What is it about?
Genitourinary syndrome of menopause is a common condition after menopause. It can cause vaginal dryness, discomfort, pain during sex, and urinary symptoms such as urgency, frequency, nocturia, or urine leakage. Some women cannot use estrogen treatment, or prefer not to use hormonal therapy. This study evaluated a non-hormonal light-based treatment called photobiomodulation. Twenty-seven postmenopausal women received eight weekly sessions using a soft silicone vaginal light-guide probe that delivered low-intensity 660-nm red light. We measured vaginal health, urinary symptoms, sexual function, and treatment tolerability over time. After treatment, vaginal health scores improved, several urinary symptom scores improved, and sexual function scores showed some improvement. No adverse events were observed during the study period.
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Why is it important?
Many women with menopausal vaginal and urinary symptoms need treatment options that are non-hormonal, comfortable, and suitable for older patients or patients who are reluctant or unable to use estrogen. This study provides early clinical evidence that intravaginal 660-nm photobiomodulation may be a well-tolerated option for improving vaginal health and related urinary symptoms. The study also carefully reports the light dose and treatment parameters, which is important because reproducible reporting is often limited in studies of energy-based therapies. Although these findings are preliminary and need confirmation in controlled trials, they may help guide future research on non-hormonal treatments for genitourinary syndrome of menopause.
Perspectives
As a urogynecologist, I often meet postmenopausal women who have bothersome vaginal and urinary symptoms but are hesitant to use hormonal treatment or have medical reasons to avoid it. Some older patients also struggle with multiple medications for urinary symptoms. This motivated us to explore a gentle, non-hormonal approach that could be more acceptable and comfortable for this patient group. This was a pilot prospective study, so it cannot prove treatment efficacy without a control group. However, the absence of adverse events and the observed improvements in vaginal health and urinary symptoms suggest that photobiomodulation deserves further study in controlled clinical trials.
Pei-Chi Wu
National Taiwan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Evaluation of photobiomodulation therapy for genitourinary syndrome of menopause: A single-center prospective study, PLOS One, June 2026, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0351765.
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