Red Light Therapy Improves Knee Arthritis

Knee arthritis mainly manifested as pain, stiffness and limited movement. Traditional treatments include drug analgesia, physical therapy and surgery, but these methods often have side effects, high costs or long recovery periods.

Therefore, people have been looking for safer and more effective alternative therapies, and red light therapy machine has gradually attracted attention in recent years.

In the pathogenesis of knee arthritis, inflammatory factors play a key role. When the joints are injured or lesions occur, the body releases a series of inflammatory factors, which are like a group of "troublemakers" that trigger inflammatory reactions in the joints, causing joint pain and swelling. In the long run, they will also damage the articular cartilage and surrounding tissues, causing joint function to gradually impair.

How Do Red Light Therapy Work?

Red light therapy machine uses the photobiological effect. When red light of a specific wavelength is irradiated to human tissues, structures such as mitochondria in cells absorb the light energy. Mitochondria are like the "energy factories" of cells. After absorbing light energy, their activity will be enhanced, thereby promoting cell metabolism and accelerating cell repair and regeneration.

Red light therapy can effectively promote blood circulation.After red light irradiation, blood vessels expand and blood flows more smoothly. In this way, more nutrients and oxygen can be delivered to the joints, and at the same time, metabolic waste in the joints can be taken away faster, creating good conditions for joint recovery.

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What Is the Use of Red Light Therapy for Knee Arthritis?

• Reduce inflammatory response：Red light can inhibit the release of proinflammatory cytokines (such as IL-6, TNF-α), reduce joint synovial inflammation, and relieve swelling and redness.
• Relieve pain：By reducing inflammation and stimulating the release of endorphins, red light can reduce pain signal transmission and improve knee pain symptoms.
• Improve joint mobility：By reducing pain and inflammation, patients' joint stiffness is reduced, and the range of motion (such as flexion and extension) may be improved.
• Accelerate tissue repair：Red light enhances mitochondrial function, promotes ATP synthesis, and helps repair damaged soft tissues (such as ligaments and synovium).
• Reduce muscle spasms：Knee arthritis is often accompanied by compensatory tension of surrounding muscles. Red light may relieve spasms by relaxing muscles and indirectly protect joints.
• Enhance local blood circulation：Red light dilates microvessels, increases blood flow, promotes metabolic waste removal and nutrient supply, and assists joint recovery.

What Are the Causes of Knee Arthritis?

The causes of knee arthritis are mainly as follows:

• Age factors: With age, articular cartilage will gradually wear and degenerate. Starting from around 30 years old, articular cartilage will show varying degrees of wear. Around 50 years old, problems such as cartilage wear and bone hyperplasia may become more obvious, leading to an increased risk of knee arthritis.
• Obesity: Being overweight will increase the burden on the knee joint, increase the pressure on the articular cartilage, and accelerate the wear and degeneration of the cartilage. Studies have shown that for every 1 kg increase in weight, the pressure on the knee joint will increase by about 4 times.
• Trauma: Acute injuries to the knee joint, such as fractures, dislocations, ligament injuries, meniscus injuries, etc., if not treated promptly and correctly, may cause articular cartilage damage, uneven joint surfaces, etc., thereby increasing the incidence of knee arthritis.
•   In addition, long-term and repeated minor trauma, such as excessive exercise, standing or walking for a long time, etc., can also cause chronic damage to the knee joint and gradually cause knee arthritis.
• Joint deformities: such as congenital hip dislocation, genu varum (O-shaped legs), genu valgum (X-shaped legs), etc., can lead to abnormal force lines of the knee joint, uneven force on the articular cartilage, increased local wear, and thus induce knee arthritis.

How Safe Is Red Light Therapy?

Red light therapy uses light with a wavelength of 630-700nm and is highly safe when used correctly. Because it does not contain ultraviolet rays, it does not cause sunburn or increase the risk of skin cancer like ultraviolet radiation.

In addition, low-power red light devices usually do not produce a sense of heat when in operation, which avoids the possibility of burns from the root. In short-term use, its side effects are extremely rare. Only a few people may experience temporary skin redness or dryness, but these symptoms will disappear on their own without additional treatment.

However, there are some things that need special attention when using red light therapy. Because its light is strong, direct viewing may cause damage to the retina, so it is recommended to wear goggles during treatment.

At the same time, excessive exposure to red light may not only irritate the skin, but also reduce the effectiveness of treatment. It is generally recommended to control the exposure time according to the equipment manual, keeping it at 10-20 minutes each time, 2-3 times a week. In addition, pregnant women, epilepsy patients and cancer patients have special physical conditions and must be cautious when using red light therapy.

Prungo provides patients with a reliable red light therapy option. Many patients who use Prungo red light therapy devices have felt the improvement of knee arthritis symptoms to a certain extent, If you want to treat large areas and deep tissues, you might want to try the Prungo Red Light Therapy Panel.

Advantages of Red Light Therapy

Compared with traditional therapies, red light therapy has the following advantages:

1. Non-invasive and painless: no injections or surgery are required to avoid the risk of infection.
2. No side effects: no drug dependence or organ damage.
3. Easy to use: can be operated at home, saving time and medical costs.

At this point, for patients with knee arthritis, you might as well try the red light therapy module and the red light panel. Their advantages are mainly reflected in many aspects. The specific wavelength of red light emitted by these two devices can penetrate deep into human tissue.

When acting on arthritic knees, it can promote local blood circulation, so that more nutrients and oxygen can be delivered to the damaged joints, which helps to repair damaged tissues.

How Long Should Red Light Therapy Be Used?

General recommended duration

Single use: usually 10-20 minutes per exposure, 1-2 times a day.

Course cycle: 4-6 weeks of continuous use, it is recommended to stop for 1-2 weeks to avoid reduced skin tolerance.

Adjust according to purpose

Skin repair (acne, anti-aging):

• Low power (home use): 10-15 minutes per day, 5 times a week.

• High power (medical type): 5-10 minutes each time, 2-3 times a week (requires professional operation).

Pain/inflammation (arthritis, muscle injury):

• 1-2 times a day, 10-15 minutes each time, reduce the frequency after pain relief.

Wound healing:

• 1 time a day, 5-10 minutes each time, until the wound improves.

Summary

With the development of technology, red light therapy may become more accurate and convenient. In the future, there may be smart red light devices that can automatically adjust the wavelength and intensity according to the patient's actual situation, and even combine AI technology to provide personalized treatment plans.

If you are looking for a safe and effective way to relieve knee arthritis, red light therapy is worth a try. Prungo's red light therapy device uses medical-grade wavelengths, is easy to operate, and is suitable for home use. Just spend a little time on it every day to help relieve joint pain and improve mobility.