6 BENEFITS OF NEAR INFRARED LIGHT THERAPY
You have probably heard of infrared saunas already, but do you know about near-infrared saunas? They’re known for their ability to improve immunity, promote quicker athletic recovery, and fight inflammation, as well as a host of other potential benefits.
In this article, we will explore the ins and outs of near-infrared saunas, how they differ from far-infrared saunas, and how they help improve your overall fitness. Whether you’re looking to improve your health or just find a good relaxation tool, maybe a near-infrared sauna is just what you need.
If you’re familiar with the general infrared saunas that you can encounter on the market, the key difference that makes near-infrared saunas distinct is the type of light waves that they emit. But on the outlook, they typically possess the same mechanism and configuration as other infrared models.
For starters, you should know that a near infrared sauna uses special heat lamps that emit near-infrared light, which can penetrate the skin more deeply than any other type of infrared ray. The deep penetration allows the heat to increase your blood circulation and stimulate your body’s natural healing processes.
As with other infrared saunas like far-infrared and full-spectrum, they’re unlike traditional saunas that use water drops and hot rocks to produce the heat during your sauna session. Instead, they can heat your body directly and effectively at lower temperature points, which makes them perfect for you if you can’t tolerate high heat.
Near-infrared saunas can come in different configurations, like full-size sauna rooms and portable formats. Depending on your preferences, you can choose small full-size saunas like the Health Mate Enrich 2-Person Infrared Sauna or opt for a big model like the Health Mate Therapy Lounge Infrared Sauna (pictured above).
Using near-infrared saunas is typically associated with benefits like improved cardiovascular health, weight loss, and enhanced skin appearance. Do keep in mind that more studies need to be done to fully explore their risks and benefits.
How Is It Different From a Far Infrared Sauna?
Both near-infrared and far-infrared saunas use light to directly increase your core temperature, with their most important point of difference being the type of light that they emit. It’s better to understand this by referring to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Near-infrared light is the closest to visible light, ranging from 700 to 2500 nanometers. They’re very small, which is why they’re able to penetrate your body more deeply than other infrared rays. Also, they’re known to penetrate deep enough to promote collagen production.
Far-infrared rays are much bigger than the first type, ranging from 3–100 μm. Their bigger size means they’re less penetrative than near-infrared, but they do target the water inside your body. This is why far-infrared saunas like the Golden Designs Maxxus "Montilemar Edition" 3-Person Infrared Sauna (pictured above) are preferred for weight loss.
Meanwhile, a combination of these two models makes a full-spectrum infrared sauna. Although these types can make you sweat profusely and gain the general benefits of using infrared saunas, their potential health benefits do vary.
Benefits of Near Infrared Saunas
What exactly do near-infrared saunas provide you aside from the general health benefits of infrared saunas? Here are 7 associated aspects where near-infrared saunas can help you.
1. Enhanced Immunity
Near-infrared light has been discovered to produce some boosting effects on the production of white blood cells. Moreover, some studies say they’re known to promote collagen growth and enzyme activity.
This works as the near-infrared light waves penetrate your body and raise your core body temperature. An illusion of fever stimulates your body to promote the production of cells and substances that will enhance your immune system.
The heat produced by a near-infrared sauna can also aid in preventing bacterial and viral infections by killing most of them, albeit there are some exceptions.
2. Faster Muscle Recovery
Near-infrared saunas make your body hot, which helps boost your blood circulation. The increased blood flow can help reduce the stiffness and pain in your sore muscles and tissues, as well as promote healing and rejuvenation in the body.
Moreover, the short near-infrared light waves are readily absorbed by your body, which may promote healing.
Especially if you’re one who never leaves the gym or does a lot of physical labor, spending your rest in a near-infrared sauna may help with your muscle recovery. Research shows that near-infrared light therapy also results in reduced muscle strength loss and improved muscle function.
Speaking of muscles, did you know that you can also practice some techniques like hot yoga and the Nordic cycle with your near-infrared sauna? Hot yoga promotes flexibility and muscle strength, while the Nordic cycle (also called the hot sauna cold plunge technique) is known to soothe muscles.
3. Fighting Inflammation
One of the most important benefits of NIR light therapy is its ability to reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, but chronic inflammation can lead to a variety of health problems, such as arthritis, heart disease, and cancer. NIR light therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation by increasing the production of anti-inflammatory molecules in the body.
On top of that, near-infrared light helps in boosting mitochondrial function, according to some studies. You should know that an increase in mitochondrial activity has been found to decrease inflammation. This aside, new research found that mitochondria secrete DNA fibers that signal your body’s immune system about inflammation-related issues.
4. Improved Skin and Enhances Wound Healing
In line with the benefits of near-infrared saunas for anti-inflammatory purposes, they may also help in healing acne. Another connected benefit is faster wound healing of near-infrared light, as found by NASA. How it works is that the light energy is absorbed by the cells, which stimulates the production of collagen, a protein that helps to repair and rebuild damaged tissue. This makes it a great treatment for injuries, cuts, and burns.
Another study on the use of near infrared light therapy has been found to enhance skin health by promoting collagen production, which helps to reduce wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots. It also helps to improve skin texture and tone, and can even reduce the appearance of scars.
Hence, if you’re looking for a relaxing tool for your beauty sessions, this type of infrared sauna may be a great choice.
5. Enhances Cognitive Function
Near infrared light therapy has been found to enhance cognitive function, by promoting the growth of new neurons in the brain. This can help to improve memory and learning, and reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline.
SIGN UP. SAVE BIG.
Subscribe to be the first to know about our special monthly sauna sales, sent right to your inbox.
6. Minimal EMF
While not necessarily a direct benefit, the low to minimal electromagnetic field emitted by near-infrared saunas helps avoid potential health issues brought about by radiation exposure. Plus, they also require lower electricity requirements, which may help save you money on utility bills.
Keep in mind that near infrared light therapy is still a relatively new field of research and more studies are needed to fully understand the scope of its benefits. However, the current research is promising and it can be a safe, non-invasive and effective way to improve overall health and well-being.
Do Near Infrared Light Therapy at Home
Near-infrared saunas help you conduct your relaxation sessions and make you sweat at more bearable temperatures. Plus, its penetrative ability may boost your immune system, help your athletic recovery, relieve inflammation, boost your skin’s appearance, and more.
Explore our range of infrared saunas today and do your near-infrared light therapy at home to get these benefits in no time.
Let customers speak for us
I haven't even built this sauna yet (Rainelle), but I have to give an ENORMOUS shoutout to Adora and especially KELLY for their help on this one. This was a big purchase for us, and these ladies went way out of their way to make it work out for us. The first sauna that showed up was badly damaged in shipping, and from what it sounds like - that is not typical. At all. So Kelly helped us to get it squared away, and it took what could have been a horrible customer experience into a fantastic one. Give this woman a raise!
We really like our sauna! Quality of the sauna seems decent. The quality of the accessories was not! The back recliner was all busted up out of the box.
My wife and I would occasionally sit in the sauna at our gym after a workout. It was hot but a little gross. I can't tell you how many times we bailed on the gym sauna session because someone else was playing their phone too loud, someone was breathing like they were gasping for air, someone decided to be shirtless in public, someone is weird or any number of other reasons. Loved the sauna feeling but HATED the gym sauna.
We bought a sauna for our home and installed it in our basement to escape the gym sauna experience. We absolutely love it! We sauna daily. Without the angst and frustration of hoping to avoid an awkward gross experience at the gym sauna.
If you are considering a sauna purchase, spend a little extra and get the WIFI enabled heater. This is the best way to make sure you get the benefit of owning a sauna. The app on our phone is easy to use. Just click the on/off button on the app and set your temperature to your desire. I like 171. My wife likes 153. Once it hits the temperature, the app will let you know. You can even turn on your sauna while you are on the way home from the gym. The WIFI version and the app make all the difference in usability and enjoyment of your investment. If we did not have the app and the WIFI version, we probably would probably skip 2/3 of the sessions we currently take.
The sauna is well made. Wood quality is excellent. Very few knots and blemishes. Hillsboro Almost Heaven saunas are a great choice for quality components, solid electronics, easy to use controls and an enjoyable sauna experience.
This is a standard kit sauna. I made several modifications but I am very satisfied with it so far. I have a few shingles left to install tomorrow and then will move onto to interior. MSW has been easy to work with and I recommend them.
I really love this sauna. I use it about four times a week to help me wind down before bed and calm my ego. Customer service at MySaunaWorld was great.
Assembly took me roughly 8–10 hours total over two days, and I’m not a particularly handy person. The step by step instructions video was straightforward and easy to follow.
I paired the sauna with the HUUM Drop 9 heater (the largest HUUM Drop), and it performs very well. I hired an electrician to install it (about $900 extra). It easily heats the sauna to 190°F plus. I personally like it around 180°F, which it reaches in about an hour. Also, you can pour water over the hot rocks to make the air hotter and steamier. Make sure to mount it low so that it can heat everything above it. (I mounted mine 6” from the ground to the base of the heater.) I love that I can start heating the sauna from my iPhone, even when I’m not on my home Wi-Fi.
I got the double-bench configuration going across the back of the sauna which lets two people lay down. The area around the lower bench is cooler which is nice to have different temperature seating options.
The sauna looks fantastic, smells great, and feels solid. I would recommend this sauna to a friend.
We love our new Almost Heaven Pinnacle barrel sauna!
Delivery was perfect, the assembly was a breeze, and the sauna fits perfectly in our space.
The only regret we have is not to have made this purchase 10 years ago!
I had been thinking about installing a sauna for quite some time. I kept going back and forth between framing one in or a prefab that I assemble. I spent several weeks going over the various websites looking at designs for both and writing out the pros/cons for each. After much deliberation, I reached out to My Sauna World to purchase an Almost Heaven Greyson.
It came way sooner than expected which was a good thing, so I had to arrange for my electrician. I assembled it very easily, with my wife holding just one panel, and then I ran into a problem. The last wall was short. It took a lot of head scratching and measuring and remeasuring as well as back and forth communication with both My Sauna World and Almost Heaven. It turned out that I had been sent 2 glass panels that were the same dimension when the 2 glass panels are actually designed with different dimensions. The new panel was sent out without question, and the rest of the assembly went easy.
I will say that the folks at My Sauna World were extremely responsive and did a great job as liaison back to the manufacturer.
Overall, I had a really positive experience, and we are very happy with the Greyson with the Harvia Spirit 8kW stove.
We also have the duckboard flooring (that is a must) sitting on top of the concrete floor. The back and leg rest are also recommended.
Note: this is advertised as a 3-4 person but in reality it is a good 2 person. And lastly, I grew up with sauna my whole life, starting with my grandpa’s wood burning sauna. This non insulated Greyson type will not get up to the same temperatures, but it does get the job done. Very pleased with the product and do recommend (to frame one in my self and buy a pre-cut kit would have cost a few thousand more overall)
Their customer service is refreshing in a world where most companies fail miserably with service. They should teach customer service to other companies and government agencies. We have only tested the actual product to make sure it works, but along the way, we had multiple questions and the replies were quick and helpful. The sauna was easy to assemble.
Frankly, I was stunned at the quality of this product. Equally stunning is how easily everything fits together. It’s well and I’m looking to an improved lifestyle.
Back rests are a nice size and fit perfectly in my Lugano 3-person sauna. They are very comfortable (especially considering they are wood) and make sitting in the sauna an even more pleasant experience. To think that they were added in free to my purchase of the sauna is hard to believe. Very pleased with customer service from My Sauna World.com !
Well built, good quality, reliable, and matches my barrel sauna very well
I purchased this since it was significantly more affordable than from the brands website. It arrived quickly and is function perfect. It's easy to install and looks great. I had issues with water leaking into the sauna before that used to annoy me. Now it stays completely dry and the wood also is protected from damage and weathering.
The best Sauna ever, and the quickest delivery, 100% recommend !!!!
Works exactly as advertised. Easy install and perfect coverage. Highly recommend.
Very good customer service. My sauna came as expected.