Sleep can affect the quality of your life as research shows that sleep deprivation is exactly the same as drinking.
In this article I’ll examine the connection between the red light therapy and sleep to answer “does red light therapy help you rest?”. I’ll also discuss the causes of sleep disorders and the negative effects of a the lack of sleep.
What causes sleep Disorders?
Sleep is a key factor in mood physical performance, mental clarity. Insufficient quality sleep or a poor quality sleep adversely affects the overall quality of your living.
However, red light therapy shouldn’t be your sole tool to achieve better sleep. Instead, develop healthy sleeping habits and utilize red light therapy to support the habits you’ve established. The most common causes of sleep-deprivedness include:
- Poor sleep habits
- Unregulated circadian rhythm
- Stress and anxiety
- Sleep Apnea
- Asthma and other medical conditions can be a cause.
Poor Sleep Habits
The main reason for insomnia is poor habits. While there are many unhealthy sleeping habits, here are a few to be aware of:
- Drinking coffee too late
- You’re on your phone prior to you go to bed
- Sleeping in a dark place
Consuming coffee or any other caffeinated drink at the incorrect time can have a devastating effect on the quality of your sleep. Even if it’s possible to consume coffee at dinner, and then go to sleep in just a few minutes and you’ll find that the quality of your rest will be affected.
The majority of people stop drinking coffee couple of hours before going to getting to bed. However, caffeine has a half-life which is five hours. If you drink coffee around 4 pm and you’ll only have half of the caffeine remaining in the bloodstream by 9 PM. A simple solution to the problem is stop drinking coffee at 2 pm.
Utilizing your smartphone before going to going to bed can be a killer of sleep. The blue light from your device interferes with melatonin levels, and your brain believes it’s in the daytime. This can make falling asleep difficult. Set up blue-light blocking applications and wear glasses with blue lights to prevent this issue.
When they sleep, the majority of people aren’t in an entirely dark space. You might have light coming from outside or right under your door. This could affect the quality of sleep and endurance as the room isn’t as at night. Think about blackout curtains and door cushions to block out all light.
A Circadian Circadian Ritmo that is not regulated
Another major reason for sleeping problems is that of insufficiently controlled circadian rhythms. Consider the circadian cycle as the body’s internal clock. The body releases hormones that keep you awake during daytime and to make you feel sleepy when it senses that it’s night.
However, if you have an unregulated sleeping cycle, it’s possible to be tired and energetic at the wrong time in the morning.
The fix is fairly simple. Your body likes predictable times, so go to bed and get up the same time every single day as it provides the stability that your body needs.
Stress and Anxiety
If you’re anxious and stressed prior to going to sleep, it will be hard to get to sleep. When you’re stressed you’re more likely to check the social media apps on your smartphone which blocks the production of melatonin and making it more difficult to fall asleep.
This is where the red light therapy may help. A number of studies show that being in front of a light for 3 to 5 times every week can reduce anxiety and stress. Red light therapy can do this because it’s anti-inflammatoryand allows your body to manage stress more effectively.
It is effective that it can even alleviate symptoms for patients suffering from severe depression.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea is a common condition that results in distributed breathing while you sleep. Since your body doesn’t get enough oxygen that it needs, you wake up with the feeling that you’ve never rested.
Other symptoms are:
- Dry throat and mouth
- Chronic fatigue and Irritability
- Extreme headaches
- Snoring
- No breathing episodes during sleep
Usually when you breathe in the night, air is pushed through your nose and down your throat , eventually into your lung. When you suffer from sleep apnea, the muscles around your throat and mouth are relaxed and stop airflow into your lung. This can make getting a restful night’s rest nearly impossible.
There aren’t any clinical research studies on red light therapy or sleep apnea. The best way to treat it is to speak with your doctor and receive an airway pressure monitor, also known as CPAP and allow you to breathe normally.
medical problems
A variety of medical issues can negatively influence your sleep. They include:
- Asthma
- Chronic pain
- Heart disease
Many ashmetics have trouble falling asleep difficult because of breathing restrictions. Asthmatics might have trouble sleeping because of sleep snoring and nighttime coughing congestion and secretion. Luckily following the advice of your physician in conjunction with regularly scheduled red light therapy can help manage these symptoms.
Another medical issue that is often associated with sleeping in includes chronic pain. The link with chronic pain as well as red light therapy is well-documented Numerous studies have proven that the use of red light therapy decreases inflammation and pain.
A study for instance on osteoarthritis patients discovered that the use of red light therapy reduced pain by 50 percent. This is due to the fact that the red light reduces inflammation and boosts the flow of blood to damaged tissues.
Lack Of Sleep Is A Hidden Cause Of Many Health Problems
However, you may be wondering what causes sleep deprivation and how it could cause health problems for the long term. Here are some typical adverse health effects that can result from inadequate sleep:
- Fatigue
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Obesity
- Insufficiency in the immune system
Fatigue
Fatigue is one of the major drawbacks of sleep deprivation as it impacts every aspect of your life. It can affect work, socializing and exercising. It is also possible to find everyday activities exhausting, like getting up the stairs or going to the store.
It’s a normal response to physical or mental strain If you’re exhausted every day it could be a sign that you’re sleeping too little or that the sleep that you’re getting isn’t good quality.
Common symptoms include:
- Physical appearance reduced
- Incessantly headaches
- Slower reflexes
- Moodiness
- Poor judgment and decision-making capabilities
To feel more energetic take advantage of the strategies previously mentioned, including getting up and sleeping simultaneously as well as establishing good sleeping habits , and staying away from blue light. To enhance this, try red light therapy for a few hours prior to going to bed.
Avoid spending time in the vicinity of a red light right prior to bedtime, as it will increase the temperature of your body which makes it difficult to fall asleep. in.
Instead, make use of your lamp three or four hours prior to going to going to bed. This lets you enjoy the benefits of sleeping with the red light, without causing an increase in the body’s temperature.
After some time of good sleep routines along with red-light therapy you’ll feel more energetic all day. If you’re not, consult your physician as there could be underlying sleep disorders that are chronic, such as sleep inertia.
The High Blood Pressure
A thorough study from 2009 released in the Archive of Internal Medicine followed 578 people over the course of five years. The study divided the participants into two groups. One group slept for less than six hours per night , while the other group slept longer.
After five years of study, researchers found that those who slept for less than six hours were at a 37 percent higher chance of getting hypertension.
This is a clear demonstration of the importance of sleep. Sleep deprivation doesn’t only cause you to feel exhausted the next day and can affect the health of your heart over time.
It is also the reason that those with sleep apnea that is not properly diagnosed have an increased risk of developing hypertension and coronary heart diseases.
Even if you are unable to manage to get eight hours of rest each night, attempt to get six hours of sleep so that you’re not negatively impacting long-term health.
Heart Disease
In the evening your body gets recharged in preparation for following day. This is crucial to maintain your health over time. When you are in the deep phases of sleep, sometimes referred to by the term rapid eye movements or REM sleep your heart rate decreases and breathing becomes more stable. Blood pressure falls.
This is the heart’s method to recover from strain.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you will spend much less time during REM sleep stages, which gives the heart less chance to recuperate. Inability to recover can lead to heart attacks and high blood pressure cholesterol and heart disease.
There are numerous studies that show the consistent use of treatments with red light therapy enhanced the ATP levels of heart tissue, thereby strengthening your heart and reducing your chance of suffering from heart disease.
Obesity
If you’re trying to shed weight, sleeping disturbances like the bright blue light could put your weight loss goals in a bind. It’s due to several reasons:
- Insomnia leads to a lack of willpower
- Your athletic performance declines
- Cortisol, the stress hormone, is increased.
The main factor in losing weight is the diet. You should stick to nutrient-dense, low-carb meals because it won’t increase blood glucose and insulin levels. If you’re feeling fatigued and angry the willpower of your body is lowerand you’re much more likely to eat unhealthy food items.
It’s also possible that your recovery capacity isn’t up to par when you’re not getting enough sleep. This makes it more difficult to work out consistently and can affect the loss of weight.
Another way in which the lack of sleep can contribute to weight increase is through the regulation of hormones. Cortisol levels rise and testosterone levels decrease and increases the chance of being overweight.
Impaired Immune Function
Your immune system functions like the body’s armies. It’s vital to defend yourself from external threats and infections.
Numerous studies indicate that those who sleep less than six hours of rest each the night have a greater chance to become sick. In addition, sleep deprivation can increase the amount of time required to heal from an infection.
Luckily, the red light therapy isn’t only used to assist you in falling asleep. A recent study in 2021 showed photobiomodulation therapy can boost your immune system , allowing it to better fight Covid-19.
We now know the negative health effects of a lack in sleep, we can take a look at the different wavelengths of light that influence our sleep.
What Does Red Light Influences Your Sleep
Every light source affects sleep, but in various ways. If you can determine what light you should be exposed to during particular time, you can establish your circadian rhythm, and awake feeling refreshed and energized, sleeping for a few minutes.
Lux is the term used to describe the brightness of light, and sunlight is bright with an intensity that is 10,000 lux. The exposure to direct sunlight can increase adrenaline and cortisol while decreasing levels of serum melatonin. This makes people feel more energetic. Contrary to this, office bright light has a lux level of 500.
It’s crucial to be in the sun early in the morning since light plays an essential part in preventing fatigue. Also, it signals your body it’s daylight which sets your cycle.
However, the natural sunlight exposure can provide other benefits, including:
- Vitamin D levels are up
- He reduces inflammation
- Increases feelings of happiness and pleasure through serotonin and dopamine.
Artificial light may not be as bright as sunlight, but your brain sees it differently. Blue light wavelengths block the melatonin more than sunlight, and you need to stay clear of it for at least a couple of hours prior to going to the bed.
The wavelengths of red light are more long and do not cause as much disruption and stimulation like the blue-colored light. The longer wavelengths stimulate Melatonin production, which makes it easier to sleep.
How To Utilize the Red Light to improve sleep quality
However, you may be wondering what is the best way to utilize the red light therapy to sleep? Do I need to do at the beginning of the day or in the evening?
Make use of your red light at least a couple of hours before you go to going to bed as the heat increases the temperature of your body and makes it more difficult to sleep. If you’re planning to go to bed around 10pm you might want to sit before the red light around 6 pm. This will boost the production of melatonin and giving your body a couple of hours to cool off before going to going to bed.
Dermatologists advise doing red light treatment for between 10 and 20 minutes at least three times every week. There aren’t many advantages for long-term sessions, which is merely increasing the chance of getting minor burns.
Don’t forget to look over our guide on our top recommendations for Best Red Light Therapy Devices!
Final Thoughts on Red Light And Sleep Therapy
If you’re having trouble sleeping quantity and quality, think about creating your own circadian rhythm and developing good habits for sleep, such as avoidance of blue light waves prior to going to you go to bed. Utilize low-level laser therapy for a treatment because it increases melatonin production and can provide additional benefits, such as an improved immune system and lower chance of developing heart problems.
