According to the study, other non-invasive myopia treatments, including outdoor exercise, orthokeratology and atropine, haven’t shown comparable myopia-controlling effects as 650nm red light therapy. Photo: Eyerising International. Click image to enlarge.

Repeated low-level red light (RLRL) therapy is showing promise outside the US as a new myopia treatment for children, though recent reports have questioned its long-term safety. This phototherapy involves administering low doses of red and near-infrared light that are intended to cause a tissue response. A recent paper in BMC Ophthalmology presented the first systematic review and meta-analysis of RLRL therapy investigating only randomized controlled trials. The analysis showed that RLRL is effective at reversing myopia progression but still requires long-term studies.

The meta-analysis included five randomized controlled trials with a total of 833 patients (407 receiving RLRL treatment and 426 controls using single-vision spectacles). Pooled studies showed that at three months, there were significant differences between the two groups in axial length (-0.16mm), spherical equivalent refraction (SER) (0.33D) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) (43.65µm). At six months, significant differences remained in axial length (-0.21mm), SER (0.46D) and SFCT (25.07µm). At 12 months, there were significant differences in axial length (-0.31mm) and SER (0.63D).

“The present review revealed the clinical significance of RLRL for myopia control in terms of AL, SER and SFCT,” the researchers wrote in their BMC Ophthalmology paper. “It has slowed down and reversed the myopia progression in a large proportion of children.”

“RLRL therapy is an effective new alternative treatment for myopia control with good user acceptability and no documented functional or structural damage,” they added in their paper. “However, the effect of long-term RLRL treatment and the rebound effect after cessation require further investigation.”