One red light treatment did not reduce pain for new moms with perineal trauma.

New mothers often face intense pain after birth, especially when the area around the vagina gets injured. Researchers wanted to know if a specific red light treatment could help. They tested this on 60 women who scored four or higher on a pain scale. These women received either the red light or a sham treatment that looked real but had no active light. The team checked pain levels and tissue healing at 30 minutes and several days later. At 30 minutes, the women who got the red light did not feel less pain than those who got the sham treatment. Their pain scores were similar, and their tissue healing scores were also the same. The women reported similar satisfaction levels a week later. No safety issues were reported during the short study. While the red light felt safe, this single application did not work better than the fake treatment. This means one session of this light therapy is not a reliable way to reduce pain right after birth for these injuries.