Everyone around the world will experience inflammation in some form or another. But what exactly is it and how can red light help to ease the symptoms and support your body’s natural responses to inflammation and pain?
In this article, we will explore what inflammation is, how it is caused, and how you can start to positively impact areas of inflammation with localized light treatments.
What is inflammation?
Contrary to popular belief, inflammation in the body isn’t always a bad thing. The right kind of inflammation (acute inflammation) is actually essential to your body’s natural healing system and functions. Think of it as your body’s natural programmed response to danger, where your immune system immediately attacks any foreign visitor that poses a threat. This could be anything from germs, chemical irritation or cell damage.
Although acute inflammation is good for the body’s healing system – it can also be very uncomfortable for the sufferer. It typically arises as red, hot, swollen and painful areas on the body.
On the other hand, chronic inflammation is something to look out for as it can be very detrimental to the body. This is because your body works tirelessly to pump out the necessary white blood cells to fight the issue at its core, which can potentially lead to the attack on healthy tissues and organs and a lowered immune system.
What is the main cause of Inflammation?
Inflammation can be caused by anything that puts your body under stress. It is caused by chemicals from your body’s white blood cells entering your blood or tissues to protect your body from invaders, which ultimately raises the blood flow to the area of injury or infection. This protective process may trigger nerves and cause pain.
Higher numbers of white blood cells and the things they make inside your joints cause irritation, swelling of the joint lining, and loss of cartilage (cushions at the end of bones) over time.
5 main signs of acute inflammation
There are 5 main signs of acute inflammation to look out for:
- Pain – which can occur continuously or when a person touches the affected area.
- Redness – which is a result of increased blood supply to the capillaries in the affected area.
- Loss of function – which may give you trouble with moving joints, breathing, sensing smell etc.
- Swelling – which can lead to a more serious condition known as edema if lots of fluid builds up.
- Heat – which is caused by increased blood flow to the affected area, leaving it warm to the touch.
How can Red Light positively impact Inflammation?
Any athlete or sports person’s ability to perform and recover boils down to the cells that make up every part of the body. It’s simple really – our bodies can perform better and recover more effectively when cells are creating, storing and using energy more efficiently.
The theory behind red light is that when it’s applied to the skin in controlled environments, it can help to increase the number of mitochondria in cells, and ultimately the production of ATP energy (also known as adenosine triphosphate), which our bodies use for everything we do.
So the more efficiently your cells create ATP energy through cellular respiration, the better your body can feel and perform. Red and NIR light, especially from an iRed device, can effectively support this essential mitochondrial function and the necessary production of ATP energy through cellular respiration so you can workout better and stronger than ever. It’s also worth noting that this light technique can improve the electron transfer process in cells and work against the nitric oxide & oxidative stress build-ups that ultimately weaken our cells and slow us down, helping our bodies to maintain a very healthy balance of energy created and energy used.
Make the change with iRed
iRed treatments are recommended as part of a healthy and balanced lifestyle, as red light can be used to support enhanced cellular function across the board. We always recommend combining light treatments with your usual exercise, diet and sleep in order to improve circulation.
If you want to find out more about iRed’s range of red light devices, you can find them here.
