiologies differ.
This systematic review does not establish that photobiomodulation causes pain reduction or improves quality of life in fibromyalgia—it reports associations observed in short-term trials with substantial methodological diversity. It does not address efficacy in ME/CFS, does not clarify optimal dosing or treatment duration, and does not confirm any proposed mechanism of action. The substantial heterogeneity noted by the authors means findings cannot be safely generalised across all fibromyalgia populations or treatment protocols.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
G A, Swathi, Maiya, G Arun, Shetty, Shiran, Abrahamse, Heidi, Kadavigere, Rajagopal, Bhat N, Shyamasunder, et al. (2026). Effect of photobiomodulation on pain and quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome: a systematic review.. Lasers in medical science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-026-04930-4
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-g-a-2026-effect-photobiomodulation,
author = {G A, Swathi and Maiya, G Arun and Shetty, Shiran and Abrahamse, Heidi and Kadavigere, Rajagopal and Bhat N, Shyamasunder and K N, Shivashankara},
title = {Effect of photobiomodulation on pain and quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome: a systematic review.},
journal = {Lasers in medical science},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1007/s10103-026-04930-4},
note = {PubMed: 42334638},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/g-a-2026-effect-photobiomodulation},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-07-08. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/g-a-2026-effect-photobiomodulation
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