Photobiomodulation/Red light therapy/Light therapy/LLLT
Just how long does it take to get some benefits from red light therapy?
All those potential benefits, that is great! How long will you have to wait to see benefits?
That is a great question.
Together we could go through the 5000 published papers and articles together and see for ourselves how long it takes. That would be the best way, as it would uncover some of the other amazing ways in which light therapy might help you. Ways in which you hadn’t even thought “simple light” could help you. For example, your bone health! That’s right bone health has also been shown to be positively effected with the use of specific wavelengths of light. It is much more than a beauty product!
As well as all that, don’t forget that Photobiomodulation has been hailed in the scientific community by researchers from MIT and Harvard for its efficiency and "non-invasive nature and complete lack of side effects".
If you are anything like I was when I started using light therapy (suffered from arthritis that led to other areas of inflammation and pain and had suffered from seasonal affective disorder and depression), the thought of finding something that could help all of that in one go, was amazing! I think we can all agree that having more energy, less inflammation, fat loss, greater cognitive function, better performance, and an elevated mood would make our lives much easier and more enjoyable...
But how long does it all take – of course we all want those benefits, but how long will they take?
The other question people ask – is how much effort will it take? For example exercise has a positive effect on bone health, inflammation, energy levels, mood. For that you have to spend time working out, maybe in gym and it might take weeks, months or even years to see and feel the differences. Now, I believe in exercise and believe everyone should be active and exercising because it is part of a healthy lifestyle and has huge benefits as we age, so definitely exercise!
I say again – I believe everyone should stay active and exercise. Maybe, just maybe, sometimes you don’t feel like it and need a little more energy and a little more motivation to go to the gym. Red light has the ability to help with both. So as well as helping you with so many different aspects of your health, it also has the ability to improve your consistency in other areas of healthy living by allowing more motivation and better energy levels to hit the gym stay consistent with your training.
That’s great – red light might help you with your energy levels and motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercise, as well as recover better! But what about the benefits of photobiomodulation on your body, will they take as many weeks/months as consistent gym work? Will it require as much effort?
The best answer ever!!
Photobiomodulation can work in as little as 4 minutes a day (obviously the time varies on what you are attempting to help). You can stand, sit, lie in front of panel and brush your teeth, do your yoga, meditation, listen to an audiobook, do some other work whilst you help your body with light.
Some effects happen after the first session – some take days and others have been shown to improve over weeks.
Here are some examples:
Sleep :
38 subjects that had insomnia were treated with red light therapy once a day over 10 days. They found that serum melatonin had increased significantly.
Pain
Rapid decrease in pain sensation and improvement in mobility immediately post photobiomodulation
Blood flow
Immediate increase in blood flow to a specific area that continued to be elevated for over one hour after cessation of therapy.
Depression and anxiety:
Patients given photobiomodulation treatment showed improved depression markers after just two weeks of photobiomodulation compared to over 4 weeks for conventional treatment.
Another study showed patients with a history of major depression and anxiety who underwent treatment for 4 week with red and NIR on their forehead showed significant reduction in depressive markers. In just 4 Weeks, 60% of patients experienced a remission of their depression, and 70% of patients experienced a remission of their anxiety.
My own personal experience and that of some of my customers is that anxiety can be decreased from the first session.
Eye sight
Photobiomodulation-treated subjects showed a best-corrected visual acuity mean letter score gain of 4 letters immediately after each treatment series
Fat loss
In just 20 minutes every other day for two weeks, study participants lost 2.99 inches across all body parts:
yes, 3 inches in just 14 days of red light therapy.
In 4 weeks usage, Near-infrared and red light therapy helped reduce fat between 3.5 to 5.17 inches off waist and hip circumference
Mouth Ulcers
Complete resolution and pain cessation after 3 days (control group to 8 days)
Arthritis:
Photobiomodulation was more effective than regular treatments at reducing pain and increasing range of movement in patients with knee arthritis.
Reduced stiffness - time to functional usage and removal of morning stiffness was reduced by 27 minutes
Pain reduction occurred within minutes of the treatment beginning.
As you can see - the results can be amazing and very fast! Another important factor to know is that the positive results continue to occur for a long time after the initial therapy session.
It's time to make red and infrared light therapy part of your routine and purchase one for your house today!
Have a wonderful day,
Stay healthy
Dominic
