Our lives are busier than ever, and even though red light therapy sounds like something that could significantly benefit you, we know you might be thinking: “when will I have time for red light therapy?”
Part of the beauty of red light therapy is that you don't need to change your current routine or lifestyle to enjoy its benefits: if you're someone whose day is busy in front of a desk, you can turn the device on while you work; or if you have easy-going mornings but hectic afternoons, you can enjoy your morning coffee while using our red light therapy device. Or, you can turn on the panel while you’re unwinding with a movie in the evenings –– the options are endless.
Red light therapy treatment isn’t supposed to take over your day and cause an inconvenience. With an at-home red light therapy device, you make the rules.
That said, you may be wondering what’s the best time of day to use our red light therapy devices. Well, there are a couple of ways you can integrate red light therapy into your lifestyle.
There are three main parts of the day: morning, midday, and evening. Though you’re able to use red light therapy any time of the day, some parts of the day can be more effective than others, particularly given your personal health and wellness needs.
If you’re someone who’s suffering from a sleep disorder, then you may want to focus on using red light therapy during the mornings and evenings. For sleep conditions, using red light therapy around sunrise or sunset are the best times of the day. Why is that?
It has to do with our biological circadian rhythm, which is the natural internal process that helps regulate your sleep cycle within a 24-hour day. To optimize your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep cycle, you need to sync with your natural sleep rhythm. By doing so, you reduce sleep inertia, insomnia, and other sleep disorders.
When regulating your circadian cycle, your body releases a hormone called melatonin. This particular hormone is the highest in the blood at night and optimal for helping you fall asleep. When using red light therapy at night, it can help you enhance your natural melatonin production.
When using red light therapy in the morning, exposure to light helps stop melatonin production, giving your body a natural energy boost. So, either time of the day––morning or night––can be an incredible time to help your body reset its circadian rhythm.
You don’t need to schedule off your morning for red light therapy treatment. While you’re eating your breakfast or going through your emails, you simply turn on your red light therapy device and enjoy 10 to 15 minutes of treatment.
Or, in the evenings when you’re cozied up on the course, washing the dishes, or sitting in bed with a book, turn on your red light therapy panel to help regulate your sleep cycle, mood, and overall health.
If you can’t manage to use red light therapy in the morning or evening, you can always have a treatment in the afternoon, as well. If you’re dealing with a sleep disorder or seasonal depression, we recommend morning or evening treatment. However, midday treatment will also provide you with a load of benefits, including collagen production, decreasing symptoms of depression, improving sleep disorders, and non-seasonal Bipolar depressive episodes.
Whatever the condition may be, whether it's a sleeping disorder, skin condition, or depression, Lunas red light therapy devices promote cellular healing from the inside out. What’s important is you find the time of the day that best suits your body’s needs. Everyone is different, so it’s important to find out what works for you and your unique routine and lifestyle.
Dr. Claudia Aguirre which has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from USC and travels the world lecturing on a broad range of topics from neuroscience to skin care has been researching the power of the skin and its connection with the brain.
The skin is highly innervated and intricately connected to the brain and central nervous system, just as other sensory organs are. Dr. Claudia Aguirre is discovering that the skin has a lot of neuro potential, or neuroplasticity, that has gone unrecognized. For example, just as our eyes have receptors that transduce light photons into signals to the brain that we process as vision, we’re discovering that our skin also has light receptors. Although we don’t yet know how they work, we speculate that they might be signaling the brain to make systemic changes that affect the full nervous system. Similarly, olfactory receptors in the hair follicles, just as we do in the nose.
Another example is touch, for which our skin is the primary sense organ. Skin is also our largest organ, which gives us a clue as to how important touch is. Different receptors in the skin can tell us not only whether what we touch is hot or cold, rough or smooth. Skin can even sense the intention behind the touch. A gentle touch feels much different than an aggressive one. We can tell whether the person giving us a massage is paying attention or whether they’re distracted. Moreover, different kinds of touch elicit different biochemical and hormonal responses, which have systemic results. A hug or kiss stimulates the release of oxytocin, the bonding hormone, through the bloodstream, while a punch or shove will release adrenaline and cortisol. All of these capabilities are what we say by the hidden brain in the skin.
The skin is connected to the nervous system; it’s connected to the endocrine system. The skin is impacted by our emotional states and, conversely, our skin can impact how we feel about ourselves. Cultural stress and anxiety can trigger or aggravate many skin conditions—from acne to eczema to herpes, psoriasis, and rosacea. Conversely, a disfiguring skin condition can trigger stress, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Chronic, generalized anxiety can create chronic inflammation and exacerbate inflammatory skin conditions, such as the ones mentioned previously. Chronic stress can result in chronic anxiety, hypervigilance, poor sleep, and a whole cascade of effects resulting in a constant breakdown of tissues and organs, including the skin. There’s a whole new field of medicine being developed called psychodermatology, which is the study and treatment of the psychological component of skin conditions. Better understanding of the neuropotential of skin also opens the possibility of whole new avenues of treatment with light therapy for many of our chronic conditions.
In Kaiyan Medical we have understood that neuroscience should absolutely be part of the conversation about skincare and beauty because the brain and the skin are intimately connected. Skincare is important not only for the skin, but also the brain. That's why we keep developing light therapy devices for skin and brain. In Kaiyan we always recommend to listen for all the little signs that your skin tells you that you tend to ignore. You get a rash, and you brush it off: “Maybe it’s just dry out. Maybe I need to switch creams.” But if it occurs repeatedly, you need to look more closely and ask, “What could my skin be trying to tell me?” Are you repressing emotions? Is there a relationship issue you’re avoiding? Is there some other life circumstance that’s “gotten under your skin”? The body has a wisdom we should listen to.
Skincare doesn’t just affect the way you look. It also plays a huge role in your overall health — from body temperature to hormone regulation to your immune system. If you’re into skincare as much as we are, one of the many ways that can help you keep your skin healthy is red light therapy. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into why you should take care of your skin, and we’ll also discuss how red light therapy devices can help you achieve your skin goals.
Are you ready? Let’s go straight into it.
As the largest organ in our body, your skin is your body’s first defense line to bacteria, germs, viruses, etc. It’s a vital part of the immune system and some processes in your body, such as temperature control, blood circulation, and hormone production.
Main Functions of the Skin
Let’s take a look at the skin's main functions to help you understand how essential it is for you to take care of this vital organ.
1. Defense and Immunity
The skin is an active immune organ, and it serves as our physical barrier from the dangers of the environment. It helps protect our bodies from diseases, germs, viruses, dirt, UV radiation, and potential thermal and physical injuries. It also helps detect and fight off infection, toxins, allergens, hazardous substances, and carcinogens.
2. Temperature Regulation
Aside from protecting us from extreme cold or heat, the skin also helps prevent moisture loss, keeping us from being dehydrated.
3. Sense of touch
The skin has a somatosensory system that is composed of touch receptors and nerve endings. This system is responsible for the sensations we feel, including pain, pressure, vibrations, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, tickle, itch, and more.
4. Storage and Production of Vitamin D
Your body also uses your skin's deeper layers to store metabolic products, fat, and water. The skin is also responsible for producing vitamin D, supplied in the body when the skin gets enough sunlight exposure.
5. Beauty
Need we say more? Your skin plays a huge part in your appearance. Of course, when your skin is healthy, you also look glowing, radiant, and definitely more attractive.
Before we proceed with the “how,” let’s first define what red light therapy is. Red light therapy is a non-invasive treatment option for different kinds of medical conditions. It is also used for health improvement and various aesthetic procedures.
Decades ago, red light therapy machines were only available in clinics, high-end salons, and spas. Nowadays, red light therapy devices can be bought and used by anyone. In fact, you can do red light therapy at the comfort of your home and incorporate it into your skincare routine.
Red light therapy works by delivering wavelengths of red and near-infrared (NIR) light to our cells and skin. Besides helping enhance cellular function, red light therapy also helps stimulate the mitochondria and produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy. This treatment option usually takes only about 10 minutes per session.
Our skin relies on millions of cells to be able to perform its functions. When our cells experience homeostasis or a state of balance, our skin and body perform (and look) better. And as mentioned above, red and NIR light enhances cellular function while also preventing inflammation and oxidative stress. Red light therapy helps make your skin look and feel softer, smoother, and healthier.
Besides, red light therapy also helps damaged tissues heal and regenerate faster. It also has anti-inflammatory benefits, potentially increasing blood flow to damaged and inflamed tissues and reducing oxidative stress.
Skincare is self-care, as keeping your skin healthy also produces multiple benefits to your health. Thankfully, aside from proper hygiene, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and an established skincare routine, red light therapy can also improve your overall skin health.
For more information about red light therapy or to view our catalog of red therapy devices, click here.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/structure.htm
We’ve all been in the search to help us achieve perfect skin. But is it just a dream, or can it really be achieved? It looks like having light shined on your face may be the most important part of your skin routine.
Red light’s anti-inflammatory and collagen-building effects on the skin have been documented for years, showing its healing abilities. However, light therapy is branching out, including other light spectrums such as green, blue, purple, and amber, for different healing abilities.
Ellen Marmur, a New York dermatologist, said, It has just enough variety that people stay excited to use it.” While many at-home devices are small and require multiple treatments to cover the entire face, masks help solve this issue.
“It makes people feel good, like they’re taking care of themselves,” Dr. Marmur said. “You can treat your skin while doing other things, so it’s easier to form the habit of doing it every day.”
LED therapy, known as photobiomodulation, can alter biological matter using varying wavelengths of light.
Jared Jagdeo, associate professor of dermatology and director of the Center for Phototherapy, SUNY Downstate Health Science University, studies LED therapy. “You can alter the skin through photo-damaging with lasers, or photobiomodulation, which is a much more gentle way of changing the way the skin functions,” he said.
When asked why red light works particularly well with skin, he said, “There’s a specific receptor in the mitochondria of the skin cells that red light specifically acts upon. And that’s why red light is an ideal wavelength for changing the way the skin functions.”
Red light can pass through the skin, deeply entering tissue and stimulating the cell’s mitochondria, which results in anti-inflammation and the skin’s rejuvenation. Collagen is also produced in the dermis, smoothing out wrinkles and plumping the skin.
While blue light doesn’t penetrate deeply into the skin, it kills acne-causing bacteria on the skin’s surface. Green light, on the other hand, focuses on melanocytes, reducing excess melanin production.
Eye safety is a valid concern, particularly because earlier this year Neutrogena recalled its LED mask over fears that it could cause eye injuries.
Brain S. Biesman, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology, dermatology, and ENT at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, states that most red light therapy devices aren’t powerful enough to cause eye damage. “Just normal blinking and eye movements should be sufficient to protect the eyes,” he said. “But never stare at a bright light source.”
More Thoughts
“As far as the F.D.A. is concerned, if I use CO2 laser resurfacing, it better work because of the amount of risk involved,” said Suzanne Kilmer, a clinical professor of dermatology at the UC Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento and director of the Laser and Skin Surgery Medical Group.
“Compare that to a home device,” Dr. Kilmer said. “If it doesn’t kill you, blind you or make things much worse, it’s probably going to get approved. So it’s actually more incumbent upon the people selling home devices to show efficacy. You have to trust the people who are selling them.”
“LED is real, but it’s probably not optimized yet,” Dr. Kilmer said.
With light therapy, various factors help determine the amount of light your skin needs: the light’s strength, the distance from the skin, the length of time the device is used on the skin, and the natural color of your skin.
“Some of these lights on the market are very weak, and they may not have enough energy output to actually have a biological effect,” Dr. Jagdeo said. “Imagine a glow stick. It produces a color. But you could shine it on your face all day, and it’s not going to change the way your skin works.”
Moreover, the medical community hasn’t determined the standardized dose for treating skin conditions such as hyperpigmentation and acne at home. Dr. Marmur chose her MMSphere dosing on Blu-U, an in-office blue light typically used as an alternative therapy for precancerous lesions.
“Consistent Sphere treatment for seven weeks will equal the energy given in the office with the Blu-U,” she said.
Another device, the Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro, $435, releases red and blue light in a mask format, with each session lasting only three minutes. The mask’s LEDs are in contact with the skin, which may be a more effective treatment.
Dr. Jagdeo said, “This is a tremendously undertapped area in medicine. But LED light therapy is going to revolutionize the way home medical treatment is delivered for skin care over the next 10 to 15 years.”
If you’re considering developing your own LED facial mask, at Kayian Medical, our team of experts knows what they’re doing. We developed the Aduro mask, the top facial mask in the beauty industry with celebrities such as Julia Robert fans of the Aduro Mask. For more information, visit https://www.aduroled.com/.
Lack of sleep is a villain in America and Europe. Light intake is a big part of the problem. Over 65% of adults say they don’t get enough good sleep every week. Most people also don’t get nearly enough natural light for optimal health: the average American spends over 90% of their time indoors.
In addition to not getting enough natural light, people today are surrounded by artificial blue light from screens and overhead lighting. An overload of artificial blue light can cause headaches and make it harder to get to sleep and stay asleep. When we take in all that bright blue light from laptops, TVs, and phones, especially before we go to bed, our bodies get the signal that it's time to be awake, even if we're tired.
Melatonin is the naturally-occurring hormone that regulates sleep and wakefulness. Emerging research is showing that red light therapy treatments can help people produce more of their own, natural melatonin than exposure to other light sources like blue light. Red light therapy is natural light. It’s much less bright than blue light, with a lower color temperature than daytime sun, as the image above shows. Research has shown that red light doesn’t upset your sleep cycle like bright blue light. Red light therapy is showing great clinical results for people with insomnia and sleep disorders.
The light therapy is a simple, non-invasive treatment that delivers concentrated natural light to your skin and cells. Clinical research is showing that red light therapy can improve sleep quality and duration, and help people produce more of their own melatonin.
Light plays a major role in your sleep cycle. The body’s circadian clock interprets light as a sign of when to sleep and when to be awake. Artificial blue light from phones, computers, and other screens is extremely bright and can knock your circadian rhythm out of whack. Red light has the opposite effect: it’s ideal for evenings because it has a low color temperature—far lower than blue light and much closer to the natural sunset.
Red light therapy treatments are quick and simple: you just sit or stand in natural light for 5 to 15 minutes, ideally every day. This stimulates your mitochondria and gives your cells the natural light they need to make energy.
Natural light is a key ingredient for a healthy circadian rhythm and restful sleep. If you struggle to sleep, your light intake could be a big factor. Red light therapy delivers natural light like you’d get from the sun, but without UV rays, excess heat, or the need for sunny weather.
Red light therapy treatments supercharge your cells with the natural light they need to make more core ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy. This helps your body run more efficiently, heal faster, and has shown great results for producing more natural melatonin and improving sleep disorders like insomnia.
Red light therapy treatments have shown great sleep results in a range of peer-reviewed clinical studies. One study on the sleep of pro basketball players showed that a 2-week course of red light therapy in the evening improved players’ sleep quality in the short term. Based on the results, the researchers suggested red light therapy would be a good non-invasive, drug-free solution to sleep struggles.
Kaiyan's light therapy products are registered with the FDA as class II medical devices for the treatment of pain, strain, and inflammation. While the existing clinical research has been very positive for red light therapy and sleep, keep in mind that Kaiyan's devices are not cleared with the FDA for the treatment of various sleep disorders or melatonin.
Recent research on sleep disorders among people with migraine headaches has shown that red light therapy both decreased headache frequency, and was the only treatment that improved patients’ sleep disorders.
A 2014 study on cognitive function and traumatic brain injury (TBI) recorded that participants had significantly decreased episodes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and improved sleep.
Analyzing patients’ electrical brain activity, a 2013 sleep study concluded that red light therapy was especially effective at helping people with sleep disorders fall asleep.
When I’m indoors training under the buzz of artificial lights, my body doesn’t get the natural light it needs. Add computers, cell phones, televisions, etc. and it’s easy to overload yourself with blue light. I used to have trouble sleeping after long training days, but since adding more natural light to my routine with red light therapy, I’ve been falling asleep as soon as I lie down, and I’ve been staying asleep all night.*
Sanne Wevers
Gold-Medal Winning Dutch Gymnast
Research is showing how closely mood and sleep disorders are interconnected. Parts of the brain that regulate sleep have also been found to closely affect mood. A 2013 review concluded that “nearly all people suffering from mood disorders have significant disruptions in circadian rhythms and the sleep/wake cycle.”
This Greatist post on natural light and serotonin gives good background on the connections between natural light intake, mental health, and sleep. It also mentions using Kaiyan's red light therapy devices to get more natural light, even when you can’t get more sunlight.
Trouble sleeping is one of the most common symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression most common in the darker winter months. Some physicians treating patients with mental health disorders have said red light therapy both improves mood, and helps people with depression get better sleep.
Sources and References:
Morita T., Tokura H. “ Effects of lights of different color temperature on the nocturnal changes in core temperature and melatonin in humans” Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 1996, September
Lirong Z., Phyllis Z. “Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders” Neurologic Clinics. 2012, November.
Color Temperature
The State of Sleep Health in America.
Klepeis N., Nelson W., et al. “The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to environmental pollutants”. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2001.
Sheppard A and Wolffsohn J. “Digital eye strain: prevalence, measurement and amelioration.” BMJ Open Ophthalmology. 2018 April.
Gooley, J., Chamberlain, K., Smith, K., Khalsa, S., et al. “Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans” J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Mar.
Hamblin M. “Mechanisms and applications of the anti-inflammatory effects of photobiomodulation”. AIMS Biophys. 2017.
Zhao J., Tian Y., Nie J., Xu J., Liu D. “Red light and the sleep quality and endurance performance of Chinese female basketball players” Journal of Athletic Training. 2012, November-December.
Loeb LM, Amorim RP, et al. “Botulinum toxin A (BT-A) versus low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in chronic migraine treatment: a comparison.” Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria. 2018 Oct;76(10):663-667.
Naeser MA, Zafonte R, et al. “Significant improvements in cognitive performance post-transcranial, red/near-infrared light-emitting diode treatments in chronic, mild traumatic brain injury: open-protocol study.” Journal of Neurotrauma. 2014 Jun 1;31(11):1008-17.
Wu JH, Chang YC. Effect of low-level laser stimulation on EEG power in normal subjects with closed eyes. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013; 2013:476565.
Vadnie C, and McClung C. Circadian Rhythm Disturbances in Mood Disorders: Insights into the Role of the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. Neural Plasticity. 2017 November.
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The one thing we have in common with animals, plants, and other living organisms is that we are all made of tiny little cells. The intricate human body in itself houses trillions of cells. Without cells, there wouldn’t be any life on Earth at all.
In this article, we discuss cellular anatomy and cellular function. Here, we understand how light plays a role in the support and acceleration of cellular respiration.
Think of cells as the basic building block of all living organisms. As the smallest unit of life, cells contain many parts, each with a different and specific function. The command center of the cell is called the nucleus that contains the human DNA.
As these cells combine to form into an organism, they become responsible for vital activities like nutrient intake, energy production, structure building, and hereditary material processing. They make sure that your body gets enough energy and nutrients to function 24/7.
One essential activity that our cells do for us is by taking in oxygen and nutrients to fuel body energy. This energy unit that is converted by the cells is called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Energy.
The ATP itself is a molecule packed with high energy that empowers cellular function. ATP is required by the body to do every activity. Other cells that do more strenuous activities like muscle cells would need more ATP than others. The ideal optimal cellular function would allow cells to produce and use enough energy to achieve body balance or homeostasis.
The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell. They are responsible for the production of ATP. Aside from cellular energy, this double-membrane powerhouse does protein synthesis, cell signaling, and cell apoptosis. ATP is produced with oxygen (aerobic) or without oxygen (anaerobic), the former being more beneficial because it converts more energy. Thus, 95% of cellular energy goes through an aerobic process.
Our cells go through a process called Aerobic cellular respiration to convert oxygen, food, and water into the body’s energy currency, which is ATP. This process is a well-organized metabolic pathway that consists of four stages. Our bodies take in nutrients from the food we eat for the first two stages to convert them into carbon compounds. Then for the next steps, these carbon compounds are transformed into the energy that our cells use.
Light can sometimes be less attributed to improve our body’s physiology. However, light has benefits that go beyond aesthetic and technological purposes. Just like how light plays a role in plants' photosynthesis, it also benefits human cellular function.
Red light therapy from Kaiyan Medical composes of Red and Near-Infrared Wavelengths that aid in the Mitochondria's function to produce more ATP energy. It works by increasing the number of Mitochondria in our cells and by boosting their function.
The electron transport chain heavily governs the cellular respiration process. Red Light therapy has photons that can boost the mitochondria to function better through the Cytochrome C Oxidase. It plays an essential role in the cellular respiration process by improving the cell's electron transfer process. In this way, more ATP can be produced by the body for an enhanced cellular function.
As mentioned earlier, oxygen plays an essential role in the cellular respiration process. The infamous Nitric Oxide can take the rightful place of oxygen to limit ATP production that causes stress and cellular death. Red light therapy also gets rid of a harmful roadblock to ATP in the dissociation of Nitric Oxide and the Cox. The photons from Red light therapy prohibits the production of nitric oxide.
The effect that Red Light therapy does on our body is that by improving cellular function, our body can achieve these benefits:
As you do daily activities such as eating, drinking, walking, or working out, think of the massive role that your cellular system plays to make these activities possible. In this way, you can put conscious efforts into improving your cellular system through a healthy diet and lifestyle and by integrating Red Light Therapy.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5215870/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325884
https://www.britannica.com/science/cell-biology
https://www.britannica.com/science/mitochondrion
