Millions of people worldwide live with chronic nerve pain affecting the face or mouth—a debilitating condition known as orofacial neuropathic pain. For decades, treatment options have relied heavily on powerful medications that often cause significant side effects and limited relief.
Now, newly published clinical guidelines are providing medical professionals with the first standardised framework for the safe and effective use of Photobiomodulation (PBM)—also known as low-level laser therapy—for these complex conditions.
PBM uses specific wavelengths of red or near‑infrared light to promote nerve healing, reduce inflammation and block pain signals—without cutting or burning tissue. While the therapy has shown promising results for years, inconsistent research methods have prevented its widespread adoption.
Mater Research’s Associate Professor Liisa Laakso, who contributed to the new guidelines, said the medical field faced a major challenge because previous studies used vastly different laser settings, power outputs, wavelengths and treatment durations.
“Because of this inconsistency, it was incredibly difficult for clinicians to know exactly how to apply the therapy effectively for facial nerve pain,” she said.
“We needed to cut through the confusion and provide a rigorous, standardised protocol.”
To address this gap, A/Prof Laakso led an international, multidisciplinary expert panel to develop the Holistic Analysis and Novel Normative Actions (HANNA) Framework—a strict grading system that excluded poorly designed or biased studies and ensured the guidelines were built solely on robust, high‑quality evidence.
Using this framework, the guidelines provide clear treatment recommendations for specific conditions, including:
- Primary Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS)
- Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN)
- Post‑Herpetic Neuralgia (PHN)
Other conditions, such as Post‑Traumatic Trigeminal Neuropathy and Occipital Neuralgia, were not included due to insufficient high‑quality evidence, reinforcing the need for further clinical trials.
For patients, the guidelines represent a significant step forward in accessible, drug‑free pain relief.
“By explicitly listing the exact laser power, wavelength and treatment duration shown to be effective in quality studies, we are taking the guesswork out of PBM,” A/Prof Laakso said.
“This standardisation vastly improves the likelihood that patients receive a treatment that works, without the heavy side effects associated with traditional nerve medications.”
The rigorous nature of the guidelines also positions PBM as a viable option for broader health system adoption. They are already being considered in international policy discussions, including assessments by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which could pave the way for public funding of laser‑based pain therapies.
Developed as a ‘living’ document, the World Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy (WALT) will update the guidelines every three years as new clinical trials emerge—ensuring care for orofacial neuropathic pain continues to evolve alongside the evidence.
The full paper, titled “Photobiomodulation Therapy in the Management of Orofacial Neuropathic Pain-WALT Position Paper 2026” was originally published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in February 2026.
