Hi just wanted to share that sometimes infrared light can really help my head pressure / aches and pulsating symptoms and recover a bit faster from “bad days”. Here is some interesting research on infrared for healing the brain: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066074/
It seems that 870nm infrared can penetrate the furthest into the brain and ear, but 630nm penetrates some as well and helps improve the quality of blood and blood flow. Infrared light has been known to accelerate wound healing by 2x-3x in some cases. It seems cheap and low risk to me. I do have a few different types of lamps at home that I really like. Infrared is not a “cure all” or anything, but I think it can be as helpful as magnesium or CoQ10. And like the supplements, you have to keep doing it everyday.
A simple heat lamp from home depot can work, but I found with head pressure that its not the best thing to heat up the head (unless your house is cold, then its actually perfect). So, I bought this 830nm light source, which doesn’t really generate a lot of heat, and I shine it between my eyes: https://redlightman.com/product/infrared-830-device/
I think it affects the trigeminal nerve and calms things down a bit. I don’t over do it or anything, 5 min is enough time I think. I also shine it on at the base of my skull to reach the brainstem, or sometimes directly at my ears. In addition, for men there are other places to shine it to boost testosterone, but I won’t go into detail here. (-:
Anyways, just thinking of anything to help us recover that is low risk.
I’ve continued using my infrared light and I really do feel it helps heal my back and neck soreness much faster than without it. It really helps get me sleepy at the end of the day too. I shine it directly at my brain stem and in my eyes too.
Just thinking of those of us that have actual inner ear injuries, this infrared light might be able to penetrate to the inner ear and possibly promote faster healing. James (@turnitaround), have you considered or researched infrared light? I’ve asked my doctors, including PTs and they don’t seem to know much about it. One said the science doesn’t really support it. I know it seems kind of woo woo, but from the research I’ve seen the efficacy seems decent. And I don’t see any side effects.
Thought I’d bump this topic again with some updates.
I also use an intranasal (up the nose) infrared light that I also think helps get at the trigeminal nerve. I definitely look weird, like Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer with a light up my nose! But it really helps me get relax and get to sleep, no joke. I was surprised.
I wish some of these companies had products on amazon to help support the site.
Vielight is one company that makes intranasal infrared devices, but they are so expensive. At the end of the day its just a battery connected to an LED. So, that’s what I did, I just connected a 670nm infrared LED to a battery. I put the LED up my nose for 15-20min to help fall asleep. I know, it sounds so weird.
But infrared light really does speed up healing and so why not shine it straight up where I feel migraine symptoms? Targeting the trigeminal nerve. Makes sense to me anyways. I feel that it is about as effective as CBD oil for relaxing and calming the nervous system at night. It’s not a silver bullet, but another tool to help unwind, relax and sleep.