How Does Red Light Therapy Work for Joint Pain
We often get joint pain. Joint pain is an unfortunate and common affliction that affects millions of people worldwide. From young athletes to elderly grandparents, joint discomfort can negatively impact quality of life. While pain medications provide temporary relief, they come with side effects and don’t treat the underlying cause. Recently, light therapy has emerged as a safe and effective option for treating joint pain. But does it really work? And if so, what’s the science behind it? Let’s take a closer look at everything you need to know about using light therapy to relief joint pain.
How Does Light Therapy Reduce Joint Pain works?
The key benefit of light therapy is that it delivers healing light energy directly into the painful joint to treat the underlying condition and not just the symptoms. Here are some of its most researched effects on joint structures:
Stimulates Tissue Growth
The loss of smooth, slippery cartilage is what leads to painful bone-on-bone friction. Near infrared light stimulates fibroblasts to produce more collagen and regenerate cartilage and synovial tissue. Infrared light combined with red light also accelerates growth of stem cells that help repair joint tissue.
Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation is the main cause of joint pain and damage. Near infrared light can significantly reduce inflammatory cytokines like IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. It also lowers inflammatory enzymes like COX-2. This provides immediate relief while also slowing disease progression.
Blocks Pain Signals
Light energy can reduce painful nerve signals in several ways. It decreases oxidative stress, increases natural painkilling chemicals like endorphins, stabilizes nerve cell membranes, and modulates pain signals.
Promotes Circulation
Better blood flow brings oxygen and nutrients to joint tissues to aid healing. It also removes inflammatory waste products. Light boosts microcirculation and creates new capillaries.
Speeds Injury Healing
The light stimulates cells called fibroblasts to proliferate and lay down collagen to quickly heal damaged ligaments, tendons, and bones after an injury or surgery.
Regular light therapy allows you to tackle joint pain at its origin instead of just covering up the symptoms temporarily.
For red light therapy products used at home, treatment time is 20 minutes/time and can be used multiple times per day.
Please pay attention to rest for 15-30 minutes between two treatment, drink water to replenish water, make the body dissipate heat, and then continue the next treatment.
Redglows red light therapy products are designed with 20 minutes timer mostely.