Is Red Light Therapy for you?
Beauty without pain?
It is said that beauty is only skin deep. Obviously, they are talking about outward beauty and we
are all interested in making the best of what we have and even improving upon it whenever
possible, n’est-ce pas?
Our biggest organ, the skin, can definitely be enhanced. There are so many ways, now, to make
ourselves look better, from inexpensive to exorbitant, from effective to ineffective, from no
down-time to weeks or months of down time, from painless to painful, from non-invasive to
extremely invasive. Many come with warnings and even undesirable side effects. Could there be
another way? A way that is non-invasive, healthy, effective, painless and with no down time?
That sounds too good to be true!
There is continual research about both health and beauty. What if those two came together in
one therapy that you could do? Welcome to LED red light therapy, the amazingly spectacular
alternative to laser. So what is it and how do you get it?
What is Light Therapy?
In the 1800-1900’s physician and scientist Niels Ryberg Finsen researched and successfully
implemented light therapy as a treatment for smallpox, later winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine
and Physiology 1903 for his work. In 1910 John Harvey Kellogg also researched and wrote
about the benefits of red light and infrared heat in his book “Light Therapeutics”. Red light
therapy was discovered by the Hungarian physician Endre Mester in the 1960s when scientific
experiments with red lasers on rats led to hair growth and wound healing, according to a
research article published in December 2017 in the Journal of Biophotonics. In the late 1980s
and 1990s, the North American Space Agency (NASA) utilized red LED lights for plant growth on
trips to space and noticed the astronauts also received a positive effect on their mood, healing
and wound treatment. NASA also used infrared heat to provide the astronauts with
cardiovascular conditioning.
Researchers have conducted a thousand studies and peer-reviewed trials on a variety of kinds
of light therapy, low-level laser and photobiomodulation (red light therapy). That research
discovered many positive benefits and results, especially when using exposure to red light and
near infrared light as a treatment. Consequently, light, in a variety of forms, is now widely used to
improve how you look, how you feel and how you perform.
Is light important for our health?
Light is just as essential as water, food, and sleep are for our health. Our body was designed to
get lots of sunlight each day. Our cells need sunlight to function optimally and most people are
short on that because they are indoors most of their waking time.
What is the difference between red light and infrared light?
Red light is visible and is most effective for use on the surface of the skin. Red light occupies the
“long end” of the visible spectrum with wavelengths of 630 nm-700 nm*. It can penetrate the skin
up to 10mm.
Infrared light is invisible and is effective for use on the surface of the skin as well as penetration of
about 1.5 inches into the body. Infrared sits right next to red light on the electromagnetic spectrum
at 800nm to 1ml. Near-infrared light can penetrate skin up to 40mm.
*nm Nanometers are a unit of length equivalent to a billionth of a metre, used to measure the wavelength of light.
What are the benefits of red light treatment?
A. Red light therapy helps your skin
Increases circulation, delivering oxygen and nutrients to your skin and removing
waste products and dead cell material
Stimulates production of collagen, elastin and fibroblasts
Improves the appearance of wrinkles
Reduces swelling and inflammation
Reduces sebum production
Repairs deep skin tissue
Reduces and repairs blemishes, scar tissue, keloids and hypertrophic scars
Helps wounds like burns and surgical incisions heal faster
B. Relaxes sore muscles and joints, providing pain relief
C. Maximizes the efficiency and performance of your brain by delivering near infra-red
energy to neurons, which helps to increase spatial awareness, reflex time and balance
D. Increases Vitamin D production in the body
E. Reduces allergy symptoms
F. Breaks up toxins, fats, cholesterol, ammonia, alcohol, nicotine, mercury, drugs and
chemicals, that are trapped in water molecules, allowing the body to detoxify
G. Lowers cortisol levels
H. Boosts cerebral metabolism, improving neuroplasticity, brain function and mood
I. Improves sleep
J. Improves vision significantly
Protects cornea and retina against pressure and fluid build-up
Speeds healing of optic injuries with less inflammation
Improves vision and prevents signs of age-related vision loss in people over 50
Improves vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma
Low-level laser therapy improves vision in patients with age-related macular degeneration
Near infra-red light attenuates corneal endothelial cell dysfunction in situ and in vitro
Who is using this treatment?
In the past 5-10 years, red light therapy has become a preferred treatment designed to replace
many cosmic surgical procedures to address sagging, wrinkling and pigmentation issues. It is
non-invasive, painless, drug and chemical free, effortless, has no down time and does no
damage to the skin. It is relatively inexpensive compared to other procedures. Celebrities and
elites have been using it for decades.
Are all red light devices the same?
There are several optimal wavelengths better for treatment below the skin. Devices with the
correct wavelengths will yield results but there would be no results from incorrect wavelengths or
incorrect usage of a red light device. Many devices haven’t been properly tested or have been
altered for another purpose. For example, beware of tanning beds with UV bulbs switched out
for red bulbs. The light source has to have the proper radiance, irradiance and power output to
produce the proper and effective dose of red light. The length of time and distance from the body
are also important factors in red light treatment.
Is red light therapy safe during pregnancy?
It would be wise to check with your medical practitioner before using red light therapy during
pregnancy since there have not been a lot of studies done in this area that check the effects on
the unborn child.
In a study, by scientists from the Netherlands, published in the National Library of Medicine, not
only was red light therapy found to be ‘highly safe’ for the mother, but also safe for the unborn
child. The Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam cited it to be ‘a promising treatment for
pregnant women with depressive disorder’.
In a 2011 Swiss study, a 5-week light therapy program for pregnant women significantly
improved depression. The study cited light therapy to have ‘minimal side effects for the mother
and no known risk for the unborn child.’
A 2019 research examined the literature on laser surgery used by pregnant women from 1960
-to 2017. It found that ‘cutaneous laser treatment during pregnancy is safe for both mother and
fetus’ and there should theoretically be no risk of fetal laser exposure from commonly used
cutaneous lasers. Since red light therapy has lower wavelengths than commonly used
cutaneous lasers (such as for laser hair removal), one need not worry about fetal exposure from
RLT.
Contraindications
Individuals who have a condition with photosensitivity, like lupus, or who use medications that
make them photosensitive (such as tetracycline, doxycycline, hydrochlorothiazide, naproxen,
lithium, melatonin, isotretinoin, phenothiazine or antipsychotics) shouldn’t use red light therapy.
Red light therapy is not a “cure-all” or “quick fix”
Although red light therapy has been studied for many years and has proven to be beneficial for
easing, reducing or eliminating many conditions, not everything can be treated using red light.
The benefits do not happen overnight. Several, or in some cases, many, treatments may be
needed to achieve the desired outcome. Before beginning, ask your practitioner to make a
treatment plan with you and discuss any benefit you notice after each treatment. Treatment
times vary.
In summary...
Red light therapy is definitely at the forefront of the cosmetic industry and is beginning to be
more popular as a choice in the medical community, which tends to move more slowly towards
the implementation of innovation. Most treatments are given in alternative healthcare settings
such as health and beauty spas and integrative clinics. Laser treatment is not the same; it is a
focused light that can burn and cause damage. LED red light therapy has a wider cone of light
that does not heat up or do damage.
Many studies have been done to confirm benefits to most areas of the body, including the brain
and the eyes. It seems as though the Doctor’s “dermal regenerator” that we saw in the Star Trek
series in the 1960’s, has actually come to fruition!
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