Efficacy of low-level laser therapy for body contouring and spot fat reduction

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is commonly used in medical applications, but scientific studies of its efficacy and the mechanism by which it causes loss of fat from fat cells for body contouring are lacking. This study examined the effectiveness and mechanism by which 635–680 nm LLLT acts as a non-invasive body contouring intervention method. Methods Forty healthy men and women ages 18–65 years with a BMI Results Data were analyzed for those with body weight fluctuations within 1.5 kg during 4 weeks of the study. Each treatment gave a 0.4–0.5 cm loss in waist girth.Cumulative girth loss after 4 weeks was −2.15 cm (−0.78 ± 2.82 vs. 1.35 ± 2.64 cm for the control group,p Conclusions LLLT achieved safe and significant girth loss sustained over repeated treatments and cumulative over 4 weeks of eight treatments. The girth loss from the waist gave clinically and statistically significant cosmetic improvement.

Evidence level

Several human studies show positive signals, while research methods and sample sizes continue to develop.

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