Infrared Light Therapy: What Everyone Should Know
Infrared light therapy is the healing made by natural infrared energy or any apparatus which creates infrared light. Infrared light has many practical uses. Some household appliances and gadgets makes use of infrared sensors and they are safe to use.
Before trying out this technology, we should first ask ourselves what exactly is it? And how does one use infrared light therapy to promote healing and wellness?
What is Infrared Light?
The sun is a source of many kinds of energy. It also emits, aside from sunlight, other forms of energy which includes infrared light. Some of these energy causes some damages to the skin.
Heat is transported via infrared energy. In fact, heat from sources such as stoves, light bulbs, household appliances, and even the body heat from another person, is transported via infrared energy.
It is called “infrared light” because infrared energy belongs to the broad spectrum of light which includes all the colors you see around you. Infrared is just a spectrum below the color red, while ultraviolet rays, which can damage the skin after prolonged exposure, is just a notch beyond the color violet.
Infrared light therapy harnesses only infrared energy and not the broad spectrum of light which includes ultraviolet rays, so it does not do any damage to the skin. In fact, infrared light therapy even helps rejuvenate it.
How Infrared Light Therapy Works
Infrared light therapy works by penetrating the skin and making it warm. Heating the body, in the case of traditional saunas, helps the body have a good detoxifying sweat which rids the body of impurities. Infrared light penetrates the body twice as deep as traditional saunas do, causing more of the skin to heat up and dislodge toxins embedded in the skin and fat.
Aside from remove impurities and toxins, infrared light is also said to improve circulation or vascularity by creating new capillaries to add to existing blood vessels and replace damaged ones. This way, infrared light therapy promotes quicker healing since more blood vessels carry oxygen and other vital nutrients to hard to reach areas.
Aside from create new blood vessels, infrared light therapy also helps in the creation of collagen. Collagen is a protein that naturally occurs in the body. It helps make the skin more elastic and helps make scars disappear. Infrared light actually helps the body create more collagen, thereby making the skin feel more supple and it helps in the elimination of scars.
Since different parts of the body absorb different wavelengths of light, various infrared wavelengths are used to treat different parts of the body. The skin readily absorbs red light and infrared readily, due to their high water and blood content. This makes infrared light therapy very effective in the treatment of wounds and other problems closer to the surface such as cuts, scars, cellulite. They can also readily trigger acupuncture points and very effective in treating skin infections. Deep muscle treatment and joints can also be cured using infrared light therapy.