The Ultimate Guide to Red Light Therapy (2) - Flipbook - Page 42
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The Ultimate Guide to Red Light Therapy
A new research review took a deep dive into studies on pulsed RLT.
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By analyzing many research studies, the
authors of the review sought to weigh in on the ongoing debate about which method might be more effective
for treatment. They looked at 33 studies, with nine of them directly comparing continuous wave (CW) light to
pulsed wave (PW) light.
The results, described below, were interesting:
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Six studies found pulsed light to be more effective
One study found both types equally effective
Two studies favored continuous light, but even in these cases, pulsed light still showed benefits over no
treatment at all
Amongst
10
studies
that
examined
pulse repetition rates in RLT, beneficial
effects were seen across a wide range
of
frequencies,
(pulses
per
from
second).
2
32
to
For
8,000
Hz
example,
one study showed that wound healing
was most effective at 100 Hz. However,
when all the studies were considered,
no single frequency stood out as being
particularly
more
effective
than
the
others. Two of these studies involved
laboratory
experiments
on
human
cells.
One notable study investigated whether pulsed light could better penetrate melanin, the pigment that gives
skin its color.
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They placed melanin filters in front of human cells and exposed them to either continuous or
pulsed red light (at a wavelength of 670 nm wavelength) at different rates for 72 hours. The results showed
that pulsed light was more effective at penetrating melanin-rich skin.
Specifically, cell growth peaked at 100 Hz after 48 and 72 hours, while cellular
defense activity (oxidative burst) was highest at 600 Hz.
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These findings
suggest that pulsed light therapy may be more effective than continuous light,
particularly for individuals with darker skin tones.
