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Red light therapy for long covid?
Has anyone tried red light therapy to treat long covid brain fog and lethargy? There appeaars to be a small but growing amount of peer-reviewed research showing promising benefits.
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I don’t know about Red Light Therapy, but I’ve been having Green Violet Laser Light Therapy and Red Violet Laser Light Therapy through my Chiropractor’s office here in Geneva, Il. I know that Red Light Therapy is different than the Red Violet Laser Light Therapy. I’ve noticed a slight increase in my ability to smell certain things ( I haven’t been able to taste or smell for 3 years today, the 14th of December). Covid or the vaccine did this to me! I also have a Covid tongue with lesions on it and they are going away! It costs me $20.00 for a 20 minute session. I’ve been doing this for about a month now and will continue to do so until I feel like it’s no longer benefiting me. I also feel a little more calm from having this Violet Light Therapy. Be sure it’s Green or Red Violet Light Therapy, as these light therapies are not the same.
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2 Reactions@tkinder i’m glad that worked for you. I would love to try that I have a lot of the symptoms I live in Southern California and I don’t see any place that has that I will have to dig deeper. Have you tried the hyperbaric chamber? That’s what my functional medicine doctor wants me to try. I have so much head pressure and sensitivity to TV and phones.
@pattig09 Thank you Patti, but lets not confuse RLT, aka PBM, with anything labeled “laser” therapy. RLT/PBM is not laser-based. LEDs within certain wavelengths are not lasers. I’m unaware of any laser-based LC therapies that have evidence based research published in peer-reviewed journals supporting their effectiveness, as does select RLT/PBR.
@jsg12206 Personally, I am not much on FDA approval since the US is so far behind Europe and other countries in terms of medical innovation. I focus on things that work (for me) regardless of FDA approval. I am a big fan of supplements that actually have proven results for helping with Long Covid and we know the FDA has never approved any of those. But could you please provide the links to the peer reviews? Always open to reading and analyzing anything that might potentially help. Thnx.
@iamawriter I put links to all the available (free) articles up on this forum over a year ago and I have no idea why they were removed. I’d be glad to share the articles by email if you’d care to post one to me.
@jsg12206, your post with links has not been removed. See it on page 2 of this discussion here https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/1107073/
You can see a history of your posts in your profile.
There are several terms and acronyms being used in this discussion. Here are some definitions.
RLT = Red light therapy
PBM = Photobiomodulation
PDT = Photodynamic therapy
Read more about red light therapy in this article from Cleveland Clinic
- Red light therapy https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22114-red-light-therapy
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"Red light therapy (RLT) is a treatment that uses low levels of red light to reportedly improve your skin’s appearance, like reducing wrinkles, scars, redness and acne. It’s also touted to treat other medical conditions.
To date, there’s a lot of ongoing research, publication of small studies and much discussion on the internet about the effectiveness of red light therapy for all types of health uses. Results of some studies do show some promise, but the full effectiveness of red light therapy has yet to be determined."
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RLT is gaining popular attention in the media and has shown promising results in treating some skin conditions. There are many red light devices for purchase online. You may wish to talk to your doctor before making a purchase.
This article from Mayo Clinic offers tips on how to evaluate information you see online, on social media, and in the news.
- Can online health information be trusted? Here’s how to tell https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/healthy-aging/can-online-health-information-be-trusted-heres-how-to-tell/
Researchers are looking into the use of red light therapy to treat symptoms of Covid and long Covid. Here are a couple of examples
- Use of either transcranial or whole-body photobiomodulation treatments improves COVID-19 brain fog https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jbio.202200391
- Photobiomodulation (PBMT) and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) in oral manifestations of patients infected by Sars-CoV-2: systematic review and meta-analysis https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9108688/
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3 Reactions@colleenyoung Thank you Colleen, but those links are to articles on hyperbaric chambers and log covid. I believe I previously posted links to peer reviewed articles on photobiomodulation and long covid and do not see them here anymore.