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Red Light Therapy



pasha
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Red light therapy and "bromeopathy" have entered the popular discource due to the trailer for "The End of Men." Red light therapy generally referes to shining light with 650 - 1000+ nm wavelengths, which is in either the red or near-infared spectrum. The End of Men is now released on Fox Nation
My experience with red light therapy is with this product:

 

 

It seems slightly effective in increasing my mood and a having a "warm feeling" after a 5-10 min session. There is a distinction between red light frequency in (600-650nm) and near-infrared (810-850nm). The product above has both. You can read more about the red vs NIR distinction. Visible spectrum wavelengths penetrate less deep in the body compared to longer wavelengths infrared. Some infrared saunas have wavelengths of 1000nm or above and are thus able to penetrate even deeper. They need to be used with more caution.


A number of studies showed effects of both red light and infrared therapy, most commonly on skin repair. One example study found a significant improvement in skin tone in treatment group after 30 days. 


 

Another study also shows facial rejuvenation:

Another study has shown a correlation of red light therapy with impovement of distance run in 12 min. This result didn't "technically" reach significance, but anyone who has done any sort of running should be impressed by this. Also this study used red light therapy during sleep, which is not something I would recommend, since I prefer to sleep in as dark of a room as possible.

There are a number of other red light therapy studies linked here. Although some of them are not convincing by themselves because they are done on mice or have low sample sizes, the overall picture is fairly positive, especially since effect sizes tend to be quite large.

You don't have to use red light therapy while power posing:


But it looks cool if you do. And it might have benefits towards posture.

1 replies
2022/09/17