Red Light Therapy Effectiveness for Muscle Growth and Recovery

Red Light Therapy is a technology that uses light waves of a specific wavelength to stimulate cellular processes, promoting wellness and healing. As always before addressing any topic regarding RLT we want you to understand what we are talking about, so if you are among the few people who still do not know what Red Light Therapy is then we invite you to read our interesting articles, "Is Red Light Therapy fake?"and"How Red Light Therapy works?", have you read them yet? Well you can take the next step!

RLT, also known as photobiomodulation (PBM) uses red and near-infrared light to stimulate, heal and regenerate damaged muscle tissue. This therapy has been found to offer several benefits in the areas of muscle growth and recovery after workouts:

• Improves Sports Performance: Photobiomodulation is able to increase muscle growth after workouts, decrease inflammation and pain experienced in post-training. Its effects have been so significant that questions have arisen about its eligibility in athletic competition (Ferraresi, Huang, & Hamblin, 2016).

• Improves Muscle Repair-Testing on Rats: Recall that red light therapy is a noninvasive treatment, this allowed for efficacy studies without harming the animals. The results of this experiment showed that red and infrared light therapy for skeletal muscle repair allows to decrease inflammation and improves recovery after injuries, demonstrating the effectiveness of this therapy in promoting muscle self-repair (Assis et al., 2016).

• Improves Recovery After Exercise: Low-level phototherapy (LLLT) and narrow-band LED therapy (LEDT), when applied before, during, or after exercise is able to increase muscle performance and accelerate muscle recovery time. In particular, when used before exercise it allows muscle cells to prepare for training and promotes the process of muscle mass growth and muscle self-repair (Leal-Junior et al., 2015).

• It reduces muscle damage and inflammation: A study conducted by Jamie Ghigiarelli in Hofstra University showed that photobiomodulation, when used before and after high-intensity workouts, can effectively reduce causes of muscle damage, such as by reducing creatine kinase (CK) levels. This experiment highlights the beneficial potential in muscle rehabilitation and improved physical performance (Ghigiarelli, 2021).

• Accelerates Functional Recovery: RLT has been found to accelerate functional recovery in individuals who regularly use red light and near-infrared light therapy, increase angiogenesis (production of new blood vessels), and reduce lipid peroxidation in muscles, suggesting the positive results in the early stages of functional recovery and muscle recovery (Nascimento et al., 2021).

• Comparison of Red light therapy and Near-infrared Therapy: Both treatments have been shown to be effective in delaying skeletal muscle fatigue, with no significant differences between the two. These two options offer the same benefits on the body, and despite skepticism and low popularity it is an innovative therapy that is increasingly known and loved by those who have tried it (de Almeida et al., 2011).

In conclusion, RLT offers concrete benefits for muscle growth and recovery, demonstrating its potential to increase sports performance, enhance muscle repair, improve performance and recovery after exercise, reduce muscle damage and inflammation, and accelerate functional recovery. These results show that RLT could be an effective noninvasive modality for athletes and individuals undergoing muscle rehabilitation. For significant injuries, we always recommend contacting an expert to understand the best mode of recovery for your specific injury.