With all the wonderful health and beauty benefits of red light therapy, perhaps we should all think about putting on red this Valentine’s Day, (literally), with the perfect beauty product to help wash away those winter blues – red light therapy.
Red light therapy benefits are becoming so widely known, that now, we see red light therapy everywhere. We see red light therapy booths at the tanning salon, red light therapy facials at the spa, and perhaps most wonderful of all – red light therapy portable devices for at-home use, such as Vital Red Light’s portable red light therapy products.
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. For your significant other, your best friend, or even yourself to practice self-love, nothing beats the gift of great skin, improved sleep, anti-aging, improved mood, and more.
Read More: The Science Behind Red Light Therapy
Like photosynthesis for your skin and body, red light therapy gives damaged cells the energy necessary to heal themselves with the help of specific wavelengths of light. The wavelength of red light (660nm) is absorbed by your skin, leading to skin rejuvenation and healing, while near-infrared light (850nm), penetrates deep into your tissues, muscles, and body for recovery, to target inflammation, and reduce pain.
Red light therapy also helps increase your energy levels, improves your mood, and has additional benefits including better skin health, healthy hair growth, anti-aging benefits, improved mental alertness, better muscle recovery, and much more.
You might wonder how companies like Vital Red Light came to the realization that they should bring the benefits of red light therapy to your home, in the form of at-home use, portable red light devices. As an early adopter of red light therapy to combat Lyme disease, founder Jake Kreuz enjoyed the many benefits of red light therapy, but was frustrated with the monthly and expensive (approximately $50 – $100 per session) appointments. He wanted real results, in a more affordable way, right from the comfort of home.
Getting the Benefits of Red Light Therapy at Home
It’s clear that using red light therapy at home is much more affordable than going for a red light therapy facial at a spa, but how do you do it?
Below are basic instructions on how to use an at-home red light therapy device, in three steps:
Shine the red light on the area of the body you wish to treat.
For a general energy boost, try it on the face, gut, chest, or along the back.
Sit back and relax for 10 minutes, and enjoy your red light therapy
Just 10 minutes is often long enough for the wavelengths to trigger the body’s self-healing response. For optimal full body benefits, it is recommended doing 10-20 minutes of treatment for each desired treatment area at a distance of 6-18 inches away from your device to experience the best results. For multiple areas on the body, your device can be used up to 40 minutes per day.
Repeat daily, and enjoy the long-lasting benefits of red light therapy
Consistency is vital to reap the benefits of red light therapy, and it is recommended minimum once daily, however 2-3 times per day can be beneficial when used for multiple areas.
At-home red light therapy devices such as the ones from Vital Red Light are available in three sizes: Vital Charge (travel-sized), Vital Pro, and Vital Elite.
While the travel-sized red light therapy device is more portable, handheld, lighter, smaller, and easier to take around with you, the larger sizes might be best if you want to cover larger areas of your body at home. Below is a run-down of how different sizes of this beauty product work:
· Vital Charge – The Vital Charge is a handheld red light therapy device that delivers therapeutic red light wavelengths in an ultra-sleek design, which is perfect for everyday on the go or traveling.
· Vital Pro – The Vital Pro is a targeted red and near-infrared LED light therapy device that improves skin, inflammation, mood, energy, recovery, sleep, and much more.
· Vital Elite – The most immersive light therapy, which is designed for full body treatments at home, across large areas of the body, such as the back, chest, or abdomen.
Top Benefits of Red Light Therapy
It might surprise you to learn that there are many benefits of red light therapy, not just for beauty or vanity, but also many health benefits. Check out the top benefits of red light therapy below:
1. Red Light Boosts Your Energy and Cellular Health
The most significant benefit of red light therapy is the effect it has on the body’s cells. Red light therapy works to deliver safe and therapeutic wavelengths of red and near infrared light directly to your body, stimulating the cellular energy production process, which enhances your vitality, improves blood circulation, delays fatigue, boosts energy levels, and promotes the overall feeling of improved well-being. Tip from the experts: Try using your device right when you wake up! It’s an energy booster that also improves circulation and provides an invigorating boost of warmth. This can help combat sleep inertia or grogginess in the morning.
2. Skin Health Benefits: Regeneration, Rejuvenation, and Anti-Aging Benefits
Red light therapy sessions can improve your skin’s complexion and health by promoting regeneration and rejuvenation, while simultaneously boosting the production of hyaluronic acid, collagen, and elastin, to reduce anti-aging, fine lines, pore size, acne, texture, and wrinkles. Red light wavelengths in particular target the mitochondrial chromophores within skin cells, which stimulates the production of collagen proteins. Stem cells may also be activated in the process, increasing tissue repair.
You can find out more about your skin health by taking a DNA test and reading your genetic skin profile, which includes information about your skin age (how worried do you have to be about wrinkle prevention?) as well as genetic skin conditions you might have that red light therapy could help with.
3. Stress Reduction and Better Sleep
Another one of the top benefits of red light therapy is that it has been shown to improve overall sleep quality by boosting the sleep hormone, melatonin. Red light therapy can help you relax and wind down in the evenings, ultimately promoting deeper and more restful sleep by lowering cortisol levels (stress hormones), while also regulating your brain’s sleep cycle (regulating your circadian rhythm).
An at-home red light device can also be used as a nighttime light source when you’re reading in bed, winding down for the night, because of its low color temperature. This type of soft lighting will help put you in the mood for sleep compared to a bright reading lamp.
4. Red Light Therapy Improves Mood and Mental Health
Red light therapy can boost your mental health and improve your mood. There’s a reason why light therapy is used for many clinically depressed individuals. Light plays a crucial role for our bodies, circadian rhythm and wellbeing, and science has proved that the lack of sunlight (especially in the winter months with shorter daylight hours) can cause mental health struggles such as anxiety and depression.
This is because limited exposure to light depletes the brain’s serotonin and dopamine levels.
Low levels of serotonin and dopamine can lead to disabling mood conditions, and today’s screen-focused world already faces an over stimulating amount of blue light at night and a lack of natural light or healthier light sources (such as red light) during the day. Light therapy is also common to help combat the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In addition to boosting energy levels and supporting a balanced mood, red light therapy can improve mental clarity, increase general positivity and productivity, while reducing some of your anxiety and depression.
5. Red Light Therapy Promotes Hair Growth for Healthier Hair and Longer Lashes
Want longer, thicker, and healthier-looking hair? Backed by a robust foundation of peer-reviewed clinical studies, red light, and near-infrared light treatments have increased hair count, hair density, and hair thickness for men and women alike. Scientists have concluded that infrared light has the ability to stimulate the hair follicles by penetrating deep into the skin (down to the cellular level). Biogenesis occurs wherein the hair is restored, thickened and improved in fullness.
Recommended Usage:
1. Using a combination of red and near-infrared light for 10-20 minutes for around 3-5 times per week.
2. Use a combination of red light (660nm) and near-infrared light (850nm) for 10-20 minutes 3-5 times per week to stimulate the hair follicles.
3. After 1-4 months, decrease the frequency to 1-4 times per week to continue to stimulate hair growth over time.
6. Helps with Muscle Recovery
By promoting cell regeneration and increased blood flow, red light therapy can help reduce muscle soreness and stiffness (or overall pain), allowing you to feel more energized and less fatigued. Red light has been shown to improve strength, speed, and endurance, as well as improves faster muscle recovery after strenuous workouts.
7. Reduces Inflammation
Near-infrared (NIR) light reduces overall inflammation in the body by decreasing the presence of inflammatory markers. This reduction can help ease the symptoms associated with joint pain, sore muscles, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.
8. Promotes Weight Loss and Overall Wellness
A lesser-known one of the benefits of red light therapy is that it can help you lose weight by regulating thyroid and hormone function, while also increasing your body’s cellular metabolism. Combined with exercise and a balanced diet, red light therapy has been shown to reduce insulin, body fat, and cellulite. The potential weight loss benefits of red light therapy for weight loss include: fat cell reduction, improved metabolism, reduced inflammation in the body, and improved sleep and circadian rhythm. In a recent clinical trial, red light therapy was shown to be twice as effective at burning fat when combined with working out. That might be why today, many well-known gyms like Equinox are now equipped with a Vital Red Light device.
So, there you have it. Perhaps you didn’t know there were quite this many benefits of red light therapy. It’s worth considering getting a red light therapy device for at-home use, to improve your skin health, boost your mood, for the anti-aging benefits, and all the other perks of this unique form of light therapy.
References:
- Effects of 780 nm diode laser irradiation on blood microcirculation: preliminary findings on time-dependent T1-weighted contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- The Efficacy and Safety of 660 nm and 411 to 777 nm Light-Emitting Devices for Treating Wrinkles
- Effect of Color Light Stimulation Using LED on Sleep Induction Time – PMC
- Review of transcranial photobiomodulation for major depressive disorder: targeting brain metabolism, inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurogenesis
- Effects of 780 nm diode laser irradiation on blood microcirculation: preliminary findings on time-dependent T1-weighted contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- What is the best moment to apply phototherapy when associated to a strength training program? A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial
- Low-level laser (light) therapy (LLLT) in skin: stimulating, healing, restoring – PMC
- The potential of phototherapy to reduce body fat, insulin resistance and “metabolic inflexibility” related to obesity in women undergoing weight loss treatment
- Vital Red Light studies and benefits
