Knowledge base on infrared and red light therapy

Infrared is heat radiation that warms your skin and that you clearly feel. Red light is visible light around 630 to 660 nanometres that gives off hardly any heat and mainly acts on the skin and the tissue below. Many panels combine both, because near infrared around 830 to 850 nanometres penetrates deeper than red light alone. A sauna blanket works with far infrared, so it is about heat, not light.

For most people 20 to 40 minutes is a pleasant session. Start lower in temperature and shorter in time than you think you need, and build up once you know how your body reacts. Drink enough water before and after the session. Stop sooner if you feel dizzy or unwell.

With normal use, far infrared heat is not dangerous; it is the same kind of radiant heat you feel from a stove or the sun. The risks lie in overheating, dehydration and sitting too close to a strong lamp. Never look straight into a bright lamp or panel and keep to the recommended distance. If you are pregnant, have heart or blood vessel problems, reduced feeling in your skin or take medication that affects how you sense heat, it is wise to check with a doctor.

For the skin, red light around 630 to 660 nanometres is usually used. For muscles and joints, near infrared around 810 to 850 nanometres is used more often, because it penetrates deeper. Panels with several wavelengths cover both uses. An infrared sauna blanket works in the far infrared and is meant for warmth and relaxation, not for skin care.

An infrared blanket warms your whole body and is meant for relaxation and a sauna feeling at home. An infrared lamp focuses heat on one spot, for example your lower back or shoulder, and is handy for local muscle complaints. A red light panel is about light rather than heat, for skin and recovery. If you mainly want to relax, choose the blanket; if you want to focus on a specific spot, choose a lamp or panel.

Three to five times a week is easy to keep up for most people and is also often used in research. Daily is possible too, as long as you keep the sessions short and keep drinking enough. More is not automatically better; regularity over a longer period counts for more than long one off sessions.

During a session you lose fluid through sweating, so the scales may show less right afterwards. That fluid comes back as soon as you drink. So a sauna blanket is not a slimming aid. What people do get from it is relaxation, a warm moment of rest and sometimes a more pleasant feeling in their muscles after exercise.

A cabin heats a whole space around you and needs fixed floor space, installation and more power. A blanket wraps around you on the sofa or bed, can be put away after use and uses clearly less power. The feeling of warmth differs: in a cabin you sit in warm air, in a blanket the heat source is right against you.