Red Light Therapy: Your Best Path to a Life Without Pain

Suffering from pain is a miserable experience. Pain can prevent you from participating in activities you normally enjoy and hold you back from living the vibrant, active life that you love. If you suffer from pain, you have likely spent time searching for effective remedies. If you are reading this article, you are probably still searching.

Red light therapy is a 100 percent natural, safe, and FDA-approved method of pain relief. It provides long-lasting natural (not temporary or chemically-induced) results by stimulating your body’s innate healing abilities at the cellular level.

Types of Pain

Pain is your body’s natural response to stimuli that cause discomfort. The nerves throughout your body are responsible for sending your brain a message that something is wrong. Sensory receptors signal your brain via your spinal cord, triggering your body to reflexively try and remove the cause of pain or stop the activity that is causing the pain. At its highest level, pain is classified as either acute, neuropathic, or chronic.

Acute Pain

Acute pain [1] has a specific, known cause; for example, a burn, cut, wound, or an injury such as a sprain or broken bone. Acute pain can be severe but it is generally self-correcting in time, meaning that it diminishes as the injury heals and usually resolves on its own. Acute pain can, however, turn into chronic pain if lasting effects remain from the initial incident.

Neuropathic Pain

Also known as neuropathy or peripheral neuropathy, neuropathic pain [2] [3] is the result of nerve damage or a problem with your nervous system. Dysfunction of one or more nerves causes sudden, sharp bursts of pain that are often described as shooting, tingling, stabbing, burning, numbing, or as a “pins and needles” sensation. Your central nervous system is comprised of your brain and your spinal cord. When peripheral neurons (nerve cells) sustain damage, there is a breakdown of communication, resulting in neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is frequently first sensed in your hands or feet but can also be caused by spinal nerve compression, shingles, chemotherapy, inflammation, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Diseases like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and HIV can also invoke nerve damage that sparks neuropathic pain.

Chronic Pain

Chronic pain [1] [4] can be known or unknown as to cause. It is characterized mainly by its persistence. Common types of chronic pain, all of which red light therapy can help to alleviate, include:

• Fibromyalgia: [5] A neurological disorder that affects muscle and soft tissue, characterized by extensive musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and sleep disorders.
• Back Pain: [6] Often triggered by muscle strain, bulging disks, arthritis, or osteoporosis.
• Return-To-Play After Injury: [8] [17] Red light therapy can help reduce healing time with any sports injury including a concussion.
• Osteoarthritis: [9] [18] [19] A degenerative joint disease, it is the progressive breakdown of cartilage within joints.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis: [10] [20] A malfunction in the immune system causes unprovoked attacks on the lining of your joints, causing inflammation and pain.
• Scar Pain: [11] Occurs when a wound heals and the resulting scar tissue forms as stiffer, tighter skin than healthy skin tissue.

How Red Light Therapy Works to Treat Pain

Red light therapy is a natural, chemical-free, non-toxic, non-invasive, and non-addictive pain management treatment. It produces no harmful side effects and is FDA-approved. Red light penetrates your body to its cellular level, stimulating mitochondria (the energy production centers within cells). This promotes adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production and greater cellular energy, enhancing your body’s natural healing processes.

Better Circulation

Red light therapy sparks the formation of new capillaries (fine blood vessels), improving blood flow and delivering nutrients and oxygen to compromised cells more efficiently. This promotes deep tissue healing and pain relief.

Stem Cell Activation

Stem cells are your body’s most basic genetic materials. [21] [22] They are essential building blocks within the human body’s natural healing process. Red light therapy is proven to activate stem cell production via its ATP stimulation and cellular energy improvement.

Reduced Inflammation

Swelling places extra stress on sensitive nerve endings and pushes against them, causing pain. Red light intrinsically reduces swelling and inflammation, thus relieving pain. Optimal blood flow, minimal inflammation, stem cell activation, and enhanced cellular energy work conjunctively toward a pain-free state of being.

What About Traditional Pain Management Options?

Oral and topical medications do relieve pain, but prolonged usage can have detrimental health effects, including nausea, stomach upset, drowsiness, and potential for addiction. Oral and topical pain relief agents artificially trigger your body to temporarily stop experiencing pain; they merely act as blockers. Red light therapy, on the other hand, stimulates and enhances your body’s innate healing processes to reduce pain naturally.

At-Home Red Light Therapy for Pain Management

The most beneficial application of red light therapy typically involves a combination of short red light-emitting diode (LED) waves (630 to 700 nm range) and longer near-infrared (NIR) waves (700 to 900 nm range). Many devices offering a combination of various wavelengths are available today, such as the RLT Home Total Spectrum series. What works best for you will depend upon your unique therapeutic goals. For specific instructions, it's always best to consult an official red light therapy dosage guide.

Most importantly, using one of the best red light therapy devices is a natural, 100% safe, and FDA-approved approach. In conclusion, red light therapy is a gentle, safe, and natural remedy for pain of all kinds. Red light therapy can pave your path back to a better quality of life through effective pain management and relief, while also providing you with a host of other restorative and rejuvenating benefits.

Resources

• [1] The Difference Between Acute and Chronic Pain
• [2] Neuropathy (Peripheral Neuropathy)
• [3] 660- and 980-nm on Neuropathic Pain in Rat Sciatic Nerve
• [4] Chronic Pain Information Page
• [5] Fibromyalgia – Symptoms and causes
• [6] Back pain – Symptoms and causes
• [7] Mechanical Pain Definition
• [10] Rheumatoid Arthritis: Causes, Symptoms, Treatments
• [11] Scar Tissue Pain
• [12] LLLT for Fibromyalgia
• [17] 830 nm in Injured University Athletes
• [18] Low-Power Laser Therapy on Pain and Cervical Osteoarthritis
• [20] Laser Therapy for Pain of Rheumatoid Arthritis
• [21] Stem cells: What they are and what they do
• [22] Red-Light for Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Rat Bone Marrow

Learn More About Red Light Therapy for Pain

• Managing Fibromyalgia Pain
• Is At-Home RLT Effective for Back Pain?
• A Guide to Osteoarthritis Relief
• Finding Relief from Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Understanding RLT for Neuropathy