Light therapy has started a new revolution in the therapy field. From the ancient era, people knew about the benefits of light on health and the mind. Modern science has captured all those benefits in a box and allowed us to receive them whenever we need them.
There are various forms of light therapy available, and you can choose them according to your need. Here we are going to talk about Near-Infrared Light Therapy and the range of benefits you can receive from it.
Near-Infrared Light Therapy
If you are one of the sciency people, you already know that the color of the light depends on the wavelength. The lower wavelength of visible light shows the color blue, and the highest ones project the color light.
If the wavelength becomes shorter than the visible blue light, we call them UV rays. And higher than red light is known as infrared. So, naturally, in infrared light therapy, a higher wavelength of light is used. More specifically, the spectrum between 700 – 760 is used for near-infrared light therapy.
A higher wavelength of light penetrates the skin more deeply and provides benefits from the inside. Therefore, it can help in energizing the cells from inside, stimulate healing, and give relief from pain.
Mostly LED light is used in these therapy lights for delivering the perfect wavelength. It provides a healing effect in the exposed area and provides light energy to the skin cells. It triggers protein synthesis in the cells, increases metabolism and antioxidant activity.
Moreover, near-infrared light therapy can reduce pain and increase bone density. It can also help in restoring circadian rhythm, elevating mood, relieve stress, and can help with the quality of sleep.
Benefits of Near-infrared Light Therapy
As we mentioned earlier, near-infrared light is barely visible to our eyes. It is the shortest among the infrared wavelengths and penetrates higher than visible light in our body. It comes with a plethora of benefits. It doesn’t contain any harmful UV rays and is totally natural. When you expose yourself to near-infrared light, you will have the following benefits:
- Boost in metabolism
- Recharged mitochondria
- Increase white blood cell production
- Shrunken body fat
- Promotion of cell regeneration
- Reduction of inflammation in the body
- Increased circulation within the body
- Faster wound healing
- Reduce recovery time after workout
- Brightening of skin
- Reduce muscle and joint pain
- Increase flexibility
- Promoting anti-aging proteins in the body
- Increase testosterone production in the male body
How to Use Near-infrared Light Therapy?
Receiving light therapy is as simple as it can get. You can either book a session in a therapy center or buy a handheld device. When you want to receive the therapy, you just turn on the device and expose yourself to the light therapy box. The therapy centers have many powerful devices, and you need a professional to supervise your session.
On the other hand, some light therapy boxes can come in two forms, handheld and held by fixtures. The therapy lights that are required to be held by fixtures are bigger in size and cover more area at once. The handheld devices are smaller in size, and you can carry them anywhere you want. However, they are often not capable of covering more than one area at a time.
You can set your light therapy box held by a fixture in the place where you spend more time. And when you need to receive the therapy, you can just turn on the device, keep doing what you are doing, and receive therapy. The same procedure applies to handheld devices.
Make sure you are following proper procedures if you have your therapy at home. Most therapy boxes come with explicit instructions on how you should use them. Also, if any precautionary procedure is described, make sure to maintain it accordingly.
When to Receive Light Therapy
This part actually depends upon your requirements. You can administer light therapy whenever you want. However, some people can face trouble sleeping when they receive light therapy during the nighttime. In such cases, you can receive therapy during the day to avoid sleep trouble. Also, if you have trouble staying asleep, you can receive the therapy during dusk. If you have any additional problems, make sure to consult your therapist or doctor.
Light therapy has opened a door of possibilities in front of us. It has achieved a lot within a short time. Many industries are now adopting this therapy for providing the best possible care to their consumers. We are sure we have just seen a very small portion of the benefits that light therapy can bring us. With time, it will uncover more and more benefits, and we are eagerly waiting for that time. Who knows what the next breakthrough light therapy can achieve?