Following any injury or surgery – the rehabilitation process is extremely important for your full recovery and regaining your strength.
Giving your body the tools it needs to repair, heal, and strengthen will promote lasting results and improve your quality of life.
In this blog, you'll learn how red light therapy can be used as a tool to encourage and enhance your recovery process.
Why Would Light Help?
The light energy captured in the wavelengths emitted by our devices is absorbed by the mitochondria of your cells.
This results in an increase ATP production (the cell’s energy currency).
As a result of this energy increase, you will get a reduction in inflammation, as well as an increase in blood flow.
All this leads to faster recovery, cellular rejuvenation, and repair.
The Evidence
- A study performed in 2001 by NASA scientists proved that cellular growth is 150 –200% times faster when exposed to red- and near-infrared wavelengths of light.
- The Journal of Lasers published a study in 2016 which showed that red light therapy was able to shorten the time it takes athletes to return to their sport after an injury. While the average return to play was 19 days, the athletes that used red light therapy returned to their sport within 9 days.
- In 2006, a study was performed to determine the effect of red light therapy on recovery time in patients following eye surgery. People who used red light therapy in the healing process recovered 30 – 50% faster than the control group.
Enhancing Your Recovery
In order to maximize your recovery process, we recommend aiming MyLight MOVE (8-10 minutes) or a MyLight MIDI (5-8 minutes) at your muscles after you exercise.
In closing:
In order to obtain the best results from your red light therapy device, you should be doing daily sessions with a home device - following the protocol indicated in your device's manual.
If you're not sure which device would suit your needs, simply take the Red Light Therapy Quiz here.