Handheld red light has changed my life!

[tankasnowgod]

One other factor here, meant to mention it earlier:

In addition to using red light daily, I've been wearing blue-blocking sunglasses for most of the day, and every time I use the computer/phone.

They may also be contributing to the anti-anxiety effects, as they do feel very relaxing. But they're not the primary factor - I started with them first and didn't notice any huge change.

My theory is that many people have chronic blue light toxicity (in addition to PUFA overload and so many other things), in which case overcompensating by blocking blue and focusing on red is warranted. For me, at least, it's working!!

Makes a lot of sense to me. Lots of sunlight + some targeted red light + blocking excess blue from computer screens seems like a very good combination, and I can see why the addition of 2-4 minutes of red light to the other two areas would have great effects.

You totally should get it out again!

If nothing else, maybe just use it in the morning?

Jack Kruse, for all his vanity, had some good info about why doing this could prevent sunburn by 'priming' the skin to receive more light later on.

Thanks for the link, good details here. I wish Red Light Man would just make a dosing calculator on their site, wouldn't be that hard to do.

Tho I disagree with their chart, the one that shows lots of red light being worse than none. If diminishing returns are noticed, a solution might be just to put the light farther away. Might have to experiment with using red light as background lighting throughout the entire day lol.

A lot of the experiments used Low Level Laser light, and the diminishing returns may have been due to heat. I heard a podcast from RLM, and he mentioned that it might not be as simple as the "biphasic dose." After all, even if one area hits saturation of Red Light, the blood flowing through that area can still be picking up the light and/or its effects, and having a systemic positive effect over the body.

And, of course, having the light further away will lower the dose you get considerably. I'm wary of the idea of "overloading" on red light from any of the consumer level devices, as you just aren't getting anywhere near the dose you would from something like 5-10 minutes in a Thorpod, and many are getting excellent results from those.

 

[CreakyJoints]

And, of course, having the light further away will lower the dose you get considerably. I'm wary of the idea of "overloading" on red light from any of the consumer level devices, as you just aren't getting anywhere near the dose you would from something like 5-10 minutes in a Thorpod, and many are getting excellent results from those.

To add to this, the "power density" values provided on their site are a little bit confusing: I presume no single LED in that device is emitting multiple wavelengths of light. Since there are twelve LEDs in total and three wavelengths, I would think that each wavelength would only irradiate at a quarter of the stated value.

Also, I believe it's quite rare that too much red light will actually cause many truly detrimental effects at all; rather, it is more likely that the user will no longer see any improvements. It's like a bell curve, I think. Michael Hamblin discusses this in a number of interviews - to paraphrase him, you are getting millions and millions of joules of power from the sun in under an hour of exposure, and a tiny tiny tiny tiny fraction of that from prolonged exposure to any PBMT device. Using them internally is slightly different, though.

 

[SuperStressed]

How would a device like this compare to say 600W from incadescents?

 

[CreakyJoints]

How would a device like this compare to say 600W from incadescents?

It would depend on what you're trying to do but those are very different things, I think, and not very easy/helpful to compare.

Incandescents are generally used to mimic natural sunlight to some extent, but these are more often used for specific kinds of light-based therapy. These are totally unsuited to someone trying to supplement vitamin D with UVB, for instance, but an incandescent would be unlikely to get similar effects to those shown in various PBMT studies, which tend to only use one or two frequencies.

 

[OccamzRazer]

A lot of the experiments used Low Level Laser light, and the diminishing returns may have been due to heat. I heard a podcast from RLM, and he mentioned that it might not be as simple as the "biphasic dose." After all, even if one area hits saturation of Red Light, the blood flowing through that area can still be picking up the light and/or its effects, and having a systemic positive effect over the body.

And, of course, having the light further away will lower the dose you get considerably. I'm wary of the idea of "overloading" on red light from any of the consumer level devices, as you just aren't getting anywhere near the dose you would from something like 5-10 minutes in a Thorpod, and many are getting excellent results from those.

This seems like a reasonable viewpoint.

IMO red light 'overload' is even less of a concern given most of us have probably been bombarded with blue light from the moment we've been here. Who knows how chronic exposure to imbalanced light has affected hormone production, growth/development, etc? (Asking both rhetorically and seriously, as I wish I knew!)

That Thorpod looks pretty cool! Wonder how much EMF it would throw off, though.

 

[OccamzRazer]

Incandescents are generally used to mimic natural sunlight to some extent, but these are more often used for specific kinds of light-based therapy. These are totally unsuited to someone trying to supplement vitamin D with UVB, for instance, but an incandescent would be unlikely to get similar effects to those shown in various PBMT studies, which tend to only use one or two frequencies.

Interesting. Yeah...for me sunlight didn't do much/anything tangible to reduce anxiety. I was already getting LOTS of sun and had been taking D3 over the winter.

The red light seems to have pushed my body into a totally different metabolic state.

It's sort of how I felt when I was 16 - deeply energized, calm, little anxiety, fully oxygenated, hopeful.

The endurance-boosting benefits of red light also seem interesting. It's too early to tell for sure, but I think I have slightly better endurance now. I used to be a pro athlete, and it seems like the red light is providing some of the same cardiovascular benefits without the stressfulness of training hours a day.

 

[theloge]

Has anybody tried the RubyLux NIR Infrared bulb? How would those compare?

 

[OccamzRazer]

Another thing: my skin is slightly healthier. It appears a little shinier/more moisturised. This benefit has kicked in more slowly than the anxiety reduction.

 

[Quelsatron]

How would a device like this compare to say 600W from incadescents?

Just going by the absorption theory, LED light is vastly more powerful in that regard, given that regular red light is, lets say, 100 times broader in spectrum, so you can imagine how much more the narrowly absorbing pigments are being energized.

 

[tankasnowgod]

Has anybody tried the RubyLux NIR Infrared bulb? How would those compare?

You'll get a lot of heat and a much higher power bill.

 

[Scenes]

Thanks for the kind words!

I have this light: Orange & Red - Handheld Device - 610nm - 630nm - 670nm - LGS1 (lifegivingstore.com)

I use it first thing every morning for 1-2 minutes. Mostly on the face (not in eyes!), neck, and hairline, though I also shine it on my stomach and nether regions.

I use it again every afternoon for another 1-2 minutes. Mostly on the face (not in eyes) and neck.

If it's been a stressful day and I notice some anxiety coming back, I'll use it again in the evening for 30 seconds-1 minute. Mostly on the face (not in eyes)and neck.

Honestly I just try to go by feel. I hold it about 6 inches away from my body. It doesn't feel too intense from that distance at all.

Also keep in mind that I was already getting a lot of sunlight. So the red light was conferring something that no amount of sunlight could.

How did you decide 1-2 mins? Peat seems to suggest as much red light as possible is best. I’ve used handheld red light for 10-15 mins on face and neck and loved it. Haven’t done it for ages though, will come back to it.

 

[Creative Nature]

Thanks for the kind words!

I have this light: Orange & Red - Handheld Device - 610nm - 630nm - 670nm - LGS1 (lifegivingstore.com)

I use it first thing every morning for 1-2 minutes. Mostly on the face (not in eyes!), neck, and hairline, though I also shine it on my stomach and nether regions.

I use it again every afternoon for another 1-2 minutes. Mostly on the face (not in eyes) and neck.

If it's been a stressful day and I notice some anxiety coming back, I'll use it again in the evening for 30 seconds-1 minute. Mostly on the face (not in eyes)and neck.

Honestly I just try to go by feel. I hold it about 6 inches away from my body. It doesn't feel too intense from that distance at all.

Also keep in mind that I was already getting a lot of sunlight. So the red light was conferring something that no amount of sunlight could.

Thanks for the helpful reply. I've only been using incandescents lately, but several years ago, I experimented with a red LED panel. Don't recall the wavelength the panel generated, but it was deeply relaxing in a way that the incandescents aren't. So your experience makes sense to me. I'll probably try supplementing the incandescents with the kind of device you're using.

 

[OccamzRazer]

How did you decide 1-2 mins? Peat seems to suggest as much red light as possible is best. I’ve used handheld red light for 10-15 mins on face and neck and loved it. Haven’t done it for ages though, will come back to it.

The light came with instructions that suggested to start slowly...so that's pretty much what I've tried to do.

Will slowly ramp things up over time though. Might have to try the 10-15 minute exposure, Did you experience any downsides from that?

 

[Inaut]

I use my red light panel on my chest, neck and face for 20 minutes at a time. I see nothing but benefits at this time time/dosage. Only thing i've stopped doing is using it on my genitals. It messes with my libido. I do agree though that exposure time should slowly be increased.

 

[golder]

I use my red light panel on my chest, neck and face for 20 minutes at a time. I see nothing but benefits at this time time/dosage. Only thing i've stopped doing is using it on my genitals. It messes with my libido. I do agree though that exposure time should slowly be increased.

Interesting that 20mins red light exposure on the gonads reduces libido? That runs counter to as one options on here
- I wonder if you’re using infrared light spectrum alongside the red light spectrum and heating the testicles too much?

 

[Inaut]

Interesting that 20mins red light exposure on the gonads reduces libido? That runs counter to as one options on here
- I wonder if you’re using infrared light spectrum alongside the red light spectrum and heating the testicles too much?

I can switch between 660/850 or both on my panel. I mainly use 660 especially on the gonads and i couldn't imagine using it for 20 min on that location. If i do use it on my guys, its no more than a minute and even then.... that affects ----performance for me...

 

[OccamzRazer]

I can switch between 660/850 or both on my panel. I mainly use 660 especially on the gonads and i couldn't imagine using it for 20 min on that location. If i do use it on my guys, its no more than a minute and even then.... that affects ----performance for me...

Do you view this as a sign that something is wrong with that much red light exposure - or an unwanted side effect of lowered stress response?

Personally I wouldn't mind having a slightly lower sex drive, so if more red light on balls can help...

 

[Inaut]

Do you view this as a sign that something is wrong with that much red light exposure - or an unwanted side effect of lowered stress response?

Personally I wouldn't mind having a slightly lower sex drive, so if more red light on balls can help...

I think it’s both but then again, I can expose my upper body to lots of red light and have still have libido (better libido probably)...

 

[CreakyJoints]

If you're getting good results on the neck, I'd continue with that. Ray Peat doesn't seem to like too much IR on the thyroid, I believe he thinks visible red is fine. I can't remember the exact comments he made on the subject, unfortunately. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[OccamzRazer]

Short update: yesterday it was cloudy here so I used the red light for 3x1 minute sessions AND for ~30 minutes from a few feet farther away.

It was super relaxing. The type of perfectionism I usually live under pretty much dissolved and replaced by contentment.

If anything, I felt too content - almost slightly de-motivated. Maybe long-term red light exposure should be reserved for evenings only?

Will have to keep experimenting with this!