Red Light Therapy at Home

What if we told you that red lights actually mean go? By that, we mean go and buy a red light therapy device.

The benefits of red light therapy at home are vast, and we will explore all of the different aspects with this article. This way, you are well informed before making your purchase.

If you’ve read our articles about the importance of a sauna after your workout to increase muscle recovery and the best-infrared sauna blankets to use, you already understand that there are many benefits to heat therapies for your body.

The same is true for light therapy, and red light therapy is taking the world by storm.

Celebrities are reaping the benefits of its anti-aging qualities while doctors promote red light therapy to heal wounds faster, aid in pain relief, and heal acne.

Are you ready for the best news yet? You can buy a red light therapy device for your home to reap the benefits of red light. Sounds too good to be true? Not yet ready to try red light therapy at home? That’s cool.

We will show you the benefits of red light therapy in this article, and you are going to run out and buy one immediately. Want to make a bet?

Red Light Therapy is what exactly?

Let’s get our science on. Red light therapy uses specific wavelengths of light to treat your body. It directly affects our bodies’ cells by improving ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production, which is our energy source to make cells work properly.

More specifically, red and near infrared light particles are absorbed by mitochondria, where the energy lives in a cell.

By improving ATP production in our bodies, we can function better. Honestly, without it, we wouldn’t be able to do a thing. Interesting right?

All Wavelengths aren’t created equal

Let’s keep going since we are having so much fun with science. A red light wavelength of 630-680 nm effectively treats the skin’s surface since it penetrates about 8-11 millimeters into the skin.

That means it is treating blood vessels, lymph nodes, nerves, and hair follicles.

By feeding your cells beneath the surface of the skin with red and near infrared light, your body produces more collagen to heal sun damage, acne, scars, and those dreaded wrinkles. More on that to come.

In comparison, a longer wavelength of 810-850 nm is used for promoting muscle recovery, relieving joint pain, healing deeper wounds, and increasing tissue formation.

The wavelengths penetrate further into the body, reaching more cells to advance healing on a deeper level.

In fact, a wavelength of 810 nm has been used to penetrate the skull and treat people who have neurological effects from strokes and other brain injuries. Say what?

History Likes Red Light Therapy

Hold onto your seat, people, because we’re going to outer space. Okay, not really, but red light did, and if NASA used it, then we are on board.

In all seriousness, NASA utilized red light to grow plants in space. They also used it to decrease the muscle and bone degeneration in astronauts. Pretty impressive, don’t you think?

Let’s also look at Niels Ryberg Finsen, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine back in 1903.

He successfully used red light to treat people who had smallpox and lupus. Light therapy is not new. It’s been helping people for over 100 years.

Even the FDA is On Board

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared red light therapy for many ailments, including chronic joint pain, wound healing, wrinkles, hair loss, and acne. Further, several red light therapy at home devices are now FDA approved for use.

It’s important to consult your doctor before using light therapy at home to ensure it’s the right choice for you.

Your Skin with Red Light Therapy

The Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy combined blue light and red LED light therapy to test mild to serious acne treatment in 24 people.

The subjects were treated with 415 nm of blue light and 633 nm of red LED light for 20 minutes over 8 sessions.

The results were quite astounding. At a 4-week follow-up, the number of acne lesions was down by 46%. Also, after a 12-week follow-up, the amount of acne reduction was down 81%.

Another skin study published in the same journal researched red and infrared light on skin rejuvenation.

Infrared light has a longer wavelength than red light, and the combination of the two promotes even better results. The findings were profound.

Using LED light therapy, the 31 participants in the study saw an 81% reduction in wrinkles. They concluded that the combination of red light and infrared light was an effective method of skin rejuvenation.

Another benefit of red light therapy is its ability to reduce inflammation. At the same time, blue light therapy has been used to ward off the bacteria that causes acne.

The combination of the two wavelengths of light promotes positive results for stubborn acne. Because of its effects on inflammation, people use red light therapy for cold sores as well. It’s basically the exact opposite of its name. No more red here!

Red Light Therapy brings Pain Relief

We mentioned that red light therapy is used for pain relief. In a study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, red light therapy was administered to 15 patients with osteoarthritis in their knees.

After only doing it for 15 minutes, twice a day for 10 days, the pain was down by 50% for all patients. Red light therapy can reduce pain without medications.

This is ground-breaking as sometimes the side effects of medications can outweigh the benefits.

Red light therapy’s ability to reduce inflammation means it can do more than just take the redness away. Inflammation found in joints, common in those with arthritis, is why those people are in pain so often.

Utilizing red light therapy, people with arthritis have reduced joint pain due to a decrease in inflammation.

An increase in joint mobility due to reduced inflammation is another added benefit, especially for those dealing with chronic pain.

If there is a red light happy dance, we are doing it.

Light Therapy can Help Heal Wounds

While we discussed how one benefit of red light therapy is the ability to heal skin, it goes even deeper than that…literally.

The different wavelengths of light mean that red light at 830 nm goes far enough into the body to accelerate the healing process. By doing so, red light therapy stimulates fibroblasts (cells that make collagen and elastin).

Since fibroblasts aid in healing tissue, wounds can heal faster once red light kicks them into gear.

Besides the increase in blood circulation, another benefit of red light therapy is that it makes wounds heal faster. Red light has been used for minor burns, amputation injuries, and skin grafts.

Red Light Therapy Stimulates Hair Growth

You read that right. Red light therapy can stimulate hair growth for temporary hair loss due to medication’s side effects, stress, surgery, or even male pattern baldness.

Several red light therapy at home devices will stimulate the hair follicle to promote hair growth.

Of course, the key is to get the proper amount of red light to the hair follicle. The correct wavelength to promote hair growth is between 630-680 nm.

You are getting the right amount of red light absorption into the skin to help hair grow at that wavelength.

Are you wondering if you are going to get unwanted hair growth? No one wants hair on their nose, right?

The important thing to understand is that if there aren’t hair follicles present, no hair will grow.

Also, if a hair follicle has died, the red light will not get it to regrow. It cannot revive a dead hair follicle. That is why it’s important to start red light therapy early when trying to stimulate hair growth.

Have we convinced you that red light therapy is beneficial? You are getting excited about buying a red light therapy device, aren’t you?

We are going to give you a list of light therapy at home devices.

Before we do, you probably have some more questions, and we always have the answers. Read on, folks.

How Often Should I do Red Light Therapy?

How often you should do red light therapy depends on what you are looking to achieve.

It is recommended that people use red light therapy two to three times per week until they achieve the required results. This could take weeks or months, or even years.

Once you achieve the results you are looking for, red light therapy can be continued two times per week for maintenance.

Remember, red and near infrared light penetrate cells and make their production of ATP more efficient. That, in turn, produces collagen and elastin to aid in the healing process. That doesn’t happen overnight.

The longevity of a session is ten minutes when targeting a specific area. Then, you can gradually work up to 20 minutes. You need to keep yourself about 6-12 inches away from the device.

The red light will not burn you from that distance, but you can burn yourself if you touch it while it’s on like any lightbulb.

What about Daily Red Light Therapy Treatment?

The benefits of red light therapy are far and wide. Doing red light therapy daily is absolutely fine. The FDA has cleared the use of red light to aid in pain relief, and people with chronic pain need that relief every day.

There have been no adverse reactions to people who use it that often. In fact, it has also been known to help with insomnia.

Using it right before bed is recommended for people who have insomnia, and daily is the dosage.

Is it Safe?

Yes, and the FDA clearing red light therapy in a doctor’s office and red light therapy at home gives us extra comfort.

The light therapy devices at home have less output than anything you will get at a doctor’s office, making them safe for use by non-professionals.

When buying an LED light therapy device, the recommendation is to ensure the product specifies the amount of LED light in the device and the exact penetration into the skin.

Steer clear of products that don’t give you this information as it is important to ensure it is safe and effective.

Some concern was raised about the possible effects that red light therapy has on your eyes. Experts agree that there is minimal risk for eye damage when you use an FDA cleared device and follow the instructions.

Some of the devices for your face actually sit flush like a mask, so the light never penetrates your eyes. Unlike tanning beds where UV light is used and eye protection is a must, red light is less invasive and should not harm you.

Let’s Review Revive Light Therapy Devices

Since we gave you such a great background on the benefits of red light, now it’s time to get to the light therapy devices that you can purchase for at-home use. Revive has several devices that are top-quality red light devices.

Revive devices have something for everyone. From acne issues to chronic pain, there is a Revive light therapy device to help. Shall we check them out?

Revive Light Therapy – DPL IIa

dpl® IIa—Professional Anti-Aging and Acne Treatment Light Therapy

$399.00

The dpl® IIa light therapy panel is our most advanced light therapy panel that can treat wrinkles and acne, at the same time!