Red light therapy typically depends on electronics like lasers, LEDs, or other light bulbs that generate therapeutic frequencies for wellness and health.
Moreover, aside from the beneficial light frequencies, these electronics can even emit frequencies of unnatural EMF like a by-product.
So, in the health communities, EMF has become one of the hottest topics of discussion and concern how these exposures can affect us.
Hence, in this article, we’ll be distinguishing among the different types of EMF and how these relate to Red Light Therapy. So, read till the end to know all the ins and outs.
Table of Contents
What Does EMF Mean?
EMF stands for Electromagnetic Frequencies. It simply means energy being emitted in the form of a sinusoidal wave. So, we can easily describe EMF by its cycles per second, a.k.a. Frequency.
The Electromagnetic Spectrum is used to describe the EMFs relative increase and decrease of wavelength and frequency. There are different sectors of this Electromagnetic Spectrum, and all have got different names, ranging from:
- Radio Waves
- Microwaves
- Infrared Waves
- Visible Light
- Ultraviolet
- X-Ray
- Gamma Ray
All the names you are seeing have different wavelengths and frequencies and even have other fitting purposes.
It’s essential to be able to distinguish between natural and unnatural EMFs. Usually, we want to optimize our exposures to the natural frequencies as our bodies are designed to get exposed to natural frequencies only.
And this is one of the important reasons we take red light therapy in the first place because the natural EMF is highly beneficial for our cells and body.
So, what are harmful EMFs?
To be more specific, Non-Native EMFs or harmful EMFs are actual artificial EMFs, and our bodies are not accustomed in that manner to withstand this exposure.
Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields
Extremely low-frequency EMFs are of two types:
According to the study of Electromagnetic Radiation, both Magnetic Fields and Electric Fields are interdependent. Both are of low frequencies and are very different from each other.
Let us know more in detail.
Magnetic Field EMF
When in a circuit, electrons flow at high speed, then a corresponding magnetic field is produced. So, the more influential the current is, the greater the magnetic fields are going to be.
This is significant because when we try to generate electricity by rotating turbines, these magnetic fields ensure that the current flows through the coiled wire.
In short, to create current for any machinery to run, magnetic fields are needed.
Now, many of the readers might be wondering why we are talking about these motors and turbines?
It’s because many powerful LED panels for light therapy use various kinds of fans to manage the heat produced by these LED lights.
Electric Field EMF
Electric fields are surrounded by electric charge, and this can exert force on any charged object. They can also repel or attract any charged things depending on the object’s polarity.
RLT (red light therapy) can lessen the electric fields by grounding the device. Therefore, most red light therapy devices panels have metal enclosures, and the enclosure itself is grounded.
So, it simply means the electric fields will always tend to be relatively low for most metal enclosure panels.
So How is Red Light Therapy and EMF Connected?
Red lights fall into EMF’s low-frequency category, which is excellent news. But there are various colors in LED light therapies, and all types have a different purpose of serving.
Similarly, different light therapies have different types, brands, and colors, which also have slight differences in frequencies.
This makes it way too complicated to state a numeric value on the EMF of a single product with hundreds of tiny LEDs with adjustable color and voltage.
Moreover, there’s very little research and tests of the health effects of EMF and LED lights in particular.
But here are some of the critical facts that you need to keep in mind, especially when trying to choose a product like an LED therapy mask:
- The more the voltage, the more robust the electromagnetic field is going to be.
- The closer you get to anything applying electricity, the more robust the EMF will be. So, putting any electronic device onto your body can give you the entire exposure of that device’s EMF.
- According to ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) and WHO (World Health Organization) both stated that there has not yet been any proven research on health issues regarding long-term and low-frequency electromagnetic field exposure.
- Both the organizations have raised concerns that EMF might have considerable effects on children compared to adults. So, it’s highly suggested not to let children get exposed to any of these devices.
- According to many scientists, cell phones have a higher EMF compared to LEDs. They are still doing further research to ensure more facts regarding this. But in their opinion, getting an extra hour of exposure to LEDs is far better than having a long chat or conversation over the phone.
Technological advancements are way too fast for scientists to study all the impacts. Our bodies are continuously getting interacted with magnetic and electric fields.
But science is not yet 100% sure whether lower levels of such exposures are harmful in the long run or not!
Final Thoughts
Natural electromagnetic fields are essential, and we all can take a considerable amount of advantages from UV, sun, and infrared radiation. Although, man-made or artificial EMFs from any electronic devices can have a detrimental effect on our health.
At this moment, Red light therapy is one of the hottest trends of all because of its ability to cure various health problems. So, it’s pretty natural that most households will have this device.
Therefore, you must ensure that your Red Light Therapy device has less generation of Non-Native EMFs or artificial EMFs, as extensive exposure to these artificial EMFs might affect your health!
I hope all these points are going to help decide whether LED light therapy outweighs all the unknowns.