Thirty-six patients were randomly assigned to three groups to compare the effectiveness of low power laser therapy, ultrasound and no therapy for supraspinatus tendinosis. All three groups were given the same advice and educational material. Measurements were taken before and after treatment for muscle weakness secondary to pain, pain, disability and tenderness. Treatment for the experimental groups comprised nine therapeutic doses over a three-week period of either laser therapy or ultrasound; the control group had no treatment for three weeks. The degree of muscle weakness, pain, functional disability and tenderness for the three groups was similar before treatment. Comparisons after treatment showed that the laser group had less muscle weakness (p < 0.01) and pain (p < 0.01) than the ultrasound and control groups and had less disability (p < 0.05) and tenderness (p < 0.01) after treatment than the control group. These data suggest that the dose of laser therapy used in the study, advice and education improve the symptoms of supraspinatus tendinosis. Ultrasound also improved the symptoms, but was not significantly different from the control group that received advice only. Based on these results laser therapy should be the treatment of choice for supraspinatus tendinosis rather than ultrasound.

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