End Frozen Shoulder Pain with Red Light Therapy

If you or someone you know has experienced frozen shoulder, then you understand how frustrating it can be. One minute you are reaching for your coffee mug, and the next, lifting your arm feels like a workout. Frozen shoulder, aka adhesive capsulitis, can be incredibly painful and make even the simplest movements a challenge. And while physical therapy and steroid injections are the usual go-to solutions, they do not always bring the relief people hope for.

Now here is the exciting part. A new 2025 research review looked at something that is showing a lot of promise: laser therapy. And not just one kind, but two. High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT), both used alongside traditional therapy. The question was simple. Could either of these make conventional treatment more effective?

Let’s walk through what this study found, what it did well, and how it connects to the accelerated recovery options we offer at Solasta.

End Frozen Shoulder Pain - Once and For All.

If you can’t access laser therapy in your community you can still get relief with red light therapy.

A Quick Breakdown of the Research

The review pulled together nine randomized controlled trials, which is the gold standard in research. In total, 444 people with frozen shoulder were studied. These participants received either HILT or LLLT in combination with physical therapy.

The researchers evaluated outcomes such as:

• Pain (measured using the VAS and SPADI scores)

• Range of motion (including shoulder flexion and abduction)

• Quality of life (using the SF-36 survey)

This was not a simple opinion piece or case study. The researchers used a validated bias assessment tool and only included well-designed randomized trials. While one study had minor concerns around blinding and randomization, overall, the study quality was considered strong.

What They Found

The results were impressive. Laser therapy, when added to traditional treatment, led to significantly better outcomes across several areas.

1. Pain Relief
Both HILT and LLLT helped reduce pain, but high-intensity therapy delivered the biggest improvements. The SPADI-pain scores dropped more sharply with HILT, making it the better option for fast, noticeable relief.

2. Improved Movement
While shoulder flexion did not improve significantly, HILT improved shoulder abduction, and LLLT was especially effective for internal rotation. These gains may not seem huge on paper, but for someone struggling to put on a jacket or reach into a cupboard, even small improvements can make a big difference.

3. Emotional and Physical Well-being
LLLT really stood out here. It improved emotional well-being and physical functioning scores on the SF-36 survey, suggesting it could be a helpful option for those feeling discouraged or worn down by chronic pain.

4. No Significant Predictors
One interesting finding was that things like age or how long the person had been in treatment did not significantly affect the outcomes. The only exception was that people who were followed up for longer showed more sustained physical improvements.

What to Keep in Mind

As with any study, there were limitations. The results varied quite a bit across studies, known as heterogeneity. Some used different types of lasers or energy doses, and follow-up times ranged from two weeks to three months. This makes it harder to say exactly how much therapy is needed or what type of laser is best for every case.

Still, the consistency in the overall trend, improved pain, better function, and higher quality of life - gives us strong confidence that laser therapy is a valuable tool in the recovery process.

How This Applies to You

If you are dealing with frozen shoulder, the takeaway is clear. You do not need to settle for slow progress or one-size-fits-all options. In our clinic at Solasta in Central Texas, our laser treatments are designed to support faster, gentler healing. We use targeted protocols that combine high and low level therapeutic laser to optimise recovery. If you can’t access a clinic providing these services, you still have options. The NovaaLab pain management red light therapy pad is one device I can 100% recommend for home use.

Whether you are recovering from a frozen shoulder or facing chronic inflammation or injury elsewhere, our approach is built on evidence-based care, including insights from high-quality studies like this one.

There is still more to learn, and future studies will help refine which settings and schedules work best. But what we know now is very encouraging. High- and low-intensity laser therapy are not just promising, they are powerful additions to modern rehabilitation.