What Is Infrared Light Therapy? Benefits, Uses and More

Infrared light therapy is currently one of the most unique technological advancements and solutions for health issues. It all started when NASA developed light therapy for growing plants in space. But it’s now used for human health benefits. If you’re finding ways to solve some health and skin problems, it might be a good option. But what exactly is it?

Get your answer in this article. Learn what this kind of therapy is and how it actually works. At the same time, find out its main benefits and uses—how effective is it for your health and wellness? Read on to learn more.

What Is Infrared Light Therapy?

This is also known as red light therapy and involves the use of infrared (IR) light for treating medical and cosmetic issues. Basically, it uses various IR light wavelengths to operate on the body. But unlike other forms of treatment, this isn’t painful, is non-invasive, and doesn’t use heat.

It can also be referred to by the following names:

• Photobiomodulation
• Low-level light therapy
• Near IR therapy
• Far IR therapy
• Soft laser therapy
• Cold laser therapy

Different Types of IR Light Therapy

Different devices may use different types of IR light for the therapy. These include:

• Red Light: With wavelengths of 620 to about 780 nanometers, it’s commonly used for skin rejuvenation.

• Near IR Light: It has wavelengths of 780 to 3,000 nanometers, allowing it to penetrate through the scalp and skull.

• Mid IR Light: It has wavelengths of 3,000 to 50,000 nanometers, but is rarely used for clinical practices.

• Far IR Light: It has wavelengths of 50,000 to 1,000,000 nanometers and can penetrate almost 4 cm beneath the skin surface.

Main Benefits of Using IR Light Therapy

There are three main reasons why IR light therapy is better than other forms of treatment. Here are some of its potential benefits:

• Nontoxic: It’s nontoxic, noninvasive, and is considered safe for everyone—all skin types too. You won’t use harsh topical substances and heat, which are irritating to the skin and can even burn.

• UV-Free: Ultraviolet (UV) light has been linked to skin cancer. Since it uses IR light, this is avoided.

• Easy Access: Compared to other treatments, people can easily access and get IR light therapy from medical or dental offices, tanning salons, spas, and beauty clinics. You can even buy at-home devices for personal use.

How Does It Work?

This therapy generally works by repetitively exposing your skin to different levels of IR light for a certain period of time. However, keep in mind that different types of IR lights can cause the therapy to work on various levels.

Typically, the light penetrates the skin and influences the mitochondria in your body, which are the cells' main source of energy. The light particles then get absorbed and are utilized to create additional adenosine triphosphate, which generates energy for every cell.

Many factors can make the mitochondria produce less ATP, including aging, illness, and lifestyle. That’s why the IR light therapy triggers a reaction that helps reverse this. With a boost to the energy center of the cell, the cells have more energy to do their job, like healing and growth.

10 Known and Potential Uses of IR Light Therapy

To date, IR light therapy has helped with various health and wellness concerns. To be specific, here are its main uses for different people:

1. Helps With Oral Health Conditions

Some dental professionals use IR light therapy to treat different oral health conditions. This is because it helps reduce dental pain, inflammation, and ulcers. It can even keep unhealthy oral microbes in check. Additionally, these specific oral conditions usually use IR light therapy for treatment:

• Temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD): This causes discomfort and clicking in the jaw, resulting in limited jaw movement.
• Periodontitis: This is a chronic buildup of dental plaque bacteria.
• Stomatitis: This involves painful lesions on the lips, soft palate, and the lining of the cheeks.

2. Promotes Wound Healing and Tissue Repair

IR light also shows promising effectiveness in wound healing and tissue repair. Specifically, IR light therapy can help heal chronic and difficult-to-heal wounds and promote repair in the tissues. It can help in a few ways:

• Reduce inflammation in the cells
• Stimulate new blood vessels to form
• Increase collagen production in the skin
• Increase helpful fibroblasts in the skin

3. Treats Various Skin Conditions

It’s widely used for different skin conditions and for general skin health. It’s because it affects collagen production and blood circulation in skin tissue. These are two key elements in good skin health. Specifically, here are its two main skin health benefits:

• Anti-aging: It can enhance the appearance of skin that’s been damaged or aged by sunlight. This is done by stimulating rapid collagen production that can lift and tighten lax or loose skin. This then helps minimize fine lines and wrinkles at the same time.
• Improving Acne: It can help reduce inflammation, irritation, and sebum production in the skin.

4. Hair Loss Treatment

Certain forms of this therapy can help support hair growth—the best way to treat hair loss. It can help stimulate follicle hair growth. In fact, a recent meta-analysis showed that red and near IR light are effective at treating different types of alopecia. However, despite this, more research is still needed to conclude its complete effectiveness against hair loss.

5. Accelerates Sports Recovery and Injury Prevention

Light helps speed up the respiration process in cells. It also helps increase ATP and other mechanistic factors in the cells, stimulating cellular energy and your body’s ability to repair itself. This is what makes IR light therapy promising when it comes to the treatment and prevention of different sports-related injuries. Plus, IR light reduces inflammation and pain, which in turn helps your body and muscles to recover after working out or playing sports.

6. Relief from Pain

Low back pain is very common, and it can lead to disability, poor quality of life, and even cause you to get time off of work. In one randomized study of 39 patients, IR light therapy was found to help create a significant reduction in lower back pain after the seven-week experimental period. Similarly, a 2021 review found that low-level LASER and light therapy may help reduce pain severity in other areas:

• Neck pain
• Post-operative pain
• Non-specific knee pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Osteoarthritis

7. Helps With Fat Loss and Metabolism

Although further research is still needed to prove and confirm this, there are a few studies that show that red light can affect adipocytes, which are the cells that store fat in the body. In 2011, a study published in the Obesity Surgery journal found that the regular exposure of 40 adults to red light therapy resulted in their adipocyte cells releasing triglycerides. This, in turn, resulted in fat loss—they lost approximately 2.1 centimeters of girth over four weeks.

At the same time, based on a 2001 study, far infrared therapy helped improve fasting blood sugar. This is potentially because of the increased blood flow, like what happens during exercise, that facilitates glucose uptake from the blood.

8. Provides Cardiovascular Benefits

Far IR light can help people with high blood pressure and impaired blood flow through major arteries (endothelial dysfunction). This is possibly because of the increased nitric oxide production as nitric oxide is a vasodilator. One study involving 25 males with at least one cardiac risk factor showed a significant improvement in endothelial function, blood pressure, and fasting blood sugar. This is after only two weeks of daily Waon therapy.

9. Helps Improve Sleep Quality

The body requires natural light to regulate its different biological systems. When you spend too much time indoors, you may not get enough amount. This will affect the body’s cellular energy systems and the daily body clock. When this happens, you can experience fatigue, poor sleep, weight gain, and mood-related issues.

This makes the therapy ideal for people who can’t go outside anymore and struggle with sleep. It’s a good alternative to exposing the body to more natural light. It can help reset the body clock and help in the release of melatonin, which contributes to healthier sleep patterns and quality.

10. Enhances Bone Recovery and Musculoskeletal Health

IR light can stimulate blood vessels and create adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This enhances its effectiveness in treating bone fractures. At the same time, it is utilized to address symptoms of arthritis. This is due to its capability to boost collagen synthesis and repair cartilage. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to fully evaluate its mechanisms and effectiveness in this area.

Summary

IR light therapy is a safe form of treatment for various skin and medical conditions. It’s easy to access and has a wide range of uses. You can try it to improve your acne, scars, and even sleep. You can also try it to reduce inflammation, enhance healing, and for pain relief.

If you want to try it yourself, you can visit our infrared light collection. We offer high-quality devices that you can use to practice IR light therapy at home!