This is a red light you want to speed up for! Red light therapy is a type of photomedicine that uses red light to treat various conditions in the body. According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, your body cells react differently to different wavelengths of light, and the red wavelength is notably useful for its health benefits!
Below are six known health benefits of red light therapy.
1. It Reduces Problems with the Skin and Hair
The best use of red light therapy is for the skin and hair. In the skincare industry, home devices that employ red light have become increasingly popular! For one, it reduces the severity of fine lines and wrinkles and prevents more from happening by stimulating your skin’s collagen. For another, it blocks acne from showing up, leaving your skin clear and glossy. Lastly, and as ironic as it seems, it reduces redness by decreasing inflammation.
Hair-wise, red light therapy promotes hair growth! It decreases inflammation while promoting blood flow to the scalp. This allows your hair follicles to get more nutrients and oxygen from the rest of the body, thereby growing strong and healthy hair.
2.It Lessens the Pain from Chronic Conditions
When done properly, red light therapy can lessen pain and inflammation. That’s because there is a particular protein in neurons that gets affected when it absorbs red light. When it does this, it reduces the cell’s ability to recognize and perceive pain. This is especially helpful when the condition affects the nervous system of the body which is primarily made of neurons.
Besides that, much of the research on red light therapy for pain relief had been conducted on animals and thus should not be experimented on humans without further research. However, it does seem hopeful that it could provide complementary relief in addition to other medical treatments for pain—sort of like how marijuana helps reduce more pain when taken with medical treatments.
3. It Helps Build Muscles and Recover from Injury
Red light therapy may penetrate deep into the cell and into your mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. This part of the cell is responsible for producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the main energy source of the cell. It encourages the mitochondria to produce more ATP, which then promotes muscle growth and repair.
More research needs to go into this, but the implications are quite positive. Those with physical injuries can recover extra quickly, while those who want to build more muscle can have an extra boost too.
4. It Boosts Cognitive Health and Function
It might seem a tad strange to wear a helmet with red light on full blast, but trust us on this one. Red light therapy supposedly does a lot of wonders for your brain. It improves neurocognition by reducing inflammation, encouraging the formation of neurons and synapses, and improving blood and oxygen flow in and out of the brain. This is good news for those with long-term brain damage due to physical injury or strokes.
When it comes to short-term brain injuries like concussions, it seems to work well too. It speeds up the recovery process and reduces side effects of concussions like headaches, balance problems, and confusion.
5. It Promotes the Healing of Wounds
Besides bone and muscle injuries, red light therapy might also be useful for healing wounds in the skin. It is said to improve or repair cell function, reduce inflammation and pain, encourage tissue regeneration, and do other activities that speed up the healing process.
The benefits of red light therapy for wounds have been documented in many journals. The International Journey of Lower Extremity Wounds reported its effectiveness for diabetic foot ulcers; Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine, and Laser Surgery has noted its use for burns; BMC Oral Health published its results on it for oral surgery post-recovery.
6. It Minimizes Side Effects Due to Cancer
If dealing with cancer isn’t bad enough, you also have to deal with the side effects of cancer treatments like chemotherapy, mastectomy, skin damage from radiation, and more. Thankfully, red light therapy seems to be very effective at reducing the uncomfortable side effects that you may experience.
One such example is oral mucositis. This happens when your mouth becomes sore and inflamed. It is sadly a very common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatment and will affect one’s ability to brush their teeth, eat food, and more. Red light therapy prevents oral mucositis from happening or reduces pain from it at the very least!
Red light therapy is also being studied for its role in cancer treatment. Scientists surmise it could stimulate the body’s response to cancer cells, encouraging the immune system to hit harder.
