Red light therapy is gaining popularity, but many people haven't heard of it before. If you count yourself among them, this is what you should know about red light therapy, its benefits, and how you can get ahold of it.
How It Was Developed
Believe it or not, red light therapy was actually developed by NASA. It was an experiment to determine whether certain wavelengths of light would help to stimulate plants to grow more quickly in space. Of course, this doesn't sound like it would offer you any health benefits, but the side effects of red light therapy ended up catching NASA's attention.
What It's Good For
Red light has been shown to increase cell turnover and to reduce inflammation. What this means in layman's terms is that it speeds up the rate at which your body renews itself, first and foremost. Cells naturally replace themselves every once in a while, but as you grow older, this process slows down. This can mean that everything from how youthful your skin looks to how quickly you heal from injuries can decrease. Red light exposure can help to reverse this by speeding up cell turnover and encouraging healing.
Reducing inflammation is also a great thing. Inflammation has been tied to cancer, and it decreases the rate at which your body recovers from injuries. Reducing it is in everyone's best interest, regardless of the medical conditions you might be experiencing.
The Best Way to Get It
There are a lot of red light therapy devices on the market for sale, but there can be a couple problems with them. The first is that they tend to be very expensive, which can be unrealistic for a person to use in the comfort of their own home. Secondly, not all red light devices are equal. The more diodes and red light a product emits, the better, but home-use devices are often weaker and less effective than what you might find in a doctor's office.
As a result, if you're interested in red light therapy, it's best to consult with a professional. Doctors, physical therapists, dentists, and even dermatologists typically have access to red light therapy to help their patients. So if you want to start benefiting from it, talking to your doctor is a good place to start.
Red light therapy can offer a wide range of benefits to everyone, regardless of your current health. If you're interested in what it can do for you, talk to a professional who knows about red light therapy devices.