Infrared and near infrared light photonic therapy for pain and injury

[thisAngelBites]

Infrared and near infrared light wavelengths penetrate the body tissues and appear to reduce inflammation, increase blood flow and stimulate mitochondrial energy production, all of which may play a part in the management of pain and healing.

Studies are very mixed in their results, but this is not surprising given that different researchers are using differing wavelengths of light, treatment times, powers, and pulsing vs non-pulsing light. There is just no homogeneity in the research, and that makes it difficult to effectively compare studies. But it seems to help lots of people, and there seems to be no downside to the therapy.

Sometimes people call this LLLT, which is the acronym for Low Level Laser Therapy. It used to be thought that the benefits of this therapy were unique to laser, but it turned out to be a property of light, and works just as well with LEDs.

Here's a vid from a physician who talks a bit about how it works and how long he has been using it, and for what.

Infrared Light Therapy

In spite of the difficulties in considering the many heterogenous studies together, there have been some attempts made to conduct some metanalyses and systematic reviews of studies of the uses for a particular purpose. But you can also search on pubmed and find lots of individual studies to look at.

This is a systematic review of the use of LLLT for rotator cuff tendinopathies:

Low Level Laser Treatment of Tendinopathy: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis - ResearchGate

and another one for general shoulder disorders:
Systematic Reviews | Full text | Low-level laser therapy and exercise for patients with shoulder disorders in physiotherapy practice (a systematic review protocol)

another meta-analysis on pain relief this time:

http://www.klinikken-livet.dk/Custom...ain-relief.pdf

You can find all sorts of the devices on amazon, and lots of reviews. Have a look and check out the reviews. I looked at one today:

http://www.amazon.com/TENDLITE%C2%AE.../dp/B004QECAU4

and 61% of the reviews (517) were 5 stars. There are 11% 1 star reviews, but several of those are people complaining that the device broke too quickly.

Which brings me to the next point, which is that you don't need a "medical" device with a large mark-up from amazon in order to do this. Red LEDs of sufficient power and wavelength can be purchased from alibaba (or aliexpress) or grow lights on ebay.

I have seen people commonly using wavelengths of 650-660 nm or 810-850 nm.

I will go through my notes on devices and add these later, I just wanted to get this posted so people could start reading and doing their own research.

I also will post some info further down on the biphasic dosing of near infrared light. In short, this means that at very low doses, no effect is seen until a certain threshold is crossed, at which point there is a positive response, but if dosing is continued eventually one reaches a point where a sort of inhibition occurs and any positive response stops. So it is not a case of more always being better. I encourage you to read about anything you would want to try this light for, in order to get some guidelines for wavelengths and duration of exposures.
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Let me add a couple more fascinating studies about the use of near infrared, even if some of these are not directly about muscle/tendon healing:

fruit flies have extended life span and less inflammation with near infrared:

Near-infrared light increases ATP, extends lifespan and improves mobility in aged Drosophila melanogaster | Biology Letters

using infrared before activity or trauma reduces subsequent inflammation and pain in muscles and nerves:

Pre-Conditioning with Low-Level Laser (Light) Therapy: Light Before the Storm

transcranial LED exposure increased cerebral blood flow in the elderly:

The effects of transcranial LED therapy (TCLT) on cerebral blood flow in the elderly women (PDF Download Available)

LLLT helps lower back disc-related pain:

Can intractable discogenic back pain be managed by low-level laser the | JPR

[thisAngelBites]

Oh, I wanted to re-post this good link that kelkel found for reference:

Healed by Light | DigiKey

[kelkel]

Great write up Angel. Great topic.

Thank you!

Found this with a quick search:

http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Aging-Lig.../dp/B0028MD4V0

660 wv bulb only. Cheap. Bigger focus area as well.

Or, I can use the red led's brake lights on my Street Glide.....ha

[RaginCajun]

excellent!!!

[thisAngelBites]

Great write up Angel. Great topic.

Thank you!

Found this with a quick search:

Amazon.com: Anti-Aging Red LED Light Therapy 38 LED Bulb for Fine Lines & Wrinkles 660nm: Health & Personal Care

660 wv bulb only. Cheap. Bigger focus area as well.

Or, I can use the red led's brake lights on my Street Glide.....ha

I think I looked at that one and walked away because of the couple of reviews that mentioned it was still so small.

[kelkel]

I think I looked at that way and walked away because of the couple of reviews that mentioned it was still so small.

Ahhh. So size does matter.

[RaginCajun]

^^^^^^^hahaha it always matters!

[almostgone]

Great write up Angel. Great topic.

Thank you!

Found this with a quick search:

http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Aging-Lig.../dp/B0028MD4V0

660 wv bulb only. Cheap. Bigger focus area as well.

Or, I can use the red led's brake lights on my Street Glide.....ha

For some reason, I thought you had a Heritage.

[almostgone]

Thank you for posting this information, Angel!

[thisAngelBites]

Ahhh. So size does matter.

[thisAngelBites]

Thank you for posting this information, Angel!

You're very welcome. I'm looking for a light for myself to try, and will post more as I try some of this on myself. Everyone else is welcome to do so as well - the more we know about people's experiences the better off we will all be.

[NACH3]

Sounds very promising, TAB! I'll be doing more research on the effects on e shoulder(as in the study 2 of 4 patients w/RC issues were happy w/results as the other two were too low I believe on nm & wavelength....

Thx for the thread(& studies)