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Infrared is the new health craze for the super-wealthy. Companies sell beds with IR lights that shine on you to "heal" you. The funny thing is the beds glow re

Infrared is the new health craze for the super-wealthy. Companies sell beds with IR lights that shine on you to "heal" you. The funny thing is the beds glow red I guess the word literally meaning beyond red (i.e. can't see it) won't sell if there isn't any red to be see.

themodelplumber 9y ago
I wonder if that's related to an experience I had recently. A chiropractor friend pulled out some kind of red-LED device and waved it over me during a chance meeting. He was checking on a joint injury from some time ago. I remember looking at the product he was using and thinking, "we could hit up some online suppliers and make you a device that looks at _least_ two decades more advanced than that." But I wouldn't want to improve upon a practice that is giving people the wrong idea about red LEDs. :-)
v_lisivka 9y ago
I have massage bed with infra-red lights for more than 10 years, full set. I use it a lot when I sick. AFAIK, it doesn't work against bacterial infections, but it helps to fight viruses and to recover after sickness, _if used properly_. YMMV.
- NotSammyHagar 9y ago
  What is the physical effect on virii inside your body? How can you believe it works? It can't be magic.
  - crooked-v 9y ago
    A rough hypothesis: Having a heated bed might have some mildly theraputic (though probably placebo-driven) properties, in the same way that people report beneficial effects from heated massages.
    - ianai 9y ago
      Infrared heat definitely helps loosen muscles. I doubt it’s killing bugs and viruses deep in my body, but there’s a reason heat is used throughout physical therapy.
      - knicholes 9y ago
        I'm still not sure what a "not loose" or "tight" muscle is like. Are you referring to a potassium deficiency that prevents the actin and myosin from releasing the contraction? Seriously, I tried to find actual scientific evidence of what a "knot" is in a muscle, and there seems to be none. My wife swears she can "feel it," but I have yet to understand any real health benefit of massages.
        freeone3000 9y ago
        The real health benefit is that you feel better after one than before one. You're failing to find a mechanism, not a benefit.
        b1daly 9y ago
        You mean you don’t have a personal understanding of “knotted” muscles? That seems hard to believe, as everyone has them. I’ve never seen a scientific description, but I have always assumed that the muscles were “stuck” in some kind of contracted state. It is so obvious, my guess would be that there would be a physical state that could be ascertained by biopsy or autopsy. Apparently, this is not a popular topic for research. Physical manipulation can have an effect on muscle contraction state, as can heat, other forms of touch, relaxation techniques. The release of these contractions is experienced as a very good feeling by most people. FWIW, I have had forms of bodywork done on me that focused more intense, deep pressure into the muscles. I notice much more of a longer lasting effect than from simple massage. The effect wears off within a day or so. I do think there is a health benefit to such manipulation. In my case, releasing such tension helps me hold body positions that minimize the impact of repetition strain injury that I have developed from poor ergonomic habits working at a computer.
        ianai 9y ago
  - v_lisivka 9y ago
    My rough understanding is that infection is trying to make body slightly cooler by changing perception of the temperature, while deep infrared light heats my body directly, bypassing the skin. Body always tries to raise temperature of infected area and deep infrared light helps to do that without raising temperature of the whole body.
wyager 9y ago
Don’t know anything about IR beds, but near IR (shorter than 800nm) is just visible as a dull deep red color.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago
> the word literally meaning beyond red More exactly, below. (Lower frequency, outside the visible interval with ultra-violet at the other end.) As in 'infra-dig' meaning something being 'beneath dignity' to be done, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/infra_dig https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/infra_dig
Angostura 9y ago
I use a hot water bottle

themodelplumber 9y ago

I wonder if that's related to an experience I had recently. A chiropractor friend pulled out some kind of red-LED device and waved it over me during a chance meeting. He was checking on a joint injury from some time ago. I remember looking at the product he was using and thinking, "we could hit up some online suppliers and make you a device that looks at _least_ two decades more advanced than that." But I wouldn't want to improve upon a practice that is giving people the wrong idea about red LEDs. :-)

v_lisivka 9y ago

I have massage bed with infra-red lights for more than 10 years, full set. I use it a lot when I sick. AFAIK, it doesn't work against bacterial infections, but it helps to fight viruses and to recover after sickness, _if used properly_. YMMV.

NotSammyHagar 9y ago
What is the physical effect on virii inside your body? How can you believe it works? It can't be magic.
- crooked-v 9y ago
  A rough hypothesis: Having a heated bed might have some mildly theraputic (though probably placebo-driven) properties, in the same way that people report beneficial effects from heated massages.
  - ianai 9y ago
    Infrared heat definitely helps loosen muscles. I doubt it’s killing bugs and viruses deep in my body, but there’s a reason heat is used throughout physical therapy.
    - knicholes 9y ago
      I'm still not sure what a "not loose" or "tight" muscle is like. Are you referring to a potassium deficiency that prevents the actin and myosin from releasing the contraction? Seriously, I tried to find actual scientific evidence of what a "knot" is in a muscle, and there seems to be none. My wife swears she can "feel it," but I have yet to understand any real health benefit of massages.
      - freeone3000 9y ago
        The real health benefit is that you feel better after one than before one. You're failing to find a mechanism, not a benefit.
      - b1daly 9y ago
        You mean you don’t have a personal understanding of “knotted” muscles? That seems hard to believe, as everyone has them. I’ve never seen a scientific description, but I have always assumed that the muscles were “stuck” in some kind of contracted state. It is so obvious, my guess would be that there would be a physical state that could be ascertained by biopsy or autopsy. Apparently, this is not a popular topic for research. Physical manipulation can have an effect on muscle contraction state, as can heat, other forms of touch, relaxation techniques. The release of these contractions is experienced as a very good feeling by most people. FWIW, I have had forms of bodywork done on me that focused more intense, deep pressure into the muscles. I notice much more of a longer lasting effect than from simple massage. The effect wears off within a day or so. I do think there is a health benefit to such manipulation. In my case, releasing such tension helps me hold body positions that minimize the impact of repetition strain injury that I have developed from poor ergonomic habits working at a computer.
      - ianai 9y ago
- v_lisivka 9y ago
  My rough understanding is that infection is trying to make body slightly cooler by changing perception of the temperature, while deep infrared light heats my body directly, bypassing the skin. Body always tries to raise temperature of infected area and deep infrared light helps to do that without raising temperature of the whole body.

wyager 9y ago

Don’t know anything about IR beds, but near IR (shorter than 800nm) is just visible as a dull deep red color.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago

> the word literally meaning beyond red More exactly, below. (Lower frequency, outside the visible interval with ultra-violet at the other end.) As in 'infra-dig' meaning something being 'beneath dignity' to be done, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/infra_dig https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/infra_dig

Angostura 9y ago

I use a hot water bottle