Red Light & Laser Therapy for Kids
Ask Dr. Tony: Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP, Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Duration: ~28 min
Key Takeaways
- Red light and laser therapy (photobiomodulation) work by delivering energy from the outside in to restore mitochondrial function and reactivate brain pathways, but they can only restore pathways that were built correctly in the first place.
- The brain is designed to develop bottom-up and back-to-front, meaning the brainstem, cerebellum, and upper cervical neurospinal system are foundational to higher functions like the prefrontal cortex and executive functioning.
- In children with autism, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental challenges, the issue is often that brain pathways were never fully built due to the “Perfect Storm,” birth trauma, and upper cervical subluxation, so applying lasers too early can irritate an already dysregulated brain.
- Dr. Tony Ebel uses heart rate variability (HRV) as objective measurement: low HRV signals poor vagus nerve function, while improved HRV confirms genuine vagal nerve activation from an intervention.
- The recommended sequence is foundational neurologically-focused chiropractic care first to achieve neurological stability, then advanced interventions like lasers, detoxification, or stem cells layered on top once the nervous system can handle them.
Does Red Light and Laser Therapy Speed Up Brain Function in Children?
Red light and laser therapy, also known as photobiomodulation, may help activate the vagus nerve and speed up neuron firing in the brain, but according to Dr. Tony Ebel, the critical question is not whether it works, but when it is deployed in a child’s healing journey. These therapies deliver energy from the outside in to address oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, helping reconnect and reactivate brain pathways that are not firing properly.
The crucial distinction is that lasers can restore pathways that already existed but were injured, which is why they tend to work well for adults recovering from concussion, stroke, or traumatic brain injury. In children with autism, epilepsy, and other neurodevelopmental challenges, those pathways were frequently never built correctly in the first place, because the brain develops in a specific sequence: bottom-up and back-to-front, starting from the brainstem and neurospinal system.
For this reason, Dr. Tony recommends establishing neurological stability through foundational Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care before introducing red light therapy or other advanced interventions. Applying lasers to a brain that still has significant upper cervical subluxation and dysregulation can make the nervous system “more angry, more irritated, more confused” rather than helping, which is why sequence matters more than the intervention itself.
Why Dr. Tony Doesn’t Use Lasers in His Clinic [01:17 – 04:45]
Dr. Tony Ebel: Before I answer, I have to give you my disclaimer, but it’s not really a disclaimer. We don’t use lasers. We have seen so many kids regress from them, and so many kids get no change from them despite parents spending 20, 30, 40 thousand dollars. We’ve only seen a few kids get better with them. And when I say this, it’s not just pulled out of thin air. We pay close attention, closer than anybody.
Here’s what’s different about me and our team: we literally don’t care what works, just that something does. I don’t look at a single intervention with any judgment. I am not bought out by a private equity firm, a laser manufacturer, or a supplement company. There are no private investors. A thousand percent of our clinical judgment goes into our patients, and my answers on this podcast come from real-life clinical observation.
“We literally don’t care what works. Just that something does. I only care that your kid gets better. Every answer comes from that.”
If somebody came into my clinic and said they used a random device over the weekend and their kid got better, I’d research everything, where they got it, which device, what wavelength. I’d find every question to ask to figure out if that intervention could help other kids. When I’m talking about stem cells or lasers, trust me, I would love to answer “yes, that’s great, do it.” But you trust us, so you have to get the real answers from clinical observation.
So we don’t use lasers, neurofeedback, stem cells, or primitive reflex integration therapies in our clinic, because we see a lot of kids regress or get no change with them if done too soon. What we do instead is get kids to neurological stability first. If the nervous system doesn’t heal completely on its own, which most do, and we need other interventions, we refer to different providers we trust who do lasers and other modalities, like Dr. Chris Motley.
“The Vagus Nerve Is Trending”: Marketing vs. Clinical Proof [04:45 – 06:11]
Dr. Tony Ebel: We don’t have lasers in our clinic, so I don’t know the research inside out. I have not sat through the seminars that say “this laser does this for these cells” or “this laser does that for the vagus nerve.” But I do know this: the vagus nerve is trending. So a lot of devices, manufacturers, and practitioners are going to tell the marketplace, “This device does this for the vagus nerve.”
Now, certain lasers along the red light spectrum and certain cold lasers may have legitimate clinical research that proves they do that. I can’t say one way or the other because I haven’t looked for the research, so I don’t know it. I won’t fake my way into an answer. I’ll always tell you the truth.
“We’re never guessing. We’re just testing. We’re never posting on Instagram saying it does this without real clinical data that we know it does it.”
What I do know is that we use real-life measurements for every kiddo. We use heart rate variability (HRV). It’s simple: when HRV scans are tanked, you have low vagal nerve function. When HRV scores improve, they can only improve because you’re activating and generating vagal nerve responses. So whether we’re delivering an intervention ourselves or referring a kid out, we use pre- and post-HRV scans to see what it’s actually doing to the vagus nerve and the autonomic nervous system.
How Laser Therapy Is Said to Work in the Brain [06:11 – 08:15]
Dr. Tony Ebel: Do I believe it’s plausible that red light therapy gets the neurons firing faster in the brain? Heck yes, it fits. There’s a lot of research I’ve at least skimmed saying that different lasers of different wavelengths and color spectrums do certain things for brain tissue and the vagus nerve. I believe that could be the case. So it comes back to the answer I give to nearly every conversation: when is this laser being deployed?
When we look at the laser-light conversation for kids whose brain, brain-body communication, and nervous system are injured, yes, it goes cellular. Yes, the injuries involve oxidative stress. Yes, their mitochondria, brain cells, and brain pathways are not firing and not connected. The brain isn’t doing the advanced executive-level jobs we want it to do.
Here’s how laser light therapy is said to work within the brain: if a functioning part of the brain, the cells, the connectivity, isn’t doing its job, that intervention from the outside in can come in, light up, and activate the energy and the mitochondrial dysfunction, getting those pathways working again.
“Hang on to the word again. What we know about autism and pediatric brain-based challenges is those pathways were never built and formed functionally in the first place.”
The Brain Is Built Bottom-Up and Back-to-Front [08:15 – 11:32]
Dr. Tony Ebel: Brains are built from the bottom up and back to front. The bottom of the brain, and I know an anatomy textbook says it’s separate, the spinal cord and neurospinal system are literally tethered and connected to the brainstem, and the brainstem is connected to the rest of the brain. The way the central and autonomic nervous system work, the bottom and back of the brain are more important than the front and sides, the prefrontal cortex and parietal regions.
It would be so easy to draw these conclusions together and say, “Man, if we could just activate and stimulate the prefrontal cortex through something like lasers or photobiomodulation, wouldn’t that be great?” Because clearly the prefrontal cortex is having all sorts of challenges in a child with autism, epilepsy, and brain-based challenges.
But the lasers, the light, the input from the outside in directly to the brain would require that those pathways were built successfully in the first place. If they were never built, because the Perfect Storm, subluxation, dysregulation, and interference in brain-body communication disrupted the bottom and back of the brain, the cerebellum, the brainstem, and the vagus nerve, then the input that’s supposed to come from the body through the dorsal horn, the sensory conduit, and the neurospinal system never built that healthy brain in the first place.
“It is designed by God to be built bottom-up, back-forward. It has to go in that order.”
Lasers are not medication. They’re not trying to cheat the system with chemistry. But they’re trying to start on third base, trying to activate, stimulate, and heal a brain pathway that was never formed in the first place. Which is probably why they work so well with adults, concussions, and stroke.
Why Lasers Work for Adults But Not Always for Kids [11:32 – 14:39]
Dr. Tony Ebel: This brain-based stimulation, lasers, stem cells, photobiomodulation, is probably an incredibly effective therapy for adults who already had existing, strong, connected, functioning brain pathways and then suffered an injury, a traumatic brain injury, a stroke, or a concussion. The conduit is already there, so the lasers and the mitochondria come back and restore it, heal it, and stimulate it back to a stronger connection.
But you can’t rebuild a neurological pathway that was never built in the first place. And if you go to activate and build it but go backwards, out of the order it’s designed to be built, you’re going to make the brain and nervous system more angry, more irritated, and more confused, when you were looking to do more good for that child.
“You can’t rebuild a neurological brain-based pathway that was never built in the first place.”
A cortical function within the brain relies on this bottom-up, back-to-front neuro-sensory, proprioceptive, mechano-receptive stimulus more than anything else. If we skip that step and put lasers and light therapy all up in the brain’s business before it can handle it, before there’s any stability, connectivity, or built pathways, I just don’t believe that ends up in a net positive outcome for kids with pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders. It’s the same conversation, but vividly different for a different type of brain-based disorder.
The Upper Cervical Spine and Brainstem Come First [14:39 – 17:06]
Dr. Tony Ebel: If there is still upper cervical subluxation anywhere in the neurospinal system, the upper cervical brainstem area is far more important than the brain itself. There, I said it: the upper cervical, brainstem, cerebellum, primal, foundational, root part of the brain is more important than the prefrontal cortex. In general neurology circles I’d get fried for that statement, because the prefrontal cortex is considered the boss. Not really. The prefrontal cortex does what the rest of the brain, midbrain, amygdala, hippocampus, locus coeruleus, cerebellum, brainstem, spinal cord, and body, tells it to.
A lot of practitioners look at the high cortex and say “that’s where the problem is.” Then they get a little deeper. But you have to look deeper still, into the midbrain, the forebrain, the spinal cord, and the body. That’s where subluxation sets up shop. Nobody looks for that.
So you can activate the brain, but what are you asking it to do? Communicate with the body and environment. What if the communication portal, the literal superhighway through the midbrain, the back of the brain, and the brainstem, is injured from birth trauma? What if upper cervical subluxation, misalignment, tension, and interference is there?
“If that’s not fixed first, lasers will tick off an already ticked-off brain.”
If that’s not fixed first, detoxification will tick off an already disconnected brain-gut connection. You can’t heal the gut in the absence of a brain-gut connection. You can’t shut down inflammation without getting the nervous system more ready and the vagus nerve online. So any child who still has subluxation, and I’d add the neurocranial system too, needs it cleared to at least a mild-to-moderate degree. It can’t be severe. It can’t be stage two or stage three neurological exhaustion. There has to be foundational neurological stability before red light therapy or other lasers come into play.
The Right Sequence: Foundations First, Then Advanced Care [17:06 – 21:15]
Dr. Tony Ebel: How do I know this to be true? One, I saw it in my own clinic, not with lasers or stem cells, I want to be clear, we didn’t do any of those. But I sit knee-to-knee with thousands of parents every single year, for 18 years in a row now. I speak at conferences. I ask the tougher, more detailed, more sequential questions. I’m not duped by Instagram.
If somebody pieced out on this episode and thought I was net full-stop anti-laser, or from my supplement episode, anti-supplement, that’s not the case. Our goal is to do foundational nervous system chiropractic work and foundational lifestyle: the real basic building blocks of nutrition and supplementation. Do the foundations. Do the basics.
Here’s what sucks: that sometimes takes one, two, or three years. It can take that long to rebuild a really busted-up foundation, and we have to wait before adding other interventions. The goal is to do such a thorough job rebuilding the foundation of your child’s brain-body connection, get rid of subluxation, restore neurological function, activate the vagus nerve, get rid of the sympathetic storm, and reset the autonomic and central nervous system. We can track all of this with technology, so we’re not guessing. Each kid heals on a different timeline.
When neurological stability is achieved, one of two doors opens. For a lot of kids, that’s all they needed, chiropractic and foundational nutrition and lifestyle alone have created miraculous, complete recovery for thousands of kids. For hundreds or thousands of others, once we get them to neurological stability, we go to our rolodex of trusted practitioners and experts.
“When you go in and start punching into those parasites and toxins, waking up that liver, rebuilding that gut, now the nervous system is stable, it’s got more slack, so we won’t have so much blowback.”
We do the same with lasers and stem cells. If a family says, “We’re doing lasers, get us ready to get the most out of it,” I know how to do that. If a family says, “We’re going to Mexico for stem cells,” we’ll put a plan together. We build a plan that gets the nervous system ready, so you get the most positive benefit with the minimum side effects.
Be Your Child’s Quarterback: Choosing the Right Healing Team [21:15 – 25:06]
Dr. Tony Ebel: My job answering these questions is really hard, and I love it. It’s not the easy “yes, this works, everybody do it.” If a practitioner of any intervention says it works for everyone, know that the reverse is also true. We run into so many cases where healing hits a glass ceiling because the child needs to be detoxed, or needs PT, speech, or myofascial therapy added in. It works in all directions, the sequence and putting multiple practitioners onto your child’s healing team matters.
What you need is somebody who can quarterback it, somebody with the experience and the complete neurophysiological understanding who doesn’t care about anything other than what works. We’re training PX Docs to be that, and to be world-class adjusters. If a chiropractor doesn’t adjust, it often means they’re not good at it, which is why some start selling all these other things, or got bought out by a laser or supplement company. Do a little digging; find out if a practitioner got bought by private equity. Many did.
“We use a multimodal set of interventions, but always and forever and only on top of a stable nervous system first.”
At our own house, we’re chiropractors for our kids. You’ll see a cabinet full of supplements, vitamins, and homeopathics, a diffuser in every room, an infrared sauna, and a home gym. We use a multimodal set of interventions, but always on top of a stable nervous system first.
The more I scroll Instagram, the more I want to say: just adjust that kiddo and put the laser away until they’re ready for it. At a Documenting Hope conference, 80% of the parents I met had the same story, they did an intervention in New York, Texas, or Mexico, and their child’s seizures, sleep, or sensory issues got worse. Chiropractic isn’t absolute either, but I’m passionate and loud about this because this is a parent-based platform. These answers are for parents and their kids, not for investors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can red light or laser therapy help my child’s brain?
It may help, but timing is everything. Red light and laser therapy (photobiomodulation) restore brain pathways that already exist but were injured. In children with neurodevelopmental challenges, those pathways often were never built correctly, so Dr. Tony Ebel recommends achieving neurological stability through foundational chiropractic care before introducing lasers, otherwise they can irritate an already dysregulated brain.
Why does Dr. Tony recommend chiropractic before laser therapy?
Because the brain develops bottom-up and back-to-front, the brainstem, cerebellum, and upper cervical spine are the foundation for higher brain functions. If subluxation and birth trauma disrupted that foundation, applying lasers to the brain first skips the necessary sequence and can make the nervous system more irritated rather than helping it heal.
Does laser therapy work better for adults than kids?
Often, yes. Lasers tend to work well for adults recovering from concussion, stroke, or traumatic brain injury because those adults had strong, connected brain pathways before the injury, the laser simply restores what existed. Children with autism or epilepsy frequently never built those pathways, so the same therapy can’t rebuild something that was never there.
How can you tell if an intervention is actually helping the vagus nerve?
Dr. Tony Ebel uses heart rate variability (HRV) as an objective measure. Low HRV indicates poor vagal nerve function, and improved HRV scores confirm genuine vagus nerve activation. By running pre- and post-intervention HRV scans, practitioners can verify what a therapy is actually doing to the autonomic nervous system instead of guessing.
What is the right order for treating a child with neurodevelopmental challenges?
Start with the foundations: Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care to remove subluxation and restore neurological stability, plus basic nutrition and lifestyle. Once the nervous system is stable, advanced interventions like detoxification, lasers, or stem cells can be layered on safely. Rebuilding a busted-up foundation can take one to three years, but it sets up everything else to succeed.
How do I find a chiropractor who does this kind of nervous-system care?
You can find a trained, neurologically-focused pediatric chiropractor through the PX Docs Directory. Look for a practitioner who actively adjusts, uses objective measurements like HRV and INSiGHT Scans, and is willing to coordinate a sequenced plan with other trusted providers rather than selling a single one-size-fits-all intervention.
Resources & Related Content
- The “Perfect Storm,” Dr. Tony Ebel’s core framework for understanding pediatric neurodevelopmental challenges
- Vagus Nerve Dysfunction: How the vagus nerve affects your child’s health
- Find a PX Docs Office Near You: PX Docs Directory