It's safe to assume that you are trying to explore your options with Red Light Therapy, but whatever your reason may be, you have access to just the portable ones.
So, I will start with the basics, what the typical red light therapy is, if the portable version will work for you, or if it's just redundant. Of course, I will add my very own critiqued opinion, so it helps you come to a decision.
What Exactly Is This Red Light Therapy?
Red Light Therapy is light-based therapy that uses red lights with low wavelength to treat and improve a wide variety of conditions, such as unwanted scars, removing elastic stretch marks, speeding up tattoo removal, and slow healing wounds.
This was practiced back in the 90s to harvest in space. The science behind it is that the intense led therapy light promotes photosynthesis of plant cells, which in turn leads to growth.
There many varieties such as the portable one we will discuss later down this article.
There are a few scientific pieces of evidence to back up red light therapy's authenticity, but there is much to be explored.
It's a given that the portable red light will not be nearly as intense, so there will be a few things different from the standard variant of the device.
So what red light therapy does is induce a biochemical effect in cells, just how the chemical changes in the cells of a leaf during photosynthesis. It strengthens the mitochondria, which is the infrastructure of energy mechanisms in each cell.
So mitochondria are the place where the cell's energy is generated. In this organelle, you will find many energy-carrying molecules, also known as adenosine triphosphate(ATP), which is present in all living beings.
So the idea for the red light is to increase the functionality of the mitochondria, so it has more ATP to speed up the healing or to slow down the aging of the skin.
Again, with a portable red light, you will either have less skin area coverage or the intensity of the light will not be significant enough to provide the mitochondria with sufficient functionality.
How Long Should I Wait Before I Start Seeing Changes?
Well, according to this research here, you can safely rest any doubts you had on red light's effectiveness. One thing great about red light therapy is that it induces almost immediate change. You will be able to see it. But nothing of great magnitude.
The change will start being noticeably visible over a week or two. It all depends on gender, age, skin type, skin condition. You can see the peak of the transition in about 2-3 months.
However, with portable light, this may not be the case. It may take longer, or the change it brings about may not be THAT significant.
What's So Good About Portable Red Light Therapy?
Just like most things, portable red light has its perks as well as the drawbacks. For starters, it's portable. So if you feel the need to be under a red light always, then when you are out of town or traveling, using this is the best option you have at your disposal.
Plus, the battery in the best LED light therapy devices is powerful. On a full charge, you can expect the light to go on for 5 hours or more.
However, the size of these portable red lights is both- the pro and the con. For instance, any stubborn wound is not healing right, but the area is very narrow, then the red light will be able to help to a great extent.
Ailments Red Light Therapy Can Fix
Red light therapy is a science-backed treatment, which covers a wide range of conditions. Below is the list of things it can help you with.
Wrinkles: Research shows that RLT can smooth out the skin, which is excellent for wrinkles.
Skin Damage: RLT can regulate acne scars, burns, and UV sun damage. This, too is research-backed.
Hair Loss: Men and Women with androgenetic alopecia, a genetic hair loss condition, grew thicker hair after 24 weeks of RLT. There were people using fake RLT, to rule out placebo, and evidently, the other patients showed no such sign.
Dementia: In a small case study, red light therapy was applied on dementia patients through the nose, and it worked great for their mental condition to a noticeable extent.
Dental Pain: According to another small study, RDT is great for temporomandibular dysfunction syndrome(TMD).
Tendinitis: A small scale case study showed reduced pain and inflammation in the experimented person’s Achilles tendinitis.
Osteoarthritis: A study found infrared light therapy cut down on osteoarthritis pain by an impressive 50%.
Instruction Manual
How to Use
Use it 3-5 minutes in every region. The frequency should be 2-3 each day.
The Recommended Distance
Between the red light device and the area to be treated should be 2-5 inches. The closer it is to the skin, the better.
Safety Precautions
- Please wear glasses to protect your eyes.
- People with heart disease or heart pacemakers can not use a light therapy system.
- Expectant mothers, skin-ulcers, and allergic people can not use it.
Bottom Line
You now know and understand the fundamentals, how it works, what the mechanism is, and the benefits are enormous. However, portable red lights are not as effective in terms of size, power, and the fact that it needs to be charged, even though the juice is enough for one person.
However, using this product is not all that bad. You can't carry around the entire red-light therapy set up with you. Then came the portable red lights. Plus, it's not useless. It does work and works pretty great for its size.
If you can, I would recommend you try it out and see if it actually helps, because the greatest thing about the portable version is that you get to carry it around, which actually increases the frequency of the therapy. And if you are worried about risks, then you can rest assured, because doctors provide RLT. Although, there have been a few salons who started offering the derma health service.
