Treatment

What is Theralight 360 and how is it used for back pain and neck pain?

TheraLight 360 is a full-body unit that provides light therapy to the body for healing soft tissue injury.

The TheraLight 360 is a multi-wavelength LED system that combines 4 optimal therapeutic wavelengths. The unit is registered with the FDA as General Wellness Medical Device.

According to the manufacturer of the Theralight unit, the concept behind the light therapy treatment device is that oxidative stress is an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants. While both of these molecules are necessary for normal, healthy reactions in the body, an excess of either causes problems. Free radicals are molecules which contain oxygen and have an uneven number of electrons. Because free radicals have an uneven number of electrons, they’re unstable and highly reactive with other molecules, which helps them cause large chain chemical reactions in the body. On the other hand, antioxidants are molecules that can give up an electron without becoming unstable, so they have the ability to stabilize free radicals.

How Red Light Therapy Fights Oxidative Stress: While altering our diets can help manage free radicals, there is pollution, radiation, and even exposure to cigarette smoke. All of these factors can be inescapable depending on a person’s location or situation. One option to aid in the fight against oxidative stress is red and near-infrared light therapy. According to to the manufacturer of the device, red light, at specific wavelengths, is readily absorbed by chromophores in the mitochondria of the body’s cells, which activates metabolic energy processes. Red and near-infrared wavelengths of light promote ATP production, which boosts energy transport within cells, leading to increased cell proliferation.

This boost in the body’s natural healing cycle helps reduce inflammation and promotes healing of damaged tissue.

What makes red light different from other forms of light is its ability to penetrate deeper into the skin. While blue and ultraviolet light mainly affects the upper layers of skin, red light can be absorbed by cells deep in the body. Red light therapy is also referred to as photobiomodulation therapy because of the change in the body induced by light, and there are a variety of devices with different capacities of utilizing red light, including red light bed, panels, and targeted deep tissue laser therapy systems.

Typically an individual session in the TheraLight Full Body Photobiomodulation System doesn’t exceed 20 minutes. Sessions ideally are scheduled every other day, at least in the beginning weeks, to achieve best results.

Advocates believe that using red light therapy for back pain reduces inflammation of your body’s tissue, which is the immune system’s response to injury or infection. While the body requires some inflammation to heal, red light reduces acute and chronic inflammation which calms the inflammatory immune response and speeds healing.