Stay Ahead of the Wellness Curve

Red light therapy (aka Photobiomodulation or LLLT) is a treatment that stimulates the body’s cellular processes. NEO | Light uses red and full-spectrum near-infrared light to activate a variety of biological processes.

Red light therapy is used for and approved to treat injuries, reduce pain, relax muscles/joints, and increase blood circulation. These are the main applications recognized in the United States by the FDA. Much new research has surfaced over the past decade which suggests many more applications including skin rejuvenation, hair loss prevention, and sleep optimization.

Technically any time of day is fine, as you are wearing “black out” goggles. However, there is likely brief exposure to the bright lights. Some lights are calming while others are stimulating. With NEO | Light we recommend doing the Restore, Pulse, and Calm Mode any time of day. Cleanse mode however, which contains blue light, should be done in the morning or afternoon only, and not in the late evening. This is because Blue Light is stimulating and thought to enhance mood, focus and attention – is not desired in the evening.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Blue Light is stimulating and thought to enhance mood, focus and attention. Blue light is part of the spectrum of light we get from daylight, and it is also associated with cleansing and disinfecting. Research suggests that the combination of red and blue light may reduce bacteria caused blemishes on the skin resulting in an overall improved appearance of the skin. The downside of blue light is that even small amounts of if in the evening may suppress the release of melatonin, and thereby throw off the circadian rhythm. Thus, those sensitive to it may have a harder time to sleep at night.

NEO | Light offers a unique Green and Infrared light mode, namly the “Calm Mode”. Green light has the most calming effect on the mind among all colors in the visible light spectrum. A Harvard study suggests that exposure to green light may reduce migraines. While blue and red light may have an activating effect on the body while green light achieves the opposite. Combined with NEO | Light bed’s invisible and deeply penetrating and muscle relaxing infrared light frequencies the calm mode was born. Beyond its calming effect, Green Light may also improve the appearance of dilated capillaries, sagging skin around the eyes, under eye circles, hyperpigmentation and sun spots. Research suggests that deep penetrating near-infrared light energy may reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation by down-regulating hyperactive melanocytes in the dermis. Other studies suggest that Green Light may prevent the production of excess melanin, resulting in less pigmentation on the skin’s surface, resulting in a brighter, more even skin tone.

Light therapy is one of the fastest growing modalities in modern health and wellness businesses. Examples include wellness centers, gyms, sports clubs, med spas, beauty clinics, chiropractic offices, medical offices, hospitals, rehabilitation institutions, and even nursing homes. Private home use is gaining much popularity, fueled by the 2019 pandemic but also in general as more people want to take preventive health into their own hands.

You can use light therapy every day. Most people don’t see much benefit using it more than once per day. It is recommended to do at least 3-5 sessions per week. Consistency is key to reach results.

Not at all. While there is much talk about strength, endurance, and recovery time, photobiomodulation improves cellular processes resulting in a number of benefits (see above) for any adult. Light therapy is for all of us who want to do more, feel better, and look younger.

Red light panels are an inexpensive way to use red light therapy at home, and there are some good options available today. In fact, NEO | Science is working on our own high-powered panels for home use to make our technology available to more people. Having said that, panels have multiple drawbacks compared to a full bed. The first is power: panels offer a much lower dose than a high-powered light bed, meaning you need far more exposure time plus you are standing throughout the process. Because the user is standing, distance to the body becomes the next problem. The power of a light wave drops exponentially with distance. This means if you are 3 inches away from the light source vs 10 inches or even 1-2ft as we often see with light panels, the actual dose can be reduced to almost nothing. While light panels are aesthetically pleasing in social media posts, the actual benefits of many of the existing products are questionable. With NEO | Light the user is only ca 2-3 inches from the LEDs in the base of the light bed, and only up to 5 inches from those in the canopy. You are fully engulfed in light from up to 36,360 high powered LEDs, an exposure that simply can not be matched with a simple light panel. The illustration below shows the distance between the user and the LEDs, which is far closer than most of our competitors.

While both modalities use the term “infrared”, they are completely different mechanisms. An infrared sauna uses light to make heat. It typically uses FAR-Infrared heat to stimulate sweat glands for detoxification, so they are extremely warm if not hot. Red Light Therapy uses light which penetrates the body deep into the cell. It is often referred to as Low Level Laser Therapy or Cold Laser Therapy, thus heat is not involved. The goal is to improve cellular function and allow the cell to produce ATP. NEO | Light uses a combination of red light and NEAR-infrared cold light to reverse oxidative stress, reduce pain, inflammation and improve cellular energy production.