Red Light Therapy

[Morgan]

Red Light Therapy was mentioned in another thread and I've seen/heard the benefits ad nauseum over the past several months. (i.e. JRE Podcast, Huberman Lab, Dana White)

If you're in the dark, this link provides a good overview, but there's a ton of more real world testimony available on reddit.

Red Light Therapy: Benefits, Side Effects & Uses

Red light therapy is a treatment that uses low wavelength red light to reportedly improve your skin’s appearance, such as reducing wrinkles, scars, redness and acne.

my.clevelandclinic.org

I bought this device as a starter - $560.

MitoADAPT™ 2.0 Series | Mito Red Light: Patent Pending Red Light Therapy Panels | MitoADAPT MIN 2.0 | Mito Red Light

Shop for MitoADAPT 2.0 Series online. Browse our shop for affordable and high quality red light therapy devices. Free US Shipping, Financing Available.

mitoredlight.com

Then I used ChatGPT to gather a variety of protocols that have been referenced in research papers with successful outcomes:

Protocol	Target/Focus Area	Benefit	Time Duration	Specific Wavelength	Distance from Body
Abdomen	Abdominal region	Improved insulin sensitivity	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Face and Neck	Facial area	Skin rejuvenation, wrinkle reduction	5-15 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Back	Back muscles	Pain relief, muscle relaxation	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Thighs	Thigh muscles	Muscle recovery, cellulite reduction	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Scalp	Scalp and hair	Hair growth stimulation, scalp health	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Knee Joints	Knee area	Joint pain relief, inflammation reduction	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Chest	Chest area	Improved circulation, skin tightening	10-15 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Shoulders	Shoulder muscles	Pain relief, improved range of motion	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Elbows	Elbow joints	Tendonitis relief, improved mobility	10-15 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Feet	Feet area	Neuropathy relief, improved circulation	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Wrists	Wrist joints	Carpal tunnel relief, pain management	10-15 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Eyes	Eye area	Dry eye relief, improved circulation	3-5 minutes	630-660 nm	3-6 inches
Hips	Hip joints	Pain relief, improved flexibility	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Ankles	Ankle joints	Injury recovery, swelling reduction	10-15 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches
Groin	Groin muscles	Strain relief, improved blood flow	10-20 minutes	630-660 nm	6-12 inches

If you're using RLT or have experience, illuminate us!

 

[BrunotheBoxer]

One of the gyms I use down here had this massage bed that used water pressure and jets to massage your back and hamstrings. It also had a red light therapy box on your face for the 20 minutes the massage lasted.
I did it a few times a week for a few months and didn’t notice it doing or improving Jack shit.

Just my experience but I think the whole thing is snake oil.
At the gym this whole experience was pro bono with your membership but I wouldn’t waste my time with it anymore.

Maybe you’ll have a different experience.

 

[VegasMichael]

Seems too good to be true but let us know. I used to sit in a sauna three times a week and noticed my skin looked better as far as diminishing wrinkles and suppleness.

 

[Morgan]

Yep, I resisted buying for the better part of a year because I doubted that it would deliver real results.

Maybe it's a cognitive bias, but I've heard so much praise for the technology in the past few months that I had to flip the switch.

If you're getting good sunlight in the morning (low horizon sunlight registers in the therapeutic range) , then you're essentially receiving RL therapy and probably in a better format.

The basic idea is that light in these wavelengths passes through the dermal tissue layers and reaches inner tissues where it then feeds the mitochondria to support cellular regeneration.

 

[13COBRA]

I just put my head in a microwave once a week.

 

[JPKII]

I just put my head in a microwave once a week.

That explains sooo much... lol.

 

[roy_1031]

My chiropractor used that on my sprained ankle and it worked wonders. I haven’t had an ankle problem since and I use to sprain it quite often.


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[kaz109]

Yes it works and so does cryotherapy. I haven’t put a chamber in my house yet but I do have an inferred sauna blanket and use it once or twice daily.

That another with cryotherapy I notice huge improvement in sleep and muscle recovery. My kids use to hate when had them do it now my oldest is the first one to make sure it’s loaded up when we leaving for tournaments ( he still hates cryo tho lol) .

 

[Morgan]

I just put my head in a microwave once a week.

Bush league. You have to get your nuts in there too.

EDIT- I guess we can't link to South Park episodes.

 

[Morgan]

That explains sooo much... lol.

It's not really harmful, might be something to try with your daughter. Aaron Rodgers is releasing a documentary at some point soon and I'm anticipating that he will talk about using stem cell and RL therapy to rapidly repair an achilles injury.

 

[Tob]

Thanks for this thread Morgan.

If somebody told me about red light therapy and I hadn't done any research I'd immediately think they operated on a Biden-capacity brain level. I have researched the shit out of it and listened carefully to people that have experience with it. I'm a believer. When I spoke with some doctors at the hospital that did my back surgeries and learned that they were using it for burn victims, I was sold.

Three years old but you can trust Cleveland Clinic on this.

Red Light Therapy: Benefits, Side Effects & Uses

Red light therapy is a treatment that uses low wavelength red light to reportedly improve your skin’s appearance, such as reducing wrinkles, scars, redness and acne.

my.clevelandclinic.org

On edit: I now see that Morgan linked the same CC page and I missed that while reading his initial post. I had my open heart surgery there and can attest to the legitimacy of most anything they report on.

In a nutshell, the typical wavelengths used stimulate the mitochondria in cells that are hit with the light. This is win/win. In my case, I needed something to get my left leg going again.

I tweaked my back in 1998 while working on Rich Stadium renovations (where the Buffalo Bills play). I was running work and in the mud, doing demo and formwork for luxury boxes around the stadium inner perimeter.

Here I am looking for a Bills Super Bowl victory but I can't find it. Can't believe this was 26 years ago...

Anyway, I sneezed at 7am while walking to open up a gang box and my back went out. I needed help to make it out to the parking lot where I tried to lay down in the back of a pickup truck. Pain was substantial but after staying home for a week or so I went back to work. Off and on throughout the years my back would go out and I'd deal with it. Stretching, painkillers, etc. Well, last June it went out and I ended up crawling from my shop to the house. Long story short, I ended up having two back surgeries, one week apart. They fixed my back but created another problem by tearing the nerve open and had to stitch it up (twice). I lost almost all of my cerebral spinal fluid. It leaked out through the lower back stitches. That got me in almost immediately for the second surgery.

I lost feeling from my left buttock, through my taint/left nut, thigh/hamstring, calf, foot/toes. The nerve ****ed me. Painful as a mother****er, I was in bed for over two months, November through January of this year. I then moved to using a walker for a bit, then a cane. Now I'm able to hobble without the cane. Nerve issues are unpredictable and I kept hearing recovery, if at all, could take years. I severed my facial nerve when I was 16 years old in a truck accident (hit by a tandem axle trailer truck while standing next to a utility tower) so I've had experience here - more on that later.

In three months my pain has gone from 100 to 40, if that means anything. The nerve heals from the closest point to the furthest point away from the damage. Meaning, my toes will be the last to recover. All that time in bed allowed for research and as a result I ordered a light panel in hopes of getting the nerve to wake the **** up. Just know that when the nerve goes on vacation, you lose all the related muscle mass too. So I ordered a table top red light panel. The idea being that I could move it around to different parts of my body and hit the affected area as directly as possible.

I see Morgan ordered a Mito, good company. I bought mine from Platinum, more specifically their BioMAX 450. The stand was extra, as was their premium remote. All told, about a grand.

Took a month or so to get it but I have used it for two weeks straight now. My biggest concern is getting my toes back as I've fallen a few times and my ankle wants to always roll over. I use it on the top of my foot, bottom, calf, nut bag, ass and lower back. Twenty minutes per area. While it may look closer than that, I keep said body parts 6-8 inches away from the array.

Results? It is working. I can finally move my toes. Still feel the pins and needles but that has waned somewhat. I am also using a TENS device to help wake the nerve(s) up. I place the electrodes in a number of different areas on my foot and zap the piss out of myself for about an hour a day.

I was introduced to the TENS when I tore my facial nerve open and I'll never forget the pain from that experience. At least this is on my leg, somewhat better in terms of dealing with pain. Between the two, I'm making progress whereas I was getting nowhere by just walking and resting.

I'm also back to using my wheeled sled. With the near zero resistance setting, I'm using it to lean forward in an attempt to gain the articulation I lost in my ankle and toes. It will be a great way to gauge progress.

I use the red light on my face too as I want to remain pretty for as long as possible. I don't know how to describe it but your skin changes. It "feels" healthier is the best way I can put it. Wife uses it too.

You have to be disciplined about the light and I'm doing my best to use it and the TENS every single day without skipping any related areas. I'll report back with progress as time goes by. My hope is regain full functionality and be working the sled hard by the time June arrives. My surgeon thinks that is a bit optimistic but he doesn't have a lot of related experience with red light therapy for post-op back (or leg in this case) recovery.

 

[Morgan]

Thanks @Tob- the thread was created with you in mind.

The question one might ask is "why" would this work with such broad impacts? My understanding (the woo-woo answer) is that our ancestors, from the earliest days, would have spent time in the sun around dawn and dusk, but avoided high noon sunlight to avoid burns.

The wavelengths that are absorbed at dawn are what these panels are producing and have supported growth and healing since forever.

 

[CompOrange04GT]

I just cold plunge

 

[PhoenixM3]

Yep, I resisted buying for the better part of a year because I doubted that it would deliver real results.

Maybe it's a cognitive bias, but I've heard so praise for the technology in the past few months that I had to flip the switch.

If you're getting good sunlight in the morning (low horizon sunlight registers in the therapeutic range) , then you're essentially receiving RL therapy and probably in a better format.

The basic idea is that light in these wavelengths passes through the dermal tissue layers and reaches inner tissues where it then feeds the mitochondria to support cellular regeneration.

In submarines, we started off using Red tube filters over the center fluorescent bulbs in light fixtures during periscope depth evolutions at dusk/dawn. The red lighting was later determined to psychologically detrimental, so we shifted to blue, then eventually gray light filters.

 

[Outlaw99]

You spelled beer therapy wrong.

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[svtfocus2cobra]

An ex gf of mine who had Lyme disease worked at a high end spa that used all of these new and experimental therapies and red light was one of the main ones they offered, and they had multiple booths that you could step into. She used a lot of them to help with the effects of Lyme. I never got to use red light but my understanding was that it was one of the more established and confirmed in having health benefits. I got a massage there once and they used this other device that looked like those electric spheres that you'd see at Spencer's or Hot Topic. They put it at my feet in a dark room and I could feel these light electrical currents going through my body and light tingling in my arms and legs. Was really interesting but it's hard to understand what the actual benefits are.

 

[Tob]

The list of benefits is long.

The company I got mine from has a lot of available reading on the matter with links to various studies.

Red Light Therapy Benefits: Proven Health Advantages

Red light therapy (RLT) naturally treats skin and deep tissue conditions. From muscular healing to stroke recovery- the therapy offers numerous health benefits.

platinumtherapylights.com

 

[kaz109]

I just cold plunge

Just out of curiosity have you tried doing cryotherapy? Same concept as a cold plunge but different feeling

 

[Morgan]

Just out of curiosity have you tried doing cryotherapy? Same concept as a cold plunge but different feeling

I’ve done both, the cryotherapy is a shorter duration cold; and frankly, I didn’t find it challenging. No mental obstacle but I’m sure there is still a benefit. Endorphin release.

The cold plunge is a very different experience and requires(for me) a much stronger effort to shut down the inner bitch.

 

[HEMIHUNTER]

Roxanne started playing in my head


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