What is NIR?

First….Did you know that there are 5 different types of light essential to Humans??

Blue light, UV light, Far-infrared light, Red light, and NIR (Near-infared )light. They all provide different benefits for our cells, but today I am just going to speak about NIR/Red light therapy. 

Just a FYI-You will see LLLT (low level light/laser therapy), Photobiomodulation (PBM) and NIR/Red light therapy written about in articles, Scientific studies and in many Practitioner Circles. They are all referring to the same type of light. For the purposes of this blog, I will use NIR/red light therapy when referring to this beneficial light therapy. 

Light therapy has been around for literally hundreds of years. It started with sunlight and the discovery of light therapy to cure health and skin related issues and then gradually over time, Scientists in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s began experimenting with different types of light and laser’s in their research. In the 90’s NASA used different types of light to grow plants for space and over time discovered that they also held healing qualities for the human body as well. In fact, in space, it was discovered that they could help Astronauts maintain and repair bones, muscle mass and wounds. 

Since this time, this area of research has exploded! Literally thousands of Scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of the human body and animals. We are talking about things like ;

*Anti-Aging

*Fat-loss

*Increases Cellular turnover

*Acne treatment

*Pain relief

*Wound healing

*Cancer treatment

*Thyroid health

*Reversal of Auto-immune diseases

*Energy

*Gingivitis and healthy gum/mouth

*Fertility

*Muscle recovery/performance

*Fibromyalgia

*wrinkles/lines/veins

*Scar healing

*Fighting Inflammation

*Increases Testosterone in males

*Hormone health

*Depression/Anxiety

*Hair Growth

*Eye health

*High blood pressure

*Helps to combat Diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, Lupus, Lyme Disease, MS, ALS, Crohn’s Disease etc. 

I know…sounds to good to be true right? …..I can tell you from experience that it works. It works from the very first time treatment to increase cellular turnover and provide ATP for our bodies. 

How does it do this?

By using a mix of Near Infrared light and Red light therapy (wavelength range-660-850), the light is able to penetrate different layers of the Human body depending on distance, strength and dosing time. This is determined based on your individual needs and the number of sessions required to provide you success. 

The NIR/Red light machine affects the Mitochondria in our cells immediately! Mitochondria is the Powerhouse of our cells and necessary for ENERGY! Our Mitochondria help turn our food into energy that our cells can use. They produce the majority of our ATP (adenosine triphosphate -energy in our cells) and they also do things like help our cells talk to one other and depending on where they are found will also provide further tasks for them. 

For Example—Did you know that the mitochondria of sperm helps the sperm tail move?? 

OR—Did you know that during reproduction 1/2 our DNA comes from the female and 1/2 from the male, but the Mitochondria DNA always comes from the FEMALE! Fascinating! 

Our Mitochondria also helps determine Cell Death (called Apoptosis), so just one more reason to activate our Mitochondria into action!. We want consistent cellular turnover,  as this helps to keep disease and inflammation at bay. 

One last thing about Mitochondria, however, there is so much more to say about this amazing topic..so dive in if your a science geek like me! Back to Mitochondria..they are vital to our survival and the more we can involve our Mitochondria, the healthy we can become.  So in essence by giving our Mitochondria a shake up will allow old diseased cells to be purged out of the body and our existing cells to be woken up! When this happens, our digestion improves and our energy increases, literally affecting all our organs and entire skeletal system in the process. 

Incorporating NIR/Red light therapy from a trained professional instead of just buying a light off of Amazon, is also important. Besides the quality of the product being compromised, you also need to consider the intensity of the light, the mix of light and the distance from the light that you need to be in order to treat different areas and more importantly to be effective. Short sessions targeted to specific areas and a dosing treatment plan will help you see the results you want and are also important, as with anything, more is not better. 

Please consult a practitioner and disclose all health concerns before considering treating yourself. If anyone has any questions, please reach out! For those who had asked, yes, I offer NIR/red light therapy for appropriate clients.