Have you seen some people using these red light machines that shoot infrared wavelengths onto their skin? Is it insane? Or is it good for you? Read this article about the health benefits of red light therapy and find out.

Lights of the Gods

In many historical cultures, the Sun was worshipped as a powerful deity that brings life and abundance to the people on Earth.

The Egyptian gods Amun and Ra are often described as the same entity – the gods of the Sun.

Apollo in Ancient Greece was the Olympian god of light, sunlight, music, and poetry

In Norse-Germanic mythology, Sól is the goddess of fertility and daylight who also has a sister of the personified moon, Máni.

Natural sunlight has been used not only for growing crops but as heliotherapy to heal the skin and cure other ailments.

Modern light therapy was pioneered by Niels Finsen who was a physician from the Faroe Islands. He created the first artificial light source with short wavelengths to treat a skin infection called lupus vulgaris[i]. For smallpox lesions, he also used red light, and in 1903 Finsen won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine[ii].

Red Light Therapy Origins

The human body needs sunlight for vitamin D synthesis as well as avoiding many other health or psychological issues.

Light is made of various frequencies with different wavelengths. Natural sunlight consists of ultraviolet light (UV; 300-400 nm), the entire visible light spectrum (400-700 nm), and infrared light (700-1200 nm).

However, it’s been shown that the body responds very positively to specific wavelengths between the 600-900 nm range. This type of red and near-infrared light can pass through human tissue much more easily than other wavelengths.

When red light is shined on the skin, it can penetrate several millimeters into the skin where it has a beneficial biochemical effect. The mitochondria absorb the red light, which triggers a release in nitric oxide, an increase in ATP production, and a decrease in oxidative stress[iii].

Benefits of Red Light Therapy

Red light therapy or photobiomodulation (PBM) has been around for many decades but it hasn’t been used in mainstream medicine because of being rendered obsolete by pharmaceuticals.

However, light therapy with blue and red light is still very effective for seasonal affective disorder[iv], circadian rhythm mismatches, sleep problems[v], various skin conditions, pain management, hair growth, and accelerated wound healing[vi].

Red light wavelengths specifically have many rejuvenating and longevity-boosting benefits.

It truly sounds like an amazing way of healing your body and it’s quickly becoming a revolutionary method of treatment in many fields of medicine.

Is Red Light Therapy Safe

But what about the side effects? Is red light therapy safe?

There are no reported side effects to the therapeutic use of photobiomodulation, which is ironic because light therapy is much safer and beneficial than other invasive treatment methods like drugs or chemotherapy.

Red light therapy targets specific wavelengths of light that have the most beneficial effect on the human body. It even avoids the harmful UV rays from the sun that in excess can be bad for you.

The most common side effect of red light therapy is tiredness and redness of the skin if you use too much[xxxiv]. So, let’s talk about how to do photobiomodulation safely.

How Long to Do Red Light Therapy

As I’m writing this article, I’m standing in front of my red light device from Red Light Man and I can feel its rejuvenating effect on my skin. Another perk of working from home is that you get to be naked while shining red light on yourself…

In fact, it’s been shown that red light boosts fertility and can triple testosterone in men, especially if it’s exposed on the testicles. So, yea…I’m shooting red light on my balls, which may sound weird but if I were to call it vasodilation testicular photobiomodulation would that sound better? Anyway…

When it comes to red light dosage, then you have to know your devices light’s power density (in mW/cm²) by measuring it at different distances with a solar power meter. Red Light Man has a very thorough blog post on finding out the right dose for different regions of the body which you can read here.

In general, you can get a therapeutic benefit by exposing yourself to red light for 10-15 minutes while standing about 20-30 centimeters away from it once a day.

I personally do my red light sessions in the morning in conjunction with maybe some mobility exercises, meditation, lying on an acupuncture mattress, or writing articles.

How Can You Do Red Light Therapy

There are many ways you can treat yourself to some good red light.

Taking infrared saunas at spas can also boost mitochondrial function and repair the skin

Functional health facilities like the Bulletproof Labs tend to have red light beds that cost about 50-100 USD for a 20-minute session

Go to a real medical practitioner if you have some sort of a serious infection or illness. They’ll put you on that photobiomodulation drug…

Get yourself a red light device and you can use it at your own convenience. You too can shoot yourself with infrared light while being naked

I myself am using a full body panel of therapeutic red and near-infrared light from a UK based company called Red Light Man. It covers the 620-830 nm wavelength and it can be hanged on walls or the ceiling. They have several different types of devices that are smaller and can be used to target specific areas of the body as well.

Red Light Man uses high quality LED lights and appropriate wavelengths of light with metabolic and therapeutic benefits.

Those red light devices aren’t cheap but over the long term, they’re much more affordable than paying extra money every time you go to a facility of some sorts.

If you want to get your own red light device from Red Light Man, then you can use my affiliate link to get a 10% discount, which is a huge bargain.

Stay Empowered

Siim

References

[i] https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0781.2005.00159.x

[ii] https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1903/

[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24656472

[iv] https://doi.org/10.1097%2F01.jaa.0000442698.03223.f3

[v] https://doi.org/10.1515%2Frevneuro-2011-0072

[vi] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-85729-281-0_20

[vii] Mitchell UH, Mack GL. “Low-level laser treatment with near-infrared light increases venous nitric oxide levels acutely: a single-blind, randomized clinical trial of efficacy.” Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2013 Feb;92(2):151-6.

[viii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20408982

[ix] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27561854

[x] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24942380

[xi] Al Rashoud AS, Abboud RJ, Wang W, Wigderowitz C. “Efficacy of low-level laser therapy applied at acupuncture points in knee osteoarthritis: a randomised double-blind comparative trial.” Physiotherapy. 2014 Sep;100(3):242-8.

[xii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2476986/ / https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16144476/

[xiii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24942380

[xiv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27579876

[xv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19193104/

[xvi] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27347879

[xvii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3288797/

[xviii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25122099

[xix] https://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/heals.html

[xx] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065857/

[xxi] ISRN Endocrinol. 2012; 2012: 126720. Assessment of the Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy on the Thyroid Vascularization of Patients with Autoimmune Hypothyroidism by Color Doppler Ultrasound. Danilo Bianchini Höfling, Maria Cristina Chavantes, Adriana G. Juliano, Giovanni G. Cerri, Meyer Knobel, Elisabeth M. Yoshimura, and Maria Cristina Chammas

[xxii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22615511

[xxiii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24286286

[xxiv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16414908

[xxv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3449167/

[xxvi] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11075959

[xxvii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28195844

[xxviii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28195844

[xxix] Ferraresi C, Hamblin M, and Parizotto N. “Low-level laser (light) therapy (LLLT) on muscle tissue: performance, fatigue and repair benefited by the power of light.” Photonics Lasers Med. 2012 November 1; 1(4): 267–286. doi:10.1515/plm-2012-0032.

[xxx] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24078483

[xxxi] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28328705

[xxxii] http://uwm.edu/healthsciences/news/a-novel-approach-to-using-light-to-treat-macular-degeneration/

[xxxiii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21182447/

[xxxiv] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658799/

[xxxv] Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2010.

[xxxvi] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18088161?dopt=Abstract