What is Red Light Therapy?
A lot of people are not getting enough natural light, and are exposed to too much junk light in their daily routines from e.g. LEDs and their cell phones (Blue light, which in itself is not a villain, too much unnatural blue light is bad). The body craves natural light with a well-balanced spectrum.
Natural light from the sun has a wide range of wavelengths which all have different biological impacts; shorter than 400 nm (UV spectrum), Visible light 400-700 nm, Near-Infrared 700 - 1300 nm. The light we get from the sun is called full-spectrum and contains all of the above mentioned, however still in different dosages throughout the day.
Red Light in the mid 600 nm wavelength range and Near-Infrared Light in the mid 800 nm range has scientifically been proven to have a unique impact on cellular functions.
Red Light Therapy may help you sleep better and increase your overall energy, reduce recovery time, muscle pain. soreness, and even makes your skin look younger.
On a deeper level, it can increase collagen production (collagen is a fundamental building block of the skin, and it helps reduce wrinkles), heal wounds, decrease skin inflammation, smooths skin tone, repair sun damage, and fade stretch marks and scars.
Red Light Therapy uses special wavelengths of light to restore, repair, and protect tissue that is either injured, degenerating, or at risk of dying.
Theses wavelengths affect bodily cells by increasing mitochondrial function on a biochemical level. The more cellular energy production, the better the body functions as a whole. Basically Red and Near-Infrared Light stimulate your cells, enabling your body to produce more energy to power itself!
Red Light Therapy can be used close to the skin or at a distance, this will affect the power/irradiance of the light hitting your skin. The irradiance shows the power of the light when reaching the skin, here it is important to note that these wavelengths loose power quite fast. Therefore, if you are far away from the device you need to use it for longer to get the same effect. Studies working with Light Therapy determine the dose in Joule/CM², this is found by using the Power and Time. Our devices produce around 900-1000 W/M² of power, this equals to 90-100 mW/CM² then to get the effect in Joule you need to multiply the power with the time:
Effect(Dose) = Power * Time
10 J/CM² = 100 mW/CM² * 100 sec
We still do not know what the optimum way of using Red Light Therapy is, some advocate 3 J/CM², others 20 J/CM², and again others closer to 90 J/CM². This will depend greatly on the purpose of the therapy, the frequency and the duration. However, there seems to be a pattern that the cells receive the highest benefit when they are exposed to 3 J/CM². Here it is important to note that the skin filters a large amount of the energy so it never reaches these cells. Further, higher power is not necessarily better, do not feel the need to overdo it neither with intensity nor with duration.
Red Light Therapy (also known as photobiomodulation (PBM)) has been around for more than 50 years and has primarily been available in clinics and specific sports centers at a quite high cost. We want to change that with Upgrade Yourself and make it possible for you to get all the benefits at home.
You can use Red Light Therapy 2 x a day (morning and evening) or before you go to bed. Session can be anywhere from a couple of seconds to 20 minutes.
Near-Infrared (NIR)
NIR (in the wavelength of 850 nm) may help with:
- Pain relief
- Skin repair
- Speeding up wound - and burn healing
- Increase blood circulation
- Healing of muscles and ligaments
- Boosts mitochondria functions in cells
- Potentially alleviates allergy symptoms
Red Light
Red Light (in the wavelength of 660 nm) may help with:
- Skin repair
- Reduce scar tissue
- Improve nutritional metabolism
- Regeneration of blood
- Promote muscle healing
- Boost liver function
- Beneficial for lungs
- Promote blood circulation
- Pain relief
- Beneficial for bones
- Beneficial for heart
- Promotes wound healing
- Beneficial for kidney
Use both Red Light + Infrared Light
This combination will go the deepest into your skin and will help address the clarity and tone of your skin as well as the deeper bone and muscle. It's great for elastin and collagen production and helps heal and promote healthier skin.
Links to some good articles for the nerds
Medical News Today
