Photobiomodulation
Infrared and Far Infrared Therapies
for wellness, prevention, recovery and cure...
Scientific research into red light therapy.
Red Light Therapy has been heralded as an innovative and non-invasive therapeutic approach for the treatment of many health conditions. It’s been proven effective in thousands of scientific studies and hundreds of clinical trials for reducing pain, inflammation, and edema, promoting healing of wounds, deeper tissues, and nerves, preventing tissue damage, and accelerating muscle recovery after exercise. The healing-promoting qualities have been known for almost forty years, since the invention of lasers, is 100% natural, and has no known adverse side effects
The worldwide research efforts into the biological mechanisms, conditions treatable, and healing achievable are well-established for many conditions (like pain, inflammation, wounds, skin health, and performance enhancement). Plus there’s exciting emerging evidence for other conditions and uses (e.g. weight loss, autoimmune disorders, fertility issues, brain diseases/injury, mental illnesses). Clinical trials have found the majority of participants notice both immediate and sustained improvements.
Light Therapy is the medical use of light technology to penetrate visible and invisible light wavelengths deep into the human body, which promotes the body’s natural healing processes. Both visible red light and invisible near-infrared light are proved to be highly absorbable in living tissues, and produce unique detoxing therapeutic effects. Between them, they can create more than twenty positive changes at a cellular level to restore normal, healthy cell activity that might have been disrupted by injury or illness.
Known as photobiomodulation, it is the use of low levels of red or near-infrared light for delivering energy to the cells. The many other names for Red Light Therapy include low-level laser therapy (LLLT), low-intensity light therapy (LILT), phototherapy, photo biostimulation, biostimulation (BIOS), photonic stimulation, photomedicine, cold lasers, among others.
The healing power of light.
Red light works by penetrating into the body’s cells and activating the mitochondria, which are the powerhouse of the cell where energy is created. The energy molecule found in all living things is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When the red and near-infrared (NIR) light stimulates and increases the function of the mitochondria, cells make more ATP. With more energy available, cells function more efficiently, detoxify, rejuvenate, repair damage and produce healthy-cell creating amino acids.
Read more about The Science
Recent studies in treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, Osteoporosis show promise and over 130 medical conditions showing positive outcomes all drug & surgery-free! And…then there’s those ‘other’ age-related conditions like hair loss & wrinkles being reversed!
A Brief History
The therapeutic properties of light have been used as far back as the ancient Egyptians, who treated various ailments using solariums fitted with colored glass. In 1910, John Harvey Kellog published a book called Light Therapeutics, which outlined the many benefits of light therapy using incandescent light bulbs and arc lights.
The invention of laser (light amplification by stimulated emission by radiation) in 1960 by American Physicist Theodore H Maiman; scientists and physicians began to use lasers to deliver therapeutic levels of light. One such physician and surgeon was Hungarian Endre Mester (1903-1984), who discovered that low-level ruby laser light could regrow hair and accelerate the healing process in mice. Dr Mester subsequently founded the Laser Research Center at the Semmelweiss Medical University in Budapest in 1974.
Cellular Activation by Light Wavelengths
Red light (measured in nanometers, nm) ranges from about 600nm – 700nm and near-infrared light is in the range of 700nm – 1400nm on the electromagnetic spectrum. Red and infrared light have very similar physiological effects, the main difference being that infrared light penetrates deeper into the body, allowing its healing frequencies to reach more cells naturally into the body’s bones and organs. A combination of red and infrared light has been found to be ideal for the broadest range of detoxing therapeutic applications.
Just like plants depend on sunlight to flourish, the human body is dependent on light for its health and wellbeing. Sunlight (made of UV light, visible light, and infrared light) encourages the human body to produce hormones that are directly responsible for improving mood, producing essential vitamins, and creating wellbeing. Red light is especially beneficial to us, and is delivered in the form of photons, penetrating and stimulating the photoreceptors of damaged cells. This effectively jump-starts and accelerates the healing process.
Over the past 100 years, and with a rapid increase in research in the last 20 years, red and infrared light therapies have been studied extensively on humans and animals for dozens of diseases and conditions and found to be safe and have efficacy. Since the cellular metabolic process for humans and other creatures are similar, the observed health benefits are often similar or uniform among different species.
Research shows that red and infrared light waves penetrate into the body’s cells and boosts cellular energy metabolism by activating the enzyme complex called cytochrome c oxidase, and frees the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)[i]. A series of metabolic events occur as a result, including:
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The formation of new capillaries
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Increased collagen production
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Increased carbon dioxide production
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Improved oxygenation
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Increased blood flow
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Reduced free radicals and oxidative stress
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Reduced and protection from further inflammation
Lasers vs LEDs
Previously it was believed that only red-colored lasers exhibited healing effects, however, it has been since well established that far less expensive LEDs (light-emitting diodes) can also deliver comparable beneficial effects. This is especially good news for the public because it means powerful healing LED devices are available to everyone at affordable prices and can be self-administered.
As an example of what’s possible with LEDs, Dr. Harry Whelan, professor of pediatric neurology and director of hyperbaric medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin, has been studying red light in cell cultures and on humans for decades. His work in the laboratory has shown that skin and muscle cells grown in cultures and exposed to LED infrared light grow 150-200% faster than control cultures not stimulated by the light.
The use of LEDs to deliver Red Light Therapy started appearing in the literature around 2001 and was driven primarily by the funding from the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a light source for plant growth experiments in space[ii].
A recently published article in the journal Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, by the world-leading researcher in photobiomodulation (PBM), Harvard Professor Michael Hamblin, and avid researcher/chronicler of PBM research, Vladimir Heiskanen, reviewed the lasers vs LEDs debate. They noted an important difference between laser and LED light is the bandwidth. Lasers have a very narrow bandwidth (typically a fraction of a nanometer), while in diode lasers the bandwidth is typically 1-2 nm. Another is the cost per mW – as a general rule of thumb, it costs 100x less for LEDs to emit the optimal power than lasers.
Hamblin and Heiskanen also noted that one of the key factors hindering the acceptance of PBM in healthcare is cost-effectiveness. The cost per laser device plus the cost of it being administered by healthcare practitioners (physical therapists, chiropractors, nurses or physicians) in a clinical setting is too prohibitive for mass use. However, the authors conclude that the adoption of much more cost-effective LED devices, safe for unsupervised in-home use, into PBM-based treatment practices could lead to wider acceptance by the medical community and government bodies.
“Most of the early work in this field was carried out with various kinds of lasers, and it was thought that laser light had some special characteristics not possessed by light from other light sources such as sunlight, fluorescent or incandescent lamps, and now LEDs. However, all the studies that have been done comparing lasers to equivalent light sources with similar wavelength and power density of their emission, have found essentially no difference between them.”[1] – Professor Michael Hamblin
Treatable Conditions
Aches, pain, inflammation, bites, stings, and wounds are the conditions that have the highest quality evidence base; the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States have assessed and approved the LED Devices for such purposes, as Class IIA medical devices.
Even with a large number of published research papers on red and infrared light, research is ongoing and there is still much to be learned.
Pain and inflammation are primary symptoms in many chronic conditions being widely diagnosed today, including:
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Arthritis (rheumatoid and osteoarthritis)
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Chronic pain (explained and unexplained)
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Joint injuries and conditions (such as tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, tendonitis, knee pain/degeneration, hip pain/degeneration, etc)
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Sports-related injuries, recovery, and performance
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Autoimmune conditions (e.g fibromyalgia)
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Back pain
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Tooth Pain
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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
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Neuropathic Pain
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Sacroiliac Joint Pain
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Fibromyalgia
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
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Tendinitis and Myofascial Pain
Beyond pain and inflammation-based, there is an ever-expanding list of conditions that Red Light Therapy can treat. We have chronicled over 130 conditions that have scientific research with mounting evidence for the use of this technology.
You can learn more about specific conditions by visiting our Blog and reading more on our Applications page.
[i]Michael R. Hamblin. “Mechanisms of low-level light therapy.” Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School. http://photobiology.info/Hamblin.html. Accessed February 2, 2018.
[ii]Hoon Chung, Tianhong Dai, Sulbha K. Sharma, Ying-Ying Huang, James D. Carroll, and Michael R. Hamblin. The Nuts and Bolts of Low-level Laser (Light) Therapy, Ann Biomed Eng.2012 Feb; 40(2): 516–533
[iii]Whelan, H.T. et al. (2001). NAS Light Emitting Diode Medical Applications From Deep Space to Deep Sea. Space Technology and Applications International Forum, 35-25
Applications of Red Light Therapy
Red Light Therapy is an alternative, natural, non-invasive and drug-free alternative for the body’s aches, pains to mosquito bites and bee sting treatments, backed by science, which is available in the convenience of your home, car or office.
The Infrared Light treatment is very much a hand-in-glove approach to healthcare offering increased benefit to existing modalities, often increasing the therapeutic benefit of medicines and treatment regimes such as physiotherapy and osteopathy.
We encourage Red Light Therapy users to speak with their medical professionals to further their knowledge and monitor changes in their patients' wellbeing. If you are a medical professional please speak with us today about how Red Light Therapy can benefit your practice and patients alike.
Red Light Therapy is the process by which red and near-infrared light waves are applied to the body for medical use. The near-infrared light penetrates to a depth of up to 60mm, which makes it effective for treating areas deeper in the body.
Our highest quality LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), are safe concentrated light sources that produce specific wavelengths of light providing therapeutic benefits without unpleasant side effects. CelLED Devices are safe, comfortable, effective and easy for anyone to use.
Pain, inflammation and wounds are the conditions that have the highest quality evidence base; the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States have assessed and approved the LED Devices for such purposes, as Class IIa medical devices.
Evidence
Here are science-backed reasons to own a CelLED Device:
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Relieve Pain
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Improve Your Brain’s Health
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Regrow and Thicken Hair
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Improve Eye Health
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You can own a CelLED Device to use at your convenience, at home, in your car or workplace. Use it for healing and recovery or for cosmetic purposes. This versatile and easy-to-use unit comes with an 18-month warranty, travel pouch, instruction manual, online Resource Kit, charging cable, and a car charger.