The Fascinating Healing Properties of Red Light Therapy: Rapid Healing, Boosting Testosterone & Rejuvenate Health
The most common commercial versions of red and infrared light devices are made of LED lights. This article will therefore exclude traditional light bulbs, such as incandescent or halogen bulbs. Even though these bulbs emit red light they also emit high amounts of heat, and are therefore less effective for very specific therapeutic effects than their LED counterparts.
While the LED devices treated in this article emit both red and infrared light, for convenience sake, this article will call them "red light devices" that are used for “red light therapy”.
In addition to exploring the large amounts of scientific evidence on the benefits of red light therapy, I will also explore whether red light therapy has any side-effects, take a look at different red light therapy devices that are sold on the market, and help you determine the optimal dosage for your red light therapy sessions.
But first, let's have a look at what exactly red light therapy is and how it differs from full spectrum sunlight and conventional light bulbs.
The Light Spectrum
Let's first explore the light spectrum from a physics standpoint. When modern physics talks about light, it discusses what are known as “photons”. Photons are elemental light particles. These photons make up part of the electromagnetic spectrum, in what is called the “light spectrum”. That light spectrum consists of ultraviolet (UV) light, visible light, and infrared light. Red light is part of this visible light spectrum.
When you are standing outside in the sun at noon, the full spectrum of light emitted by the sun consists of UV light, visible light, and infrared light. Hence the term 'full spectrum'.
Within these UV, visible, and infrared spectra, there are many different wavelengths that all exhibit different biological effects. Red and blue light, which are both part of the visible light spectrum, both have different wavelengths and both exhibit very different biological effects.
Infrared saunas for example, that were treated in a previous article, are using a very specific infrared part of the infrared light spectrum.
Blue light helps stimulate the body and can actually impair sleep as I covered in this article.
Red light has it's own biological and healing properties, as I will explore in detail below.
Red light therapy devices also use a part of the infrared light spectrum, but contrary to infrared saunas, the red light therapy uses the parts of the infrared light wavelengths that that do not emit any heat. While red light therapy devices use both red and infrared light, the effects are thus different from sunlight or infrared saunas.
In the picture displayed above, red light therapy devices use specific wavelengths within the entire red light spectrum that is displayed there, and a small part of the "near Infrared" part of the light spectrum, up to the 850nm range.
What Makes Red Light Therapy with LEDs Different
All light wavelengths above 1000nm will produce heat. Bulbs that use wavelengths above 1000nm can therefore not be applied close to the body for longer periods of time. For this reason, red light therapy devices use LED lights, so that only the most therapeutic wavelengths that do not emit any heat can be used.
The fact that red light therapy devices do not emit any heat is advantageous, as a lot more red light can be applied to the body for longer periods of time, without overheating the body in the process.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs, including heat lamps, exhibit this problem because they emit too much heat.
While the heat coming form infrared saunas has a place in your health toolbox, red light therapy using LED devices has other benefits than infrared saunas.
Both red light therapy and saunas are thus great tools to use when improving your health and body.
Contrary to many other types of light bulbs, LEDs can be designed in such a way that they only emit light at very specific pre-programmed therapeutic wavelengths of light.
These therapeutic wavelengths give LEDs another advantage over traditional bulbs. It is currently not possible to have non-LED bulbs peak at specific therapeutic wavelengths.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs, for example, emit a very continuous spectrum of light. Such a continuous light spectrum is not warranted for maximizing the therapeutic benefits of red light therapy—you actually want LED bulbs to exclusively emit light around very specific therapeutic wavelengths, such as 630nm, 660nm, 810nm, etc.
As I stated before, red light therapy devices commonly use both red and infrared wavelengths. These specific wavelengths penetrate very deep into the bodily tissues, and are also absorbed very well by the body.
Light does therefore not only function as a color to illuminate your environment, but actually penetrates into the body, and subsequently has biological effects in that body. Consider the following image. It shows how deep different types of light wavelengths penetrate into the body:
As you can see, red light has a deep penetration depth of compared to other forms of light, such as UV, blue, green, or the longer infrared wavelengths, meaning that the red light can reach deeper bodily tissues.
Other non-red wavelengths cannot reach that deep, and cannot affect the underlying tissue in the way that red light therapy does.
The deep tissue penetration also means that red light can have systemic effect on the human body, instead of the biological effects remaining localized in one specific area.
The reason for the systemic effects, is that deeper tissue penetration means that the photons are taken up in the bloodstream. When photons are carried through the bloodstream, photons can be transferred to other tissues as well, and have positive biological consequences there.
Because LEDs can be can made in such a way that they emit very specific light wavelengths, such as 630nm or 670nm, these LEDs have other advantages. Red light therapy devices aims to affect the mitochondria throughout the body. Mitochondria are the energy producing units of our cells. Improving mitochondrial function will improve the overall health of your body.
Not all wavelengths of red and infrared light are optimally absorbed by the mitochondria. By targeting the LEDs towards a few very therapeutic wavelengths, maximal absorption is accomplished.
Therefore, if you were to choose wavelengths that are not optimal, the energy would be mostly wasted. Traditional bulbs such as incandescent or halogen use a lot of these intermediary wavelengths that do not have any proven therapeutic effects, because they do not emit enough light at the very specific wavelength peaks.
Now that I've established that red light therapy devices using LEDs have unique technological possibilities, let's consider the many benefits that red light therapy can have for your life. Red light therapy offers many benefits, improving your health, beauty, and well-being.
Promote Optimal Testosterone Levels
Optimal hormone functioning actually starts in the brain. Different brain areas, such as the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, are involved in that process. Up until recently, however, it was not known that thyroid function also affects steroid hormone production.[23]
Improving thyroid function will thus also improve steroid hormone production, such as testosterone. To accomplish this effect, you specifically need to use the red light device on your thyroid.
Optimal testosterone levels are not only important for men, but for women as well. Testosterone in women is linked to sex drive, energy, and general levels of well-being.[24] In women, testosterone is produced in the ovaries—while in men, testosterone is produced in the testicles.
In addition to improving steroid functioning through thyroid hormones, red light therapy can also increase steroid hormones such as testosterone by directly stimulating the energy production in organs associated therewith. An example would be testosterone production in the testicles.[25]
Remember that red light can penetrate deeply into the body, thereby increasing energy production in specific organs. When the correct dose of red light therapy is applied to the testicles, it might actually increase testosterone levels up to threefold.[26]
Sadly enough, no such scientific studies have investigated the effects of red light therapy on the ovaries yet.
Red Light and Health
Let's first consider how red light therapy can improve your health. To be specific, red light therapy can decrease inflammation, upgrade thyroid functioning, increase gym performance, boost recovery, and promote optimal testosterone levels. I'll treat these subjects one-by-one.
But first, a quick overview on how light impacts the body. As I have touched on above, the body responds to light, different wavelengths of light create different effects on the body. Light in the 600nm - 900nm range has been shown to create the biggest biological response (most of this range is encompassed by red light).
The energy from this light is absorbed by the body as per the graphic above and through a series of metabolic events, this light energy is converted into cellular energy. For example, one benefit is the release of ATP. More ATP in the cell - better cellular functioning.
Below I have listed some of the most common ways red light can help the body heal, recover and improve performance. But if you want like a simple one page guide showing you want wavelengths are best for a particular goal, please download my free report HERE.
Decrease Inflammation
Red light therapy can dramatically lower inflammation levels in the body.[3] This means that red light can be used to treat problems like osteoarthritis, (joint) injuries, and excessive swelling, without any of the side effects that are commonly associated with inflammation reducing non-prescription drugs such as NSAIDs.[4]
Exercise therapy and red light therapy actually work synergistically in reducing inflammation, meaning that they improve each other’s effects.[5] So if you're just exercising without taking advantage of (red) light therapy, you might not reduce localized or systemic inflammation as well as you could. Your injuries could thus heal much faster if you decide to integrate red light therapy into your life.
The efficacy of red light therapy for reducing inflammation has been scientifically demonstrated on many different locations of the human body, such as the back, neck, shoulders, knees, and even the jaw. This means that you can use a red light therapy device – even a small one – to very specifically treat an area that is bothering you.
Inflammation is actually a problem that extends way beyond the health of joints, or the recovery from injuries. Many modern diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer are associated with excessive inflammation levels.[6] This does not mean that inflammation is the single underlying cause of these diseases, but it instead means that inflammation is one important issue related to these diseases.
Inflammation is not always a bad thing. Some activities, such as exercise, temporarily increase inflammation due to damage that is caused to the body. However, when individuals habitually excercise, these activities actually decrease their general inflammation levels in the body.[7]
Red light therapy has the same effect, decreasing elevated inflammation levels to more healthy levels.
Larger (and more expensive) red therapy devices may come in handy when curbing systemic inflammation that is not localized to a specific area of the body. Another previously treated option to reduce systemic inflammation is to use cold therapy.
Upgrade Thyroid Functioning and Fat Loss
Red Light therapy can increase thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are very important, because they are responsible for an adequate energy production in the human body. While a lot of different variables are responsible for energy production, the thyroid is one of the most essential body parts responsible for actually creating high energy levels so that you do not feel sluggish.
Source - WebMD[8]
Red light therapy can actually improve hypothyroidism conditions.[9] To achieve this effect, red light therapy should be applied to the thyroid on the body for longer periods of time.[10] Measurable differences can be achieved within a week of daily applications.
The same effect is true for thyroids hormones in healthy individuals, who improve their thyroids function as well. A benefit tied to up-regulated thyroid functioning is increased fat loss [11],[12] and higher body temperatures.
Combining red light therapy with exercise increases fat loss to greater extents compared to exercise alone. This is yet another reason why working out in the sunlight is more beneficial than working out indoors under a blue-light lit gym.
The average gym does simply not achieve the right light intensity or correct light spectrum that is achieved when working out in the sun.
Getting enough light during the day, even if it's red light therapy on days that you cannot get out in the sun, is also very beneficial for weight loss.[13] However, if you were to choose between sitting inside exposed to a red light therapy device, or laying outside in the sun, always choose sunlight because it has many more all-round health benefits.
Increased Performance in the Gym
Red light therapy will also increase your performance in the gym. One of the main mechanisms whereby red light increases performance, is by stimulating mitochondria functioning in the human body.
Remember that mitochondria are the main energy producing entities in (human) cells. Red light therapy influences these mitochondria to increase the production of their main energy source, called ATP.[14]
Red light therapy not only improves the functioning of the exiting mitochondria, but also helps create new mitochondria. This means that red light therapy can aid increasing energy over time because of the new mitochondria.
Red light therapy also has additional performance benefits, increasing the gains from any workout you might complete in the gym.[15] Red light therapy, when combined with exercise, improves muscle size and power to greater extents than exercise alone. This positive effect applies to both strength and endurance gains from workout sessions.
Boost Recovery
Red light therapy stimulates the activity of stem cells, which are the basic undifferentiated cells in the body. Stem cells can turn into any cell with a specific function, such as skin cells or muscle cells.[16] Such stem cell activity can consequently decrease levels of general fatigue, meaning you will feel less tired after a workout, because the stem cells are turned into new cells.
Red light therapy also increases recovery after exercise. This means that after applying red light, you can last longer the next workout, use more volume during subsequent workouts, and protect yourself from excessive damage that has resulted from previous workouts.[17]
The effects of red light therapy are actually so large, that questions have emerged whether red light therapy should be considered doping.[18] In essence, red light therapy might be considered a very healthy unfair advantage for gym performance, because red light therapy does not have any serious side effects.
Additionally, red light therapy increases muscle blood flow, preventing excessive scar tissue from forming in the first place.[19] Scar tissue is a common problem associated with injuries, and scar tissue is related to immobility issues and increasing the risks to develop injuries over time.[20]
Tendons that are located near the application area of red light therapy increase their speed of regeneration.[21] The same is true for ligaments—torn ligaments improve their healing when red light therapy is applied.[22]
Another beauty of red light therapy is that it might help prevent injuries from occurring in the first place because of increased blood flow and reduced scar tissue build up.
Overall, red light therapy can help you recover faster, make you less prone to get injured, and heal any current injuries that you have much quicker.
Red Light and Beauty
In addition to improving general health, red light therapy can also be used for looks and beauty. Red light therapy has proven benefits for increasing skin health, healing wounds and scar tissue, improving oral care, and reversing hair loss.
Develop Radiating Skin Health
Many people have skin issues nowadays, and try to cover such issues up with cosmetics, or use other invasive treatments that commonly have serious side-effects. Red light therapy has been proven to improve the looks of the skin, without resulting in any known side-effects.[27] Red light therapy increases blood flow to the skin, thereby increasing the skin's regeneration.
Additionally, red light activates stem cells around the skin, which then aid them to proliferate into new skin cells. In turn, many skin processes improve, such as reducing acne, inhibiting scar tissue in the skin, reducing sunburn, inhibiting striae, and even aid in healing burning wounds.[28]
Red light therapy can also improve skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.
However, even if you don't have any skin issues, red light therapy will still improve the looks of your skin. This skin improvement is achieved through an increase in collagen formation in the skin.
The skin will become tighter and smoother, wrinkles will be reduced in number and decrease in size, and the collagen density of the skin will improve.[29] The feeling of the skin and the complexion of the skin are also enhanced.
This means that even if you're a very healthy 20-year-old woman, red light therapy can improve your beauty without the associated downsides that many commercial cosmetics have. So even if you don't have any scars, the moisture and collagen formation that red light therapy will still surprise you in positive ways.
Author: Alex Fergus
The most common commercial versions of red and infrared light devices are made of LED lights. This article will therefore exclude traditional light bulbs, such as incandescent or halogen bulbs. Even though these bulbs emit red light they also emit high amounts of heat, and are therefore less effective for very specific therapeutic effects than their LED counterparts.
While the LED devices treated in this article emit both red and infrared light, for convenience sake, this article will call them "red light devices" that are used for “red light therapy”.
In addition to exploring the large amounts of scientific evidence on the benefits of red light therapy, I will also explore whether red light therapy has any side-effects, take a look at different red light therapy devices that are sold on the market, and help you determine the optimal dosage for your red light therapy sessions.
But first, let's have a look at what exactly red light therapy is and how it differs from full spectrum sunlight and conventional light bulbs.
The Light Spectrum
Let's first explore the light spectrum from a physics standpoint. When modern physics talks about light, it discusses what are known as “photons”. Photons are elemental light particles. These photons make up part of the electromagnetic spectrum, in what is called the “light spectrum”. That light spectrum consists of ultraviolet (UV) light, visible light, and infrared light. Red light is part of this visible light spectrum.
When you are standing outside in the sun at noon, the full spectrum of light emitted by the sun consists of UV light, visible light, and infrared light. Hence the term 'full spectrum'.
Within these UV, visible, and infrared spectra, there are many different wavelengths that all exhibit different biological effects. Red and blue light, which are both part of the visible light spectrum, both have different wavelengths and both exhibit very different biological effects.
Infrared saunas for example, that were treated in a previous article, are using a very specific infrared part of the infrared light spectrum.
Blue light helps stimulate the body and can actually impair sleep as I covered in this article.
Red light has it's own biological and healing properties, as I will explore in detail below.
Red light therapy devices also use a part of the infrared light spectrum, but contrary to infrared saunas, the red light therapy uses the parts of the infrared light wavelengths that that do not emit any heat. While red light therapy devices use both red and infrared light, the effects are thus different from sunlight or infrared saunas.
In the picture displayed above, red light therapy devices use specific wavelengths within the entire red light spectrum that is displayed there, and a small part of the "near Infrared" part of the light spectrum, up to the 850nm range.
What Makes Red Light Therapy with LEDs Different
All light wavelengths above 1000nm will produce heat. Bulbs that use wavelengths above 1000nm can therefore not be applied close to the body for longer periods of time. For this reason, red light therapy devices use LED lights, so that only the most therapeutic wavelengths that do not emit any heat can be used.
The fact that red light therapy devices do not emit any heat is advantageous, as a lot more red light can be applied to the body for longer periods of time, without overheating the body in the process.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs, including heat lamps, exhibit this problem because they emit too much heat.
While the heat coming form infrared saunas has a place in your health toolbox, red light therapy using LED devices has other benefits than infrared saunas.
Both red light therapy and saunas are thus great tools to use when improving your health and body.
Contrary to many other types of light bulbs, LEDs can be designed in such a way that they only emit light at very specific pre-programmed therapeutic wavelengths of light.
These therapeutic wavelengths give LEDs another advantage over traditional bulbs. It is currently not possible to have non-LED bulbs peak at specific therapeutic wavelengths.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs, for example, emit a very continuous spectrum of light. Such a continuous light spectrum is not warranted for maximizing the therapeutic benefits of red light therapy—you actually want LED bulbs to exclusively emit light around very specific therapeutic wavelengths, such as 630nm, 660nm, 810nm, etc.
As I stated before, red light therapy devices commonly use both red and infrared wavelengths. These specific wavelengths penetrate very deep into the bodily tissues, and are also absorbed very well by the body.
Light does therefore not only function as a color to illuminate your environment, but actually penetrates into the body, and subsequently has biological effects in that body. Consider the following image. It shows how deep different types of light wavelengths penetrate into the body:
As you can see, red light has a deep penetration depth of compared to other forms of light, such as UV, blue, green, or the longer infrared wavelengths, meaning that the red light can reach deeper bodily tissues.
Other non-red wavelengths cannot reach that deep, and cannot affect the underlying tissue in the way that red light therapy does.
The deep tissue penetration also means that red light can have systemic effect on the human body, instead of the biological effects remaining localized in one specific area.
The reason for the systemic effects, is that deeper tissue penetration means that the photons are taken up in the bloodstream. When photons are carried through the bloodstream, photons can be transferred to other tissues as well, and have positive biological consequences there.
Because LEDs can be can made in such a way that they emit very specific light wavelengths, such as 630nm or 670nm, these LEDs have other advantages. Red light therapy devices aims to affect the mitochondria throughout the body. Mitochondria are the energy producing units of our cells. Improving mitochondrial function will improve the overall health of your body.
Not all wavelengths of red and infrared light are optimally absorbed by the mitochondria. By targeting the LEDs towards a few very therapeutic wavelengths, maximal absorption is accomplished.
Therefore, if you were to choose wavelengths that are not optimal, the energy would be mostly wasted. Traditional bulbs such as incandescent or halogen use a lot of these intermediary wavelengths that do not have any proven therapeutic effects, because they do not emit enough light at the very specific wavelength peaks.
Now that I've established that red light therapy devices using LEDs have unique technological possibilities, let's consider the many benefits that red light therapy can have for your life. Red light therapy offers many benefits, improving your health, beauty, and well-being.
Promote Optimal Testosterone Levels
Optimal hormone functioning actually starts in the brain. Different brain areas, such as the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, are involved in that process. Up until recently, however, it was not known that thyroid function also affects steroid hormone production.[23]
Improving thyroid function will thus also improve steroid hormone production, such as testosterone. To accomplish this effect, you specifically need to use the red light device on your thyroid.
Optimal testosterone levels are not only important for men, but for women as well. Testosterone in women is linked to sex drive, energy, and general levels of well-being.[24] In women, testosterone is produced in the ovaries—while in men, testosterone is produced in the testicles.
In addition to improving steroid functioning through thyroid hormones, red light therapy can also increase steroid hormones such as testosterone by directly stimulating the energy production in organs associated therewith. An example would be testosterone production in the testicles.[25]
Remember that red light can penetrate deeply into the body, thereby increasing energy production in specific organs. When the correct dose of red light therapy is applied to the testicles, it might actually increase testosterone levels up to threefold.[26]
Sadly enough, no such scientific studies have investigated the effects of red light therapy on the ovaries yet.
Red Light and Health
Let's first consider how red light therapy can improve your health. To be specific, red light therapy can decrease inflammation, upgrade thyroid functioning, increase gym performance, boost recovery, and promote optimal testosterone levels. I'll treat these subjects one-by-one.
But first, a quick overview on how light impacts the body. As I have touched on above, the body responds to light, different wavelengths of light create different effects on the body. Light in the 600nm - 900nm range has been shown to create the biggest biological response (most of this range is encompassed by red light).
The energy from this light is absorbed by the body as per the graphic above and through a series of metabolic events, this light energy is converted into cellular energy. For example, one benefit is the release of ATP. More ATP in the cell - better cellular functioning.
Below I have listed some of the most common ways red light can help the body heal, recover and improve performance. But if you want like a simple one page guide showing you want wavelengths are best for a particular goal, please download my free report HERE.
Decrease Inflammation
Red light therapy can dramatically lower inflammation levels in the body.[3] This means that red light can be used to treat problems like osteoarthritis, (joint) injuries, and excessive swelling, without any of the side effects that are commonly associated with inflammation reducing non-prescription drugs such as NSAIDs.[4]
Exercise therapy and red light therapy actually work synergistically in reducing inflammation, meaning that they improve each other’s effects.[5] So if you're just exercising without taking advantage of (red) light therapy, you might not reduce localized or systemic inflammation as well as you could. Your injuries could thus heal much faster if you decide to integrate red light therapy into your life.
The efficacy of red light therapy for reducing inflammation has been scientifically demonstrated on many different locations of the human body, such as the back, neck, shoulders, knees, and even the jaw. This means that you can use a red light therapy device – even a small one – to very specifically treat an area that is bothering you.
Inflammation is actually a problem that extends way beyond the health of joints, or the recovery from injuries. Many modern diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer are associated with excessive inflammation levels.[6] This does not mean that inflammation is the single underlying cause of these diseases, but it instead means that inflammation is one important issue related to these diseases.
Inflammation is not always a bad thing. Some activities, such as exercise, temporarily increase inflammation due to damage that is caused to the body. However, when individuals habitually excercise, these activities actually decrease their general inflammation levels in the body.[7]
Red light therapy has the same effect, decreasing elevated inflammation levels to more healthy levels.
Larger (and more expensive) red therapy devices may come in handy when curbing systemic inflammation that is not localized to a specific area of the body. Another previously treated option to reduce systemic inflammation is to use cold therapy.
Upgrade Thyroid Functioning and Fat Loss
Red Light therapy can increase thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones are very important, because they are responsible for an adequate energy production in the human body. While a lot of different variables are responsible for energy production, the thyroid is one of the most essential body parts responsible for actually creating high energy levels so that you do not feel sluggish.
Source - WebMD[8]
Red light therapy can actually improve hypothyroidism conditions.[9] To achieve this effect, red light therapy should be applied to the thyroid on the body for longer periods of time.[10] Measurable differences can be achieved within a week of daily applications.
The same effect is true for thyroids hormones in healthy individuals, who improve their thyroids function as well. A benefit tied to up-regulated thyroid functioning is increased fat loss [11],[12] and higher body temperatures.
Combining red light therapy with exercise increases fat loss to greater extents compared to exercise alone. This is yet another reason why working out in the sunlight is more beneficial than working out indoors under a blue-light lit gym.
The average gym does simply not achieve the right light intensity or correct light spectrum that is achieved when working out in the sun.
Getting enough light during the day, even if it's red light therapy on days that you cannot get out in the sun, is also very beneficial for weight loss.[13] However, if you were to choose between sitting inside exposed to a red light therapy device, or laying outside in the sun, always choose sunlight because it has many more all-round health benefits.
Increased Performance in the Gym
Red light therapy will also increase your performance in the gym. One of the main mechanisms whereby red light increases performance, is by stimulating mitochondria functioning in the human body.
Remember that mitochondria are the main energy producing entities in (human) cells. Red light therapy influences these mitochondria to increase the production of their main energy source, called ATP.[14]
Red light therapy not only improves the functioning of the exiting mitochondria, but also helps create new mitochondria. This means that red light therapy can aid increasing energy over time because of the new mitochondria.
Red light therapy also has additional performance benefits, increasing the gains from any workout you might complete in the gym.[15] Red light therapy, when combined with exercise, improves muscle size and power to greater extents than exercise alone. This positive effect applies to both strength and endurance gains from workout sessions.
Boost Recovery
Red light therapy stimulates the activity of stem cells, which are the basic undifferentiated cells in the body. Stem cells can turn into any cell with a specific function, such as skin cells or muscle cells.[16] Such stem cell activity can consequently decrease levels of general fatigue, meaning you will feel less tired after a workout, because the stem cells are turned into new cells.
Red light therapy also increases recovery after exercise. This means that after applying red light, you can last longer the next workout, use more volume during subsequent workouts, and protect yourself from excessive damage that has resulted from previous workouts.[17]
The effects of red light therapy are actually so large, that questions have emerged whether red light therapy should be considered doping.[18] In essence, red light therapy might be considered a very healthy unfair advantage for gym performance, because red light therapy does not have any serious side effects.
Additionally, red light therapy increases muscle blood flow, preventing excessive scar tissue from forming in the first place.[19] Scar tissue is a common problem associated with injuries, and scar tissue is related to immobility issues and increasing the risks to develop injuries over time.[20]
Tendons that are located near the application area of red light therapy increase their speed of regeneration.[21] The same is true for ligaments—torn ligaments improve their healing when red light therapy is applied.[22]
Another beauty of red light therapy is that it might help prevent injuries from occurring in the first place because of increased blood flow and reduced scar tissue build up.
Overall, red light therapy can help you recover faster, make you less prone to get injured, and heal any current injuries that you have much quicker.
Red Light and Beauty
In addition to improving general health, red light therapy can also be used for looks and beauty. Red light therapy has proven benefits for increasing skin health, healing wounds and scar tissue, improving oral care, and reversing hair loss.
Develop Radiating Skin Health
Many people have skin issues nowadays, and try to cover such issues up with cosmetics, or use other invasive treatments that commonly have serious side-effects. Red light therapy has been proven to improve the looks of the skin, without resulting in any known side-effects.[27] Red light therapy increases blood flow to the skin, thereby increasing the skin's regeneration.
Additionally, red light activates stem cells around the skin, which then aid them to proliferate into new skin cells. In turn, many skin processes improve, such as reducing acne, inhibiting scar tissue in the skin, reducing sunburn, inhibiting striae, and even aid in healing burning wounds.[28]
Red light therapy can also improve skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.
However, even if you don't have any skin issues, red light therapy will still improve the looks of your skin. This skin improvement is achieved through an increase in collagen formation in the skin.
The skin will become tighter and smoother, wrinkles will be reduced in number and decrease in size, and the collagen density of the skin will improve.[29] The feeling of the skin and the complexion of the skin are also enhanced.
This means that even if you're a very healthy 20-year-old woman, red light therapy can improve your beauty without the associated downsides that many commercial cosmetics have. So even if you don't have any scars, the moisture and collagen formation that red light therapy will still surprise you in positive ways.
Author: Alex Fergus
Last edited:
