Chronic Pain & Arthritis
About 25% of the US population suffers from Arthritis. While there are a number of different FDA approved drugs for arthritis, red light therapy is cropping up more and more, becoming a real alternative for pain relief! Red light therapy can be used to treat arthritis symptoms with the advantage of having absolutely no side effects. And no ongoing costs - once you have a red light therapy device to properly treat arthritis, you own it for life! Red light and infrared light therapy provide relief by way of decreasing inflammation, stimulating collagen production and rebuilding cartilage.
In a 2009 Cochrane review of red light therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, it was concluded that “LLLT (also known as phototherapy, photobiomodulation, cold laser, LED therapy) could be considered for short-term treatment for relief of pain and morning stiffness for RA patients, since it has few side effects.”
For those who do not even suffer from arthritis but have other signs of tissue damage or degeneration, red light and near-infrared light therapy have shown to be beneficial. In a study published in The Lancet in 2009, it was shown that “LLLT reduces pain immediately after treatment in acute neck pain and up to 22 weeks after completion of treatment in patients with chronic neck pain.” Again, red and infrared wavelengths can penetrate tissues of the dermis between 1.0 and 2.0 inches where the absorbed light energy is converted into biochemical energy in the form of nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is a short-lived gas that widens and relaxes the blood vessels. In particular in the large veins and arteries. After just a short treatment time blood flow is increased to nerves and other tissues. This boost in local circulation is one of the reasons for the pain relief from fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
A recent study showed that lower dose treatment at a power of 50mw per cm2 was more effective than a higher strength dose, making it totally possible to treat arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other types of chronic pain at home using home-use light therapy treatments with the right dose.
Light medicine treats over 30 different conditions from head to toe! How will you use light medicine? Learn more about how LED therapy can be used for your best mind and body in our book Light Medicine, available for our customers, free!