7 Amazing Benefits Of Red Light Therapy
Explore How Red Light Threatment Works
Cells, the fundamental building blocks of life, comprise all living organisms. They perform vital tasks essential for maintaining the overall health and vitality of the organism. These tasks include respiration, metabolism, and energy production. When cellular function is impaired, it can have a cascading effect on the entire body, leading to various health issues. Red light therapy can be beneficial in this context. By enhancing mitochondrial function and energy production, red light promotes cellular health. By stimulating ATP production, the cellular energy currency, red light wavelengths enable cells to function more efficiently. This can yield a broad range of health benefits, including improved skin health, reduced inflammation, enhanced muscle recovery, and numerous other advantages.
Did You Know?
Mitochondria are responsible for generating 90% of our cellular energy.
Key Benefits Of Red Light
Exposure to red light initiates beneficial changes in the body, leading to significant improvements in targeted areas. These changes can yield a range of health benefits, enhancing overall well-being. To discover how red light therapy can positively impact your health, read on!
1. Muscle Injury & Recovery
Red and infrared light therapy helps boost blood flow in the skin and other body parts, delivering oxygen and nutrients to injured tissues, which facilitates faster healing. Additionally, it reduces pain, eases inflammation, and protects against oxidative stress.
A research study with the US track team revealed that red light treatments helped reduce their recovery time by 50%, from 19.23 days to just 9.6 days. Besides helping with injury recovery, it also has shown to improve muscle recovery and physical performance. Another study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology demonstrated that when red light treatment was used in combination with exercise, it led to more than a 50% increase in muscle thickness and strength, as measured by ultrasound imaging and isokinetic dynamometry.
2. Joint Pain & Inflammation
For arthritis sufferers, pain relief is one of the more surprising – and welcome – benefits of red light. Unlike pain-killing medications, red light does not work by blocking your perception of pain. Rather, it works at the cellular level to promote cellular health and reduce inflammation, which may then reduce pain signals at the source. Red/NIR light treatment can help activate stem cell production in the bone marrow to support the healing process. Stem cells are non-specialized cells that are present in an inactive state throughout the body. When they are needed, like in the event of an injury, infection, or cell damage from inflammation, stem cells are transported via the bloodstream to the affected area. There they develop into any cell that’s needed. This study provides a more in-depth look at red light treatment for pain relief.
3. Enhances Blood Flow
Red and near-infrared (NIR) light can help stimulate blood flow, leading to higher oxygen levels and a decrease in nitric oxide in the blood. This, in turn, reduces muscle soreness and accelerates the recovery process. Additionally, the improved protein synthesis at the cellular level facilitates easier muscle building and maintenance.
4. Skin Health
Red light may offer significant benefits for skin health and anti-aging effects through various mechanisms. By stimulating the production of collagen and elastin, it can help improve skin's elasticity and firmness, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Additionally, this treatment can aid in repairing damage caused by UV rays, which can lead to a more even skin tone and texture.
Inflammation and bacteria play a role in many skin issues, and red light has been shown to effectively reduce both. It can be particularly beneficial for conditions like acne, sunspots, and eye wrinkles, as it promotes healing and rejuvenation of the skin.
Furthermore, early clinical trials have demonstrated that natural red and near-infrared light may help alleviate painful skin conditions such as psoriasis and acne, providing relief and potential improvement in symptoms.
Based on another study, red light and NIR light treatment has been shown to have numerous positive effects on skin health, and becoming increasingly popular as a non-invasive and safe option for improving skin conditions and achieving a more youthful and radiant complexion.
5.) Sleep Quality
Red light may offer assistance to individuals experiencing insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, and certain forms of depression. This works by aiding the regulation of the body's natural circadian rhythm, ultimately enhancing sleep quality. Blue light exposure has been recognized to disrupt the production of melatonin, also known as ‘the sleep hormone’, and disturb the sleep-wake cycle. However, red light, which replicates sunlight-like light, can assist in realigning your circadian rhythm. This can result in feeling more tired in the evening and more awake in the morning, leading to improved sleep patterns.
According to a theory about red light, it is believed to increase the body's natural production of melatonin. Supporting this idea, a study conducted in 2012 demonstrated that 30 minutes of red LED light treatment each night for a period of 14 days resulted in improved sleep quality and increased melatonin levels. Additionally, a separate study published in a sleep research journal in 2019 found that red light can help reduce sleep inertia, a common issue experienced by individuals facing chronic sleep deprivation.
6.) Weight Management
The use of light treatments for weight loss remains a subject of controversy. Despite receiving positive feedback from patients and displaying promising outcomes in several studies, the process on how it works is not yet fully understood.
A study conducted in 2011 demonstrated that a combination of infrared light treatments and treadmill training resulted in reduced cellulite in the group that received the infrared light treatments, compared to the group that underwent treadmill-only treatment. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that these studies did have limitations, including the absence of a control group and frequent pairing with exercise interventions.
Later studies in 2013 have provided evidence significant decrease in waist, hip, and thigh circumference. Additionally a study conducted in 2020 showed a .8-inch reduction in waist circumference reduction after six or more treatments.
7. Repair Tissue & Scars
A vast number of studies have revealed that red light treatments have the remarkable ability to enhance wound healing and tissue repair by stimulating crucial physiological processes like improved blood flow, which aids cellular regeneration. As a result, red light may significantly reduce healing times and enhance recovery from injuries. Red light has also been shown to stimulate the production of collagen, a vital component for maintaining healthy skin, tissue, and scar repair, which has shown great effectiveness in treating various skin conditions, such as scars, post-surgery healing, and burns.
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