Light and Circadian Biology #2 – Red and Infrared Light Therapy
The next time you walk in nature, take a look around you at the colours. Greens, blues and browns are everywhere but Red is much more scares. Do you know why? It’s because nature’s favourite colour is red. In most natural sanctuaries, oceans, rainforests, national parks and tropical jungles red is a scares colour to spot. This is because nature makes use of as many red light photons it possibly can to power life. Would it surprise you to know that we may be the same also? The therapeutic approaches involving red light include the powerful photobiomodulation or thermotherapy and low level laser therapy (LLLT). These are modern therapeutic approaches based around ancient wisdom which the tree in your front yard has been trying to share with you ever since you laid eyes on it.
Red and infrared light have been used to assist with cancer, obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular disorders to name just a few. If this has prompted any curiosity in you to learn more, you’ll love this blog! The electromagnetic spectrum is more than just what we can see. It spans from Gamma Rays all the way to Radio waves and extremely low frequency magnetic waves. The electromagnetic force is one not widely understood, yet so fundamental to all living things. Today we are going to focus on a small part of the spectrum Red and Infrared (IR) Light and how this ancient frequency of light emitted from our sun has created the simplicity in life and set the stage for life’s complexity to unfold.
Sunlight is the major circadian stimulus for the eye and body clocks in every cell of the body. The eye, skin, gut and lung coordinate the colours buried in light frequencies to adapt the hormonal system to the specific time and place where these body surfaces interact with the environment we allow. This describes the photoelectric effect on a microscopic basis.
Red and IR light doesn’t carry much energy or information in comparison to ultraviolet (UV) light. However, the energy and information it does contain which it emparts onto life is pivotal to build the foundations of a living system on earth. Red and Infrared light delivered therapeutically in the form of Photobimodulation or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) has over 1 million published peer-reviewed studies supporting its benefits and use. These benefits are diverse and range from pain relief and reduction in oxidative stress to ATP energy generation and improved melatonin synthesis. From a Foundational Health perspective red and infrered light’s purpose is to move things with mass such as protons. The infrared light wavelengths are some of the longest wavelengths humans are designed to be exposed to here on earth. Because of this longer wavelength it sents the foundation for all other parts of the visible and ultraviolet spectrum from our sun to communicate and signal our biology at the quantum scale.
Red and IR light is the light mitochondria are built around. It is present from the time the sun rises to when it sets. Red light moves protons (things with mass). For example: The ATPase is a proton cannon and it runs at near 100% efficiency under Red/IR light. The ATPase is the oldest enzyme on the planet. This is primarily because red light has always been emitted from our red giant star, we call the sun.
The Red-light frequency goes from approximately 600nm to 780nm. IR-A light frequency stretches from 780nm to 1538.5nm. The dominant part of the solar spectrum is Red and IR light. In fact, 42% of the suns light is IR-A light from sunrise to sunset. This makes these frequencies of light very important for life as we know it.
Where does Red and IR light come from? It is made by the emission spectra of the H+ ion in the sun. This Red and IR light from H+ reactions in the sun resonates with H+ in our bodies. H+ is the dominant atom in the sun. When H+ becomes ionized by plasma it emits Red and IR light. This means when Hydrogen is ionized it loses it electron and becomes H+ and it glows Red. It must be true then that Red and IR light photons from the sun can control and program things with H+ in them at any distance. This is how nuclear and molecular resonance with light works.
IR-A light has no seasonal variation, but IR-B and IR-C changes a small amount during seasons. Red light is ever present in the environment and thus all living organisms have adapted to and made use of the light. Plants have been around much longer than humans, they have been optimally adapted for Red and IR light. Plants use blue and red photons to photosynthesise. Charge separation in photosynthesis occurs best under red and infrared light. Spectral measurements showed that all wavelengths, from 300 to 5000 nm, contribute, with the most effective lying between 1500-3000nm in the infrared region. IR light is often known as heat. The higher the frequency of IR light, the more heat. Thus, IR-B carries more heat than IR-A light. Organic and inorganic materials in the environment have the capacity to store this heat and release it at night time when the earth begins to cool. Plants and animals made use of this warmth in different ways. Marsupials like wombat’s construct burrows underground up to 20m long where it was warmer, while reptiles rested underneath warm rocks keeping their body temperature from dropping too low. Plants adapted long tap roots to reach abundant sources of water in hot conditions and delicious fruits and nectar attracting insects and animals to pollenate and spread their seeds.
How can life thrive at the bottom of the ocean? How do plants photosynthesise when they are buried kilometres down away from the sun? Animals and plants have lived in the deep oceans for a very long time. They have been able to do this because the depths of the oceans contain dissolved oxygen but also infra-red light. Although extreme depths certainly lack visible light, they suffer no shortage of infrared light. IR energy radiates from the earth itself, and particularly from thermal vents that line the ocean’s floor. IR wavelengths build EZs and separate charge. The charge-separation process bears much similarity to the initial steps of photosynthesis, where water molecules split; hence, bacteria and other deep-sea creatures may exploit this mechanism to gain energy. Furthermore, oxygen is not at all absent near the ocean floor. The IR-built EZs contain plenty of oxygen; therefore, oxygen can come from the EZ. This is sometimes known as ‘burning of water’. Dissolved oxygen may be absent, but as long as exclusion zones exist, ample oxygen remains available for fuelling life’s processes.
Nature took this energy buried in Red and IR light to the next level by ensuring that water was a fundamental component of human biology. IR light’s interaction with water allowed life to produce great amounts of energy and store this energy like a battery. Water is perfectly optimised for red light as it is a perfect red-light chromophore, this is the component that allows us to work so well with it. Water viscosity changes with the red light in sunlight, to facilitate the ATPase enzyme within the mitochondria to work at 100% photothermal efficiency. That boost is greater when UV-A and/or UV-B light are present because they both slow Electron Chain Transport (ECT) speeds at different places on the inner mitochondrial membrane from Cytochrome 1 to Cytochrome 4 by a quantum stimulus/design.
IR-A light makes HUGE amounts of ATP with no need for food, completely independently of food electrons. This is because, when under IR-A light from the sun, the water that surrounds the ATPase is charge separated expanding its exclusion zone domains (EZ), providing optimal conditions for ATP synthesis. This is the free energy generator of the body! More energy within the cell means that all accessory systems work better. This improves thermal efficiency and all organ systems across the body.
The energy required for building the Exclusion Zone of water and separating charge comes principally from radiant sources. IR light may do this by dissociating bulk water molecules, thereby freeing those molecules so they can add to existing EZ layers like bricks on top of a partially built wall. The water molecules stick naturally, and in the process of sticking, they lose positive charges to the bulk water. In this way, charges separate, and the water battery is charged. The absorbed radiant energy does not merely degrade as heat, some of that energy can get converted into potential energy. This potential energy can be delivered in various energetic forms, including but not limited to, chemical, optical, electrical and mechanical. Water, therefore, acts as a transducer, absorbing one kind of energy and converting it into other kinds. The conversion may occur instantaneously, as in fluorescence, or it may get held in reserve for future use.
The 4th Cytochrome within the mitochondria is Cytochrome C Oxidase. This cytochrome has 4 Red/IR-A light photoreceptors which absorb parcels of light at 620, 680, 760, and 820nm. This light interacts with Cytochrome C Oxidase, in the mitochondria, signalling the exposed cells to switch on many antioxidant and energy-boosting genes when ATP is being made by the combination of IR-A and UV light during certain parts of the day.
IR-B and IR-C light at a frequency above 2,000nm creates more hexagons in the hydrogen bonding network. This means waters exclusion zone is optimised. This makes the water inside one’s body allow them to be extremely quantum coherent. IR-B Light between 1538.5 - 3100nn interacts with proton movements in enzymes within the body and within the inner mitochondrial matrix. When IR-B and IR-C hits the water networks in the body and interacts with the two main quantum dots, phosphorous and hydrogen, it creates a massive charge of the quantum battery. Quantum dots like Phosphorous present in water networks within the body allows the battery to be charged faster and hold the charge longer.
IR light causes atoms to vibrate as they absorb the energy and this vibration is what causes food to cook in an oven. IR light and the Coulomb Force is the stimulus to move the subatomic parts of macronutrients (H+) and recycle ATP via the action of proton movement in metabolism. Sunlight contains the optimal balance of frequencies to undertake all biologic functions.
So how does red light help us avoid photodamage from the sun in strong solar conditions, such as living on the equator? Red and IR-A spectrum is regenerative to the skin and preconditions the skin to be able to handle/absorb more UV light. Sunburn is a thermal injury to skin from overdosing on UV, IR-B and C light. In this case, the light energy of the infrared waves is converted to kinetic energy that is related to temperature rise. IR-A is not capable of much thermal injury and this is why it is often called cool heat. The body doesn’t need much IR-B and IR-C; however, it does get down to Earth’s surface. In fact, this IR-B and IR-C is what causes the thermal blistering and thermal burns It’s not actually UV light that causes these thermal burns. UV light just makes the skin red.
When near IR light interacts with our blood, this allows water in our bodies to transform into an optical resonator or a mirror. This mirror can then be used to create tiny lasers at our skin surface or in our ophthalmic artery which feeds the retina. This mechanism then creates Extreme Low Frequency UV (ELF-UV) light within the body, which is used to regenerate melatonin, dopamine, and build many more substances in quantum thermodynamic fashion.
Haemoglobin absorbs light up to 600nm. RBC’s are loaded with haemoglobin but not mitochondria. This is because they are designed to ferry 280nm to 600nm light throughout the body and work in tandem with Mitochondria to activate fibroblasts to make collagen to undertake repair mechanisms and make energy from light. Red and IR light allows the collagen in your skin to not get as red.
IR light reacts with the water surrounding the aromatic amino acids, there are 4 in the skin. The special thing about the six-carbon benzene ring in each of these 4 special amino acids, is that they absorb UV light. Hence using IR-A light preconditions these aromatic amino acids to hold more UV light in the benzene ring. IR-A penetrates the body between 10cm and 30cm
Near Infrared selectively activates the chromophore, water. This stimulates metabolism. IR-A can concentrate the amount of ATP in the particular region of the body exposed. This will also heat up the area and increase blood circulation. The heat felt in the skin mainly comes from shorter wavelengths of IR light under solar disposition. The IR wavelength provides energy and diffusion. In nature whenever Visible Light or UV light is present, IR light is also present to a great degree. This implies that humans are not optimised for light sources predominantly containing a single light frequency. Thus, if one uses artificial sources of UV light, such as tanning beds or UV light bulbs, this can lead to DNA damage and a cascade of disruptions to homeostasis. Furthermore, if artificial sources of Blue Light are used, such as from smart phone screens, most LED’s or CFL’s, then severely damaging oxidative stress and hemeprotein damage can result. In the case of blue light, this damage occurs because the covalent bond that binds Vitamin A and the photoreceptor Melanopsin together becomes so highly excited that it breaks. The free Vitamin A then acts like a photoreceptor serial killer to all it can find.
Do these lights spectral measurements resemble the sun’s spectrum?
When man began able to create fire, humans were able to adapt relatively quickly to its spectrum. Why do you think this was the case? This light source predominantly contains Red light and thus is a natural form of light after sunset which can be used. Infrared light is the most ancient and primordial light to Earth.
When Edison and Tesla lit up the world with electricity humans began to come into contact with alien light spectrum for the first time on a widespread basis. We decided to use Incandescent light globes which can be seen to show a spectrum somewhat similar to fire, but nevertheless began interfering with circadian biology.
A key question one could ask is; Can the sun break this bond between Vitamin A and Melanopsin or is this just restricted to man-made lighting? The answer is not as straightforward as you may think.
If the solar spectrum is passing through a material such as the window of a car, it becomes an alien spectrum. In this case, the sun can break the covalent bond between Vitamin A and Melanopsin when you are inside behind glass. This is because, the purple light is nearly entirely cut out and 30-50% of the red is also knocked out. Remember that red is natures antidote to blue. When the antidote does not reach your surfaces, skin, eyes, gut and lung, then the alien spectrum results in photodamage within the biologic system.
It is so important to get purple and red light from the sun because we cannot make the light ourselves. The body can recreate these frequencies based on stimulation from the sun.
So, what are some more key benefits of Red and IR light? IR light is capable of temporarily boosting testosterone by up to 20%. In order to boost your testosterone with the IR light at sunset, it is important to see the first 2 hours of sun that day as naked as possible. IR light also greatly downregulates inflammation and inflammatory cascades.
Light is very unique, and the biologic system was designed around optimising its function. This is illustrated by The Quantum Zeno Effect, which states that when you observe a frequency of light it changes the reality of its function. Humans are blind to IR and UV light by design. All the key signalling within the eye are undertaken by frequencies the eye cannot see. Isn’t that fascinating! The eye clock uses 250-380nm and 601-1400nm to function, controlling circadian biology within the system.
So, what is Photobiomodulation or Red light therapy? Photobiomodulation is exposure to Red and IR light for therapeutical purposes. Photobiomodulation closes the blood brain barrier and cervical spinal cord barrier. These pathways are open any time inflammation is present in these areas. Inflammation can be caused here by nnEMF amongst other things.
There are 4 Key Mechanisms behind how Red-Light Therapy Benefits the human body:
1. Photoreceptor activation – IR and Red-light photons interact with photoreceptors in the body like Cytochrome C Oxidase within the Mitochondria to stimulate energy production and charge separate water. Water is the Number 1 Red/IR Light Chromophore in the Human Body absorbing a great deal of the light and using it to function as a biologic battery.
2. Hormesis (hermetic stress) – Red/IR light creates beneficial Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) on a transient basis. This stimulates the mitochondria to make adaptations to allow the cell to become stronger and more resistant to a broader range of stresses by activating the cells internal response system to boost antioxidant production; such as superoxide, catalase and glutathione. The not only boost antioxidants but allows the cell to have an increased ability to reduce toxic compounds. Then ultimately, this activates mitochondrial biogenesis creating a greater density of mitochondria.
3. Retrograde Signalling – IR light therapy stimulates mitochondria to communicate with the cell nucleus to upregulate gene expression. Such as, those involved in mitochondrial biogenesis, cell defines, antioxidant defines and detoxification. Also, downregulating genes associated with inflammation; such as genes associated with NF-κB.
· NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) is a protein complex that controls transcription of DNA, cytokine production and cell survival.
· Retrograde signalling upregulates tissue specific cellular regeneration compounds. For example, in skin, red light upregulates the genes in cells for producing collagen. In the brain IR/Red light increases BDNF. In the muscle tissues it increases IGF-1. There are tissue specific effects.
4. Photosensitisers – As chlorophyll from plants is ingested, there are metabolites which contain compounds that accumulate in cells and interact with light photons. Then, when sunlight interacts with these chlorophyll metabolites they act like a quantum dot and photosensitise the cell to light stimulus absorbing more radiant light. These chlorophyll metabolites interact with ubiquinol and ubiquinone (CoQ10). CoQ10 is cycled and recycled in the mitochondria as it produces energy. The chlorophyll metabolites and IR/Red Light have been shown to improve the recycling of ubiquinone to ubiquinol, improving mitochondrial energy production.
If you have a low solar redox, meaning you spend a great deal of time indoors and when you are outside you cover your skin and eyes from sunlight, then you are a prime candidate for eczema, rashes or other skin diseases and even lupus. The best way to improve skin health is proper hydration, eating DHA and IR light from the sun. In this low redox state, your skin will likely be sensitive to UV radiation so it’s important to note that UV radiation is not present in the solar spectrum for the first hour of the day and last hour before sunset; depending where you are located and your latitude. This places huge importance on early morning and late afternoon sunbaking as naked as possible.
For those who are not able to access these times of day therapies like Photobiomodulation, Low Light Laser Therapy (LLLT) or Infrared Saunas are a great alternative. Red light panels or beds can be used for 20 minutes, 2 to 4 times per day assuming the panels have a low flicker rate and the correct Red/IR frequencies. For example, if you want to improve energy production in the mitochondria, use the 4 Red frequencies which stimulate Cytochrome 4 in the mitochondria.
Light flicker influences health and is an important property of man-made light to be aware of. Have you ever tried to take a picture of your computer screen with your cell phone? Do you notice that the screen appears to flicker? The camera on your smart phone is showing you what your brain is perceiving when you look at your computer screen. Just because your eye cannot see the flicker visually, your brain does and this flickering light activates the Paraventricular nucleus, stress centre of the brain, resulting in raised cortisol, activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and slow destruction of RPE cells in the retina.
The brain requires more fuel to filter out the influence of flicker, so that your eyes don’t notice the screen flickering. This means your brain burns more ATP to process out the flicker and you get more tired faster. Some people respond to flicker and some are non-responders to flicker. There are sometimes Visible immediate effects (i.e. seizures) and sometimes invisible delayed effects (i.e. eyestrain and migraines). Either way it is important to minimise exposure to flickering light. There are only two types of light that have 0% flicker. The sun and laser light.
Remember you read above that your body uses water to create lasers from solar stimulus? Mother nature designed the biologic system to be optimised to the sun. Now make your way outside and fill your body up with natural Red and IR Light!
Red light therapy is a real healing miracle and a MUST HAVE for every person who wants to bring their performance and health to the optimum. There are 2 options: the natural option in the form of the sun or a campfire. Exposing your body safely to natural sunlight in an appropriate manner. Or the much simpler variant, a red light therapy device. Your neighbors will thank you if you don't sit naked in the garden in the morning holding your genitals or breasts up to the sunrise. Despite there being no substitute for natural light, IR light therapy is a good alternative when it comes to privacy and naked exposure.
Non-nativ electromagnetic fields (nnEMF) effects on blood (in this case a 4G cell phone) [Left]:
Sunlight and Infrared Light Therapy on Blood (Right):
Your blood is key to every aspect of your health. Do you have high blood pressure? You might want to consider living under the power of Red Light and Eliminating nnEMF from your environment.
In the Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) industry, there is massive debate and inconclusive evidence about the “best” parameters in terms of wavelengths (nm), dose (J/cm^2), or intensity (mW/cm^2) for different conditions. Although, astonishingly, the only treatment parameter that is well-settled in the science – is that skin contact is the ideal way to administer red light therapy. So what is contact treatment?
How do we get the best penetration of red and near-infrared light photons? Studies have shown that around 810nm provides the best penetration of light given to the fact that this wavelength is least absorbed by superficial tissue close to the epidermis. This Study shows us the penetration of different red and infrared light wavelengths. The majority of the intensity between up to 1,000nm (at approx. 51%) only reaches 1.3mm beyond the skin surface. Dr. Hamblin states that red wavelengths (600-700nm) penetrates up to 1mm and NIR (780-980nm) penetrates to 2mm with 63% of the intensity reaching those depths. Study. A study using mathematical modelling of skin optics details that 633nm penetrates to 1.8mm, 660nm to 2.0mm, 850nm to 2.4mm, and 900nm to 2.5nm. Study. The reason that penetration is mostly “wavelength dependent” is due to the optics of the skin. The “optical window” is where there is the least absorption by melanin, hemoglobin, and water between 600nm to 900nm. So can we get better penetration without overheating the skin tissue with excessive irradiance (>100mW/cm2)? To avoid dramatic tissue heating and damaging the skin caused by increasing the intensity, some studies employ pulsing. pulsing is a rapid “on” and “off” of the LED or Laser. According to one study: “The “quench period” (pulse OFF times) reduces tissue heating, thereby allowing the use of potentially much higher peak power densities than those that could be safely used in CW” (CW is continuous wave). So indeed, pulsing does potentially enable greater penetration but only when it is combined with higher peak power. Study. The most repeatable data seems to indicate that both Red and NIR may effectively reach around 2-5mm with reasonable amounts of intensity to deliver a therapeutic response to the tissue. Although some studies with higher intensities reach 40-50mm with both Red and NIR. NIR offers somewhere between 10% more to 100% (double) more penetration compared to Red wavelengths depending on the study. We know that Red wavelengths can benefit the brain, and NIR wavelengths can benefit the skin, there is no reason to shun any particular wavelength until we get more data. Although Red is still preferred for the skin and NIR is still preferred for deeper penetration, there is still a lot of overlapping benefits of both. After all, nature delivers light on a non-contact basis, so sitting 6 inches away from a red light panel is nothing new for our biology from an absorbance and penetration standpoint.
Light penetration through the skin is generally discussed as being wavelength dependent. Where longer wavelengths like Near-Infrared (800nm to 1100nm) offer the best penetration, and shorter wavelengths like Red (600-700nm) has relatively shallow penetration for superficial treatment. However, this perspective ignores the importance of making skin contact during treatment to optimize light absorption and penetration. Experts like Dr. Hamblin and James Carroll are all biased towards using skin contact with red light therapy devices. These researchers aren’t merely talking about reflection and absorption losses, but a massive difference in penetration depth with non-contact treatment. Just as important as intensity, time, dose, and repetition - researchers understand there is a significant difference between skin contact treatment versus non-contact treatment.
“Treatment may be done with the applicator either in direct contact with the patient or at a distance away from the skin surface. The former is referred to as contact mode of treatment while the latter is the noncontact mode of treatment… Whenever possible, the contact mode of treatment is preferred for the simple reason that the loss of energy is minimal—virtually every photon emanating from the applicator enters the patient’s skin or tissue. This is not the case with the noncontact mode of treatment, in which some of the photons are reflected or refracted from the surface of the skin resulting in loss of energy and diminishing the intended amount of treatment energy.” Study. “The [contact] pressure technique eliminates any power loss due to air gap and reflection from the stratum corneum, physically places the probe head nearer the target tissue, and blanches out the superficial microvasculature, thereby removing a possible absorbing medium to give better penetration and thus deeper absorption of a more clinically viable photon density.” Study ‘Skin contact delivers 5 times more penetration of light than non-skin contact.’ Study
As Andrew from Gembared says “It may be impossible to correlate non-contact studies to our commercial LED panels that promote being >6 inches away. Human biology is much more complex than merely extrapolating conditions completely out of context from one device to another. Especially if that effort is done by ignorant marketers to sell books and products.” Dr. Hamblin, Dr. de Sousa, Dr. Arany, James Carroll, and Dr. Patthoff (many of the current leading researchers in PBM right now) say “When a light source is applied to the skin in contact mode more light penetrates due two 2 reasons: (a) compression of the tissue reduces optical interference by blood flow; (b) diffuse reflectance by the skin is reduced." Study. These researchers have come together to agree on this point. So not only are reflection loses an issue (approx. 60% for caucasian skin), but penetration depth of light is much less.
Dr. Hamblin states that sunlight between 600nm and 900nm (red and near-infrared) is approximately 50mW/cm2. Only about 20% of this reaches the optimal penetration level and thus delivery to deeper tissues is approximately 10mW/cm2. So if non-contact PBMT is administered, could we just increase increase the intensity of this therapy by 80% to achieve the optimal penetration? No. This would lead to overheating problems and turn the device into a heat lamp, not o mention thermal burning effects on skin. But couldn’t we just increase the time in front of the panel, maybe, but this may overload the superficial tissue (skin). So we conclude about non-contact thearpy - “whole-body PBMT has as its main limitation the lack of contact with the target tissue, and the optical profile (or focus on different deep tissue) affects substantially the power density in the muscles and the modulation of the mitochondrial activity, and so the effects of the whole clinical trial are corrupted.” Study. In a recent talk, Dr. Hamblin notes that “full body panels” are more of a systemic (indirect) treatment. This would imply a knowingness that non-contact panels lack the penetration that would be achieved with skin contact, but the overall power at the surface of the skin is giving us at least a systemic benefit. The major factor that made so many LLLT and PBM studies special was the penetration depth delivered by skin contact. Otherwise, it would be no different than ambient sunlight or incandescent lights that we are normally exposed to. In the unscientific race to make "the highest intensity" LED panels for some vaguely defined "value proposition" of dollars to optical watts - most of the current generation of LED panels on the market are indeed unsuitable for contact method treatment. There are many companies who sell ‘high intensity’ panels which claim to be beneficial and yet don’t mention anything about over-exposure leading to unwanted skin overheating or biphasic dose response. And these panels cannot be used on the skin because the electric and magnetic field EMF exposure is way too high. The PBM literature and textbooks are clearly against the notion of "more intensity is better". Which destroys any "dollars-to-watts" value proposition since we should look for effective intensity and not "the highest intensity".
James Carol from Nova Thor said in 2017 "It is argued (by sales and marketing people) that more power means the required "dose" is achieved in less time, and mathematically that is true; however, it has been shown many times that there is a "dose-rate effect" and if the dose is delivered too quickly the beneficial effects are diminished. This is because the intensity (irradiance/power density) is too high."
If a device has been purposefully designed for distance treatment and the user is willing to accept that it is trying to substitute for the sun on a systemic therapeutic manner, then these treatments can certainly be good. regardless, non-contact therapy is still shown in the literature to be beneficial just like the 600nm to 900nm wavelengths are in sunlight. Designers of red light therapy devices may opt to make lower intensity, lower EMF products that can be safely used for skin contact - rather than following the echo chamber of nearly identical rebranded non-contact panels with tons of power. In fact a full body non-contact study was done showing benefits for Fibromyalgia patients, study. In this study on fibromyalgia, they used a full-body LED bed at 28mW/cm^2 which is properly measured by industry leader NovoThor. This would be incompatable with unrealistic ">100mW/cm^2 at 6 inches away" claims by major manufacturers.
Measurement of intensity can also be deceiving as there is no industry standard for measurement. Dr. Hamblin's advice is to discard solar power meters for better optical power meters like thermopile type laser meters. When the copycats, marketers, uninformed business owners and scammers in the red/infrared light thearpy industry use the wrong measurements this hurts the entire industry and its addoption into medical therapy. As Andrew from Gembared says “Industry authorities like the PBM Foundation will easily classify LED Panels as non-medical grade merely because of the false intensity claims. So while the lies about intensity are clearly profitable for scammers, it will hurt the medical acceptance of these devices in the long run.”
Red Light for Male Fertility and reproductive Health
Red or infrared light from an LED source (600-950nm) has been studied for use on the male gonads
Some of the potential benefits are detailed above
Sunlight can also be used on the testes but only for short periods and it is not without risks.
Avoid exposure to blue/UV.
Avoid any sort of heat lamp/incandescent bulb.
The most studied form of red light therapy is from LEDs and lasers. Visible red (600-700nm) LEDs seem to be optimal.
So what are the best red light devices to purchase?
FlexBeam Portable Device (10% discount) - Low flicker, low EMF and battery operated DC power
Mito Red Pro Series Panel (5% discount) - 4 wavelengths which mimics Red/IR in sunlight better
EMR Tek Full Body Panel (20% discount) - High power density for the full body
Block BLue Light Red Light (15% discount) - Full range of eveining and night lights
Cites:
https://www.makegreatlight.com/about-us/blog/dr-ott-pioneer-of-full-spectrum-light
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215036618301391?via%3DihubBiobank
https://vimeopro.com/alexanderwunsch/alexander-wunsch-in-english/video/301352213
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Benefits of Red and Infrated Light Therapy - https://blog.medcram.com/uncategorized/near-infrared-light-mice-diet-induced-obesity-surrogate-markers-inflammation/