Red Light Safety

[DaveFoster]

So, I just got my red light set up. A 250 W bulb with a heat lamp and reflector. I have another, but I'm going to start with one. I have it set up about 90 degrees to my right as a type, so directly ----> there.

Are there any concerns that I should have with this? Should I limit my exposure to a few minutes, or work my way up? Should I make sure to eat enough? Is there any risk to retina damage?

I've heard of some mood benefits, and I'm eager to try it out. I'll be using it along with my 10,000 LUX bright light therapy light.

 

[DaveFoster]

Bump.

 

[ecstatichamster]

I would have enough distance not to heat up so much. I spend hours a day in front of them but I try not to heat up too much from the infrared

 

[DaveFoster]

@ecstatichamster Thanks for the reply. I found this on Red Light Man:

"What is the standard treatment like?
The light is simply applied for a short amount of time (5 – 15 minutes), after which further therapy would show quickly diminishing returns.

This is known as a biphasic dose response – lower doses give a good effect, very high doses a negative (or neutral) effect. The reason why longer session times gives diminshing returns is not very well understood, possibly involving ROS or nitric oxide release.

Regardless, a short therapy session gives better results than constant use for hours on end."

Red Light Therapy - Red Light Man

 

[ecstatichamster]

Interesting. I will have to experiment. Seems to be good for hours. But maybe best to try shorter intervals.

 

[milk_lover]

If it's hot and close to your skin surface and you're exposed to it for long periods, it might dry your skin up. That's what happened to me with my heat lamps.

 

[m_arch]

Sometimes I sit shirtless and shine mine on my back in the morning. Also if its a heat lamp I might put it on any sore injury-like spots for a few minutes to improve blood flow that that area. TCM talks about that and it makes sense that it would speed up healing.

although often lingering injuries have a deeper underlying cause that needs to be addressed for a 'cure'

 

[Jayfish]

I have a similar setup and I definitely get negative effects from prolonged exposure. It will zap your glycogen stores so definitely eat before during or after. I find the 19-15 min is a perfect exposure time.

 

[sladerunner69]

@ecstatichamster Thanks for the reply. I found this on Red Light Man:

"What is the standard treatment like?
The light is simply applied for a short amount of time (5 – 15 minutes), after which further therapy would show quickly diminishing returns.

This is known as a biphasic dose response – lower doses give a good effect, very high doses a negative (or neutral) effect. The reason why longer session times gives diminshing returns is not very well understood, possibly involving ROS or nitric oxide release.

Regardless, a short therapy session gives better results than constant use for hours on end."

Red Light Therapy - Red Light Man

Dave, from what I've gatherred here on this forum and listening to Danny Roddy's podcast, a single 250w bulb is not something to be concerned about.

Personally my rig uses 3x250w infared bulbs, plus the two clear bulbs in my bathroom ceiling. Thats 5 250w bulbs shining at me and I do it 2 or 3 times a day for 10 minutes. I believe the light absorption increase exponentially, relative to the wattage, so a single 205w could be used basically all day. I know Dr. Peat himself said he "usually: has 2 incandescent 250's shining on him.

I would reccomend you setting up a rig with 3 or 4 bulbs, because for me, thats when I started to see real results. Basically I use 3 "botany" lamp housings (popular for marijuana growing) which come with clamps that i attached to a metal bar in my bathroom.

 

[marteagal]

Should I limit my exposure to a few minutes, or work my way up?

Dave, a post that I find particular useful to answer your question (and mine because I also use a 250 W "heat lamp") is the following:

Ray Peat recommended the light therapy to me a couple of years ago. There were about two dozen e-mails between us until I had it right:

He did mean infrared but NOT with the red filter. Meaning: the pure glass infrared lamps. They are sometimes (but not always) called heat lamps. He said there was no limit to the time I could spend lying (or sitting) under the lamps as long as I didn't neglect the safety distance.

The more Watt or Volt you get, the better. So I bought 7 times 275 Watt of incandescent infrared lamps. I spent hours reading and working (and sweating) under the lamps in winter but in summer I prefer to go outside and have the real sun.

I tried sleeping with the lights (or at least one) pointed at my feet. The problem is you cannot use a blanket if you do and during the night it feels weird. Apart from that my boyfriend didn't like it. I use the lights until I go to bed unless I am sick then I will sleep with a lamp at my feet.

[Red Light Therapy, Lights, Supplemental Lighting]

(I added bold/underline.)

So this clearly confirms what @sliderunner69 has said:

so a single 205w could be used basically all day.

 

[DaveFoster]

Thank you guys for the feedback. I have two lights; I'll look into more, but I'll take it slow and observe any effects from longer sessions.

 

[Sucrates]

I just avoid overheating or signs of a headache. I often use 500W for hours per day. The 5-15min recommendation makes sense in the context of LED/LLLT.

 

[tca300]

Ya, Ray sits under his basically all day for what he said was " Continuous exposure ".

 

[tara]

Are there any concerns that I should have with this?

Turn it off when you leave the room and make sure it can't tip into flammable papers etc - they get hot.

Should I make sure to eat enough?

You know what I'd say about this, right? Always. :)

I'll be using it along with my 10,000 LUX bright light therapy light.

What spectrum are you using this for?

 

[Endocrinologist]

http://mutage.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/3/253

 

[AJC]

So when you guys are exposing your body (I'm assuming nude) to the 250w lamps for an extended period of time, are you taking concern for the whole "make sure this is only on your head for 10 minutes max" warning on the labels? I have one 250w lamp and use it to shine on abdomen/genitals but some of those rays make it to my head as well...do you just go by--as long as you don't feel the inside of your head heating up you're good?

New to the whole redlight thing so want to make sure I'm not causing harm.

 

[ecstatichamster]

So when you guys are exposing your body (I'm assuming nude) to the 250w lamps for an extended period of time, are you taking concern for the whole "make sure this is only on your head for 10 minutes max" warning on the labels? I have one 250w lamp and use it to shine on abdomen/genitals but some of those rays make it to my head as well...do you just go by--as long as you don't feel the inside of your head heating up you're good?

New to the whole redlight thing so want to make sure I'm not causing harm.

I shine it on my torso. No shirt.

 

[DaveFoster]

Turn it off when you leave the room and make sure it can't tip into flammable papers etc - they get hot.


You know what I'd say about this, right? Always. :)


What spectrum are you using this for?

Sorry tara, I didn't notice that you replied to me. I found out the "turn it off" part when I found the back of my desk chair smoking. Very fun experience.

For my light, I use it for depression. It seems to help; it's something about bright light hitting the retina, which signals dopamine production if I recall.

 

[DaveFoster]

So when you guys are exposing your body (I'm assuming nude) to the 250w lamps for an extended period of time, are you taking concern for the whole "make sure this is only on your head for 10 minutes max" warning on the labels? I have one 250w lamp and use it to shine on abdomen/genitals but some of those rays make it to my head as well...do you just go by--as long as you don't feel the inside of your head heating up you're good?

New to the whole redlight thing so want to make sure I'm not causing harm.

I actually find better results if I let it shine on my head. It might be that shining 3 of these heat lamps constantly through the whole day (12-14 hour exposure time) makes me a little irritable. Maybe it's just from the heat.

 

[sladerunner69]

I actually find better results if I let it shine on my head. It might be that shining 3 of these heat lamps constantly through the whole day (12-14 hour exposure time) makes me a little irritable. Maybe it's just from the heat.

Two much light makes me irritable as well. I use a red light and I notice irritability/anxiety when I use it at night. I thought it ight be low blood sugar but I really think its something more.