My Red/Near Infrared Light Therapy Experiment

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Chris

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Just received my BIOMAX 900, which I am using horizontally suspended from their stand above my bed: comfortable! Have had two 10m sessions, one front and one back--much too early to give a report, and I still have to optimize the positioning and distance issues, but feel optimistic that this thing will help. Will report more in a few weeks.
 
junkcrap50

junkcrap50

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Chris said:
Just received my BIOMAX 900, which I am using horizontally suspended from their stand above my bed: comfortable! Have had two 10m sessions, one front and one back--much too early to give a report, and I still have to optimize the positioning and distance issues, but feel optimistic that this thing will help. Will report more in a few weeks.
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How did you suspend it? You bought their horizontal rack stand? I bought one recently but positioning it is such a hassle.
 
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Chris

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Yes, bought their horizontal rack; I have a queen size bed all to myself (alas), so it hovers over the unused side.
At the moment it is about 13 ins above me--want to reduce that to about 8--figuring out the best way to accomplish that. The light seems more yellow-golden than really red, but all LEDs seem lit.
 
Aspen

Aspen

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Chris said:
Just received my BIOMAX 900, which I am using horizontally suspended from their stand above my bed: comfortable! Have had two 10m sessions, one front and one back--much too early to give a report, and I still have to optimize the positioning and distance issues, but feel optimistic that this thing will help. Will report more in a few weeks.
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Exciting! Can’t wait to hear more. :balloons: Happy you got a stand, I really wish for one… I’m so nervous my kids will smash my light some days when they’re hanging out in my room together, haha!
 
tyson oberle

tyson oberle

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@Chris
You didn't answer my questions: why you think that the all NIR would be better than the 50/50? If you have the 50/50 can't you just use the NIR mode? And why do you think that you don't need to use the Red mode? This is your post that my questions were for:
"Thanks for the note, and for introducing me to a hitherto unknown to me brand. Actually it looks very like my Platinum bio 300 unit that I have been using for about two years, though that has separate switches for the Red and Near Infra Red sections, and is available in three versions--all Red, all NIR, or 50/50; I got the 50/50, and now rather wish I had got the all NIR for more effective action deeper."

I called this company and they told me that the Biomax 900 is sold only as a 50/50 unit. You can use both Red and NIR at the same time or can use Red only or NIR only. So is your Biomax 900 a 50/50 unit? I am wondering because you said that you wish that you got the all NIR for more effective action deeper?

Anyway, so now I think I understand why you said that an "all NIR" unit is "for more effective action deeper"; because they told me that when you use both Red and NIR then all the lights are powered on, but when you use only one mode (either Red or NIR) then only half the lights are powered on. So I guess an all NIR unit would have all the lights powered on, not just half the lights like in a 50/50 unit, and having all lights powered on would be more effective. So is that correct?
 
C

Chris

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@Aspen--the stand works well-it is the real reason I bought the Platinum . Hope we will get a positive update from you one of these days.

@tyson; it is a tricky issue. There is no doubt that the NIR penetrates better than the Red. But maybe the red is useful for all the skin and shallow issues--nerves and tiny blood vessels. The BIOMAX only comes as a 50/50 --though one can choose one, the other, or both. The problem is that one can overdose, so there might be an advantage in having only NIR. On the other hand the BIOMAX is very powerful, so using only the NIR will still give a good dose. Overall, I think I am going to be happy with it, but still have some experimenting to do.
 
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Chris

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I forgot one discovery I have made--though I am not at all colour blind--I can see red books across the room, etc, it is clear that I have lost a good deal of red sensitivity--I needed my daughter's reassurances that the unit was really pouring floods of red light into the room--it just did not seem that bright to my eyes. So I suggest you do shield your eyes when using these units.
 
Aspen

Aspen

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Chris said:
Hope we will get a positive update from you one of these days.
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I’m still generally using the light twice a day. 6 mins in the am and 4 in the pm, as close to 12 hours apart as possible, although I skip the second dose if I’m able to get myself outside to lay in the sun (1-2x a week). I’ve mostly stabilized this week since getting my covid vaccines - my second one was 2.5 weeks ago. I was much better prepared for the second, able to manage the resulting flare ok with quercetin and curcumin. My resting heart rate is still not back to pre-vaccine levels but I’m feeling pretty much at baseline the last few days anyways, able to brush teeth/wash face again every day which wasn’t possible for a few weeks there. I am putting myself into slight PEM every week though, it’s so much harder to stay completely sedentary with lovely weather and our little private lake outside my back door! But the PEM never gets as deep as it was earlier this year, and being able to get outside makes such a difference in my mental health that it feels worth it.

I actually do feel like I’m getting stronger, even though my heart rate hasn’t quite settled. It feels like I can socialize with my family a little more consistently throughout the day, and I‘m able to read a whole page of text (very slowly), yippee! I could hardly read 2 sentences not that long ago. And the less intense PEM feels quite remarkable, more of a wave than a devastating crash every time. I have more tools to cope with PEM too, which probably plays a big role in things not feeling so awful or out of control. I feel like I’ve graduated from an ME/CFS junior to my sophomore year. :D:cool: Dubious honour, perhaps, haha!

I started Moscowitz and Golden’s Neuroplastic Transformation workbook last week. It’s slow going, but just cracking it open feels like a big accomplishment since I wasn’t well enough to even think about doing something like that a short time ago. I might start a thread to journal my experience with the workbook one day too.
 
Mary

Mary

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Texas Hill Country
@Aspen - thanks for starting this thread! I'm just about convinced to buy a red light device!

@Chris , @tyson oberle - I was interested in the BioMax 900 - I like the horizontal stand as well - however, I read that the beam angle is important and that in general, narrower is better. The BioMax 900 beam angle is 90 - whereas the Orion device has a 60 degree beam angle. I wanted to order the Orion model that @Aspen has but it would have to be shipped from Canada, and there's customs, etc.!

Doing a little more research I found this device, which seems comparable to the Orion, plus it has the 60 degree beam angle. MitoMEGA | Mito Red Light: 1500W Total Body Home Red Light Therapy Panel

Actually they have 3 series of lights: MitoRed, MitoMod and MitoPro and I need to look at them more carefully.

Unfortunately they don't have the horizontal stand, which I really would like, but there are reviews from people with pictures showing how they made their own set-up for hanging it horizontally.

Anyways, I wanted to urge you to look into the beam angle - 60 vs. 90 - as you may want to return the devices that you bought. I read about this in The Ultimate Guide to Red Light Therapy by Ari Whitten. And of course if you google "red light therapy beam angle" you can find a lot of info.
 
Aspen

Aspen

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Mary said:
there are reviews from people with pictures showing how they made their own set-up for hanging it horizontally.
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Very cool, I’ll check that out to see if I can get someone to make a stand for my Orion. :thumbsup:
 
C

Chris

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@Mary; in spite of having a 90 angle, the BIOMAX achieves a very high density, and the wider angle means the light reaches further down my legs--having waited over 3 months for it, I think I will keep it! But will look up what Whitten has to say--somehow missed that when I was using the book.
 
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Chris

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I am now thinking about dosage for us with ME, and make a start by quoting two comments from Whitten's book. First, p.68-70: "this same effect would likely also benefit chronic fatigue syndrome...though it has not yet been studied" (we are trying!) the reference is to inflammation in the brain stem/hypothalamus region. OK.

Then, p.176: "Total treatment time should be no more than 10-12minutes. Also be aware that if you have severe fatigue (e.g. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or are very ill with a particular condition, you may need to cut these doses in half or even do only 1/4th or 1/5th of these recommendations to start."

I am going to think about these comments in the light of the recognized effect of LLLT on ATP production, and what Naviaux says about this in his great series of papers.
 
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Chris

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Victoria, BC
Here is the next bit of my thinking about dosing: everyone agrees that LLLT increases ATP production via that cytochrome molecule; but Naviaux thinks that, with the Cell Danger Response, many of those ATP molecules are leaving their proper "daytime" jobs and "moonlighting" as signals telling other cells, and particularly those involved in the PDK system that controls and inhibits the proper working the pyruvate dehydrogenase system, to clamp down on our aerobic energy system. So maybe absorbing too much Red and NIR is counterproductive for energy production beyond a certain point, though may still be very helpful for the reduction of inflammation and other things? Certainly my unit does a great job with inflammation, but....will see what develops....
 
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Chris

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Fair question. There is a great deal of research published showing this, but in my case I get pain in my right foot sometimes, and my little Red Light Man NIR light helps that; and I often get rib cage pain that I strongly suspect is partly caused by pulmonary effluence, and my BIOMAX helps considerably.

The same small NIR helped deal with a friend's planar fasciitis, and also her arthritic and painful thumb joint. My other musings about energy are just that--musings, but with a good deal of reading behind them--particularly of the great series of papers by Robert Naviaux.
 
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