After testing red light therapy across different clinical trials over the years, it has gained positive results for collagen production, physical performance, skin health, sleep, joint pain, inflammation, and many more without chemicals, drugs, UV rays, surgery, and other side effects.
Natural health leaders and athletes are using red light therapy for these amazing natural health benefits. In fact, most of them are using this every day for muscle recovery.
How Does Red Light Therapy Work?
The process is simple and non-invasive. You just need to stand near a device for about 10 to 15 minutes. A red light therapy device uses medical-grade LEDs to expose your skin and cells to concentrated wavelengths of natural light without excess heat or UV rays exposure. SO basically, the more skin and cells you expose to the device, the more benefits you can reap with consistent use.
A lot of peer reviewed studies have revealed that among the wide spectrum of natural light, the best spot for health and safety is a narrow band of red and near infrared light. High quality red light therapy devices use red light in a range of mid-600 nanometer and mid 800s near infrared light.
By using these red and near infrared wavelengths of natural light, the powerhouses of your cells, aka mitochondria, are being stimulated. Mitochondria are responsible for converting the food we eat, light, and oxygen to usable energy. Thus, with red light therapy, the process of cellular respiration is being enhanced.
Here are some well-known benefits of red light therapy:
- Helps in increasing the production of collagen
- Helps in reducing joint pain
- Helps in improving sleep
- Aids in losing weight
- Helps in speeding up muscle recovery
- Helps to improve overall physical performance
Who Can Benefit from Red Light Therapy?
Though this process has been known and used by athletes all over the world, red light therapy is also beneficial to a lot of people.
Red Light Therapy for Better Skin
According to studies, red light therapy offers a lot of benefits to improve overall skin health.
Anti-aging – With photographic evidence, red light therapy helps in improving wrinkles, fine lines, and other signs of aging.
Heal scars – Aside from improving skin’s overall health, light therapy can also help to speed up wounds and scar healing.
Improved collagen production – Research shows that light therapy enhances the body’s process to produce more collagen.
Red Light Therapy for Weight Loss
Red light therapy is known to help in losing weight and reduce fat in many different ways.
Targets adipocytes -Researchers believe that light therapy also affects the cells that store fat or adipocytes. Because of that, the lipids disperse and fat cells are being washed away.
Affects hunger levels – According to a 2012 study in the International Journal of Endocrinology, red light therapy helps in controlling the levels of leptin (hunger-related hormones).
Cellulite reduction – In a study conducted in 2011, it concluded that exercise and red light therapy was more effective in cellulite reduction than exercise alone.
Smaller waistline – At the end of the Journal of Obesity Surgery study that was conducted in 2011, participants had shown a significant reduction in waistline girth after four weeks of light therapy under 635 to 680 nanometers.
Red Light Therapy for Treating Inflammation
By increasing blood flow to damaged tissues, light therapy helps in treating chronic inflammation. This treatment process can also help in increasing the body’s antioxidant defenses as seen in numerous clinical trials.
Pain relief and treating post-surgery inflammation: In 2018, Lasers in Medical Science published a placebo-controlled trial that studied acute inflammation and pain of patients who just had hip arthroplasty surgery. According to the researchers, those patients who were treated with natural light therapy had a great reduction in post-op pain and swelling.
Treating exercise related inflammation and pain: It has been long proven that red light therapy helps in improving muscle soreness and exercise related swelling and pain. In a 2008 study, it has been found that natural light had a beneficial effect in delayed onset muscle soreness.
Reducing oral inflammation: In another recent trial, researchers tried to prove the ability of natural light to reduce oral inflammation. They found out that the light therapy has an incredible ability to reduce inflammation of periodontal cells (mouth cells) during orthodontic and dental treatments and surgeries.
