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Red Light Therapy and at-Home Photodynamic Therapy for COVID, for Long COVID, and for Other Diseases and Infections

Posted By Jennifer Shipp | Oct 21, 2021

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Red Light Therapy for COVID-19, Long COVID / Long Haul COVID, and More...

What is Red Light Therapy?

Red light therapy is just what it sounds like -- it’s a therapy that involves the use of red light in the spectrum of 680-790 nanometers (nm). Red light therapy is involved in the following treatments:

  1. Red light laser therapy
  2. Red light therapy using LED lights or other types of lights that emit a red color
  3. Far infrared light therapy
  4. Infrared light therapy
  5. Near Infrared Light Therapy


Red light therapy has been shown to offer the following healthy benefits: 

  • Reduces inflammation
  • In wounds, it promotes the expression of the collagen matrix to encourage healing
  • Reduces the symptoms of respiratory infection and respiratory disorders
  • Alleviates the symptoms of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
  • Relieves the symptoms of Bronchial Asthma
  • Reduces pain
  • Reduces the visibility of scars
  • Enhances circulation
  • Decreases hair loss
  • Improves memory and cognitive ability
  • Induces the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of human cells
  • Increases the production of Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Near Infrared light may increase the production of Nitric Oxide, though this is still up for debate in the scientific community. (Nitric Oxide is a toxic chemical that is produced inside the body when the body is under stress.) 


Red Light Therapy for COVID-19

The main cause of death from COVID infection is respiratory distress caused by an exaggerated immune response that results in extreme inflammation and a cytokine storm in the lungs. While the available drug-based therapies produce negative side effects, they’re expensive, and they often don’t work, red light therapy is non-invasive, safe, effective, and affordable. In hospital settings, the use of red light therapy as a stand-alone treatment is called photobiomodulation. 

Scientific studies have shown that exposure to two, 10-minute, high intensity sessions of red light therapy using infrared light was able to cause a significant reduction in the inflammatory response of patients with COVID-19. This inflammatory response is part of the onset of deadly cytokine storms in COVID patients. According to the research on red light therapy for COVID, patients who are given infrared treatments demonstrate significantly lessened cytokine storm activity within 48 hours of beginning treatment. 

Scientists and doctors believe that red light therapy using infrared light frequencies works to treat pathogenic infections like COVID-19 through the release of natural Reactive Oxygen Species that down-regulate the patient’s disproportionate response to the virus. In complicated COVID infection, the use of infrared light therapy can significantly reduce death rates and also hasten recovery rates.

How to Do Red Light Therapy and Infrared Light Therapy at Home

Red light therapy (which includes infrared light therapy, as listed above) can easily be performed at home. The simplicity of this type of treatment actually scares people off sometimes, but red light therapy is easy, simple, affordable, and safe. The most challenging aspect of red light therapy is to remember to use it when you need it because most of us aren’t conditioned to think about light as a healer! But red light therapy can not only be used alone, but also in combination with methylene blue to overcome a lot of different types of infections. Below we talk more about how to combine methylene blue with red light therapy, but remember that using red light as a stand-alone treatment is scientifically validated as a valuable treatment for COVID-19 patients. Before we discuss the methylene blue + red light therapy combination treatment, here’s the basic technique that you’ll use to treat COVID-19 at home using red light therapy alone:

  • Purchase a red light therapy product that produces both red light as well as infrared light. An LED Red Light Therapy product is best because it will be less likely to break during shipping, though other types of infrared lightbulbs will work just as well if that’s what you have on hand.


  • For COVID-19, you need to make sure that you have a high-powered light that emits infrared light, not just red light. Red light will not penetrate deeply enough to affect the lung tissues inside your chest. 

​​

  • NOTE: The lightbulb we recommend above provides 660 nm red light and 850 nm infrared light. It does not come with a light socket. The socket must be purchased separately.



  • Apply red/infrared light that includes wavelengths between 650-950 nm to your chest for 10 minutes every 12 hours. Shine the light at both the front of the chest and at the back. Position the light close to your skin (within 2-3 inches), but not so close that it will burn your skin. This treatment should be administered at an intensity of at least 6 Watts.


  • Apply red/infrared light to other areas of your body that are experiencing pain for 10 minutes every 12 hours. Position the light close to your skin, but not so close that it will burn your skin (some red light therapy devices get very hot, so be careful).


What Happens Inside Your Body During Red Light Therapy

As a general rule, when you use red light therapy, infrared, far infrared, and near infrared light therapy on your body, each short illumination session triggers oxidation in the mitochondria (the battery) of human cells that are being treated. These oxidative bursts regenerate tissues and lessen inflammation. 

Red light therapy has the advantage of being able to target a specific organ or body part, unlike drugs, which target all cells in the human body (instead of only targeting sick or suffering cells). There are no negative side effects of using red light therapy and illumination sessions don’t cause tissue damage. In the case of infection, red light therapy can be safely used with most prescription medications, as well as with other natural, at-home treatments and medicines such as CDS, herbal medicine, and nutrient therapies. It is a type of therapy that is extremely easy to use and to apply to loved ones without risk of causing damage. 

What is Photodynamic Therapy?

DO NOT USE METHYLENE BLUE IF YOU HAVE A G6PD DEFICIENCY, A LIVER, OR A KIDNEY DISORDER. DO NOT USE METHYLENE BLUE IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR LACTATING.

WARNING: Use only pharmaceutical grade Methylene Blue for COVID-19 treatment.

WARNING: Do not take Methylene Blue during pregnancy.

Photodynamic therapy is a treatment that involves both light as well as a photosensitizer. In this discussion, we talk about the use of red light therapy (light source) and methylene blue (photosensitizer).  Below these two components of photodynamic therapy are defined for self-hackers who want to know how to do photodynamic therapy at home: 

  1. A Photosynthesizer - There are a number of different photosensitizers that are in use for photodynamic treatment, but the most accessible photosensitizer for at-home use is methylene blue. Methylene blue is absorbed by pathogens and the Methylene Blue molecules inside the pathogens become excited when red light or infrared light or far red light is shined on it. In this excited state, methylene blue then gives off Reactive Oxygen Species as singlet oxygens or hydroxyl radicals that ultimately kill the pathogen.


  1. A Light Source - Many people are surprised to find out that red light, infrared light, and far red light is able to kill practically any pathogenic organism that might infect the human body. There are no known microorganisms that CANNOT BE KILLED by using photodynamic therapy because the basic mechanism of action behind how it works is through the production of Reactive Oxygen Species that will kill anything. Some pathogens may require the use of different photosensitizers other than methylene blue, but for self-hackers, methylene blue and light in the red spectrum is a good place to start.

Methylene blue has been used successfully to treat COVID-19 as well as complicated COVID and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Red light therapy has also been used to treat COVID-19 as well as complicated COVID. But these two therapies have synergistic effects when they are combined together as Photodynamic Therapy.

How to Do Photodynamic Therapy at Home for COVID 19 as well as Long COVID / Long Haul COVID

While Near Infrared Light Therapy can be used to treat COVID-19 by shining a red light at the lungs (via the chest and the back), Red Light Therapy can also be combined with ingestion of Methylene Blue to enhance the healing effects of both. Methylene Blue donates electrons to the mitochondria to electrify the body and make it stronger. Red light therapy works through a different mechanism, but its overall effects are similar. It has the ability to release Reactive Oxygen Species to kill pathogens and also to electrify the body to give it the energy it needs to fight disease, injury, and infection.

Methylene Blue and Red Light Therapies are both extremely versatile because of the work they both do inside the body. For example, you can use both Methylene Blue or Red Light Therapy (separately or together in Photodynamic Therapy) to treat an infection and kill pathogens such as the COVID-19 virus. But after your body has overcome the infection, you may still feel very low and ill. Long COVID / Long Haul COVID is a good example of how an infection can cause lingering effects similar to chronic fatigue. Near Infrared Light can even help rebuild bone tissues that have been affected by the use of dexamethasone or other medications. The reason why Red Light Therapy and Methylene Blue have such a diversity of healing effects on the body is because they both promote energy production at the cellular level. When cells have the energy they need to heal, cells heal. In other words, if you have enough human electricity/energy in the body, your body doesn’t get sick and if it does get sick, it is able to heal quickly and easily.

So, people who have Long COVID / Long Haul COVID can benefit from doing Photodynamic Therapy using Methylene Blue and Red Light Therapy. If you have Long COVID, you may be feeling tired and achy every day. You may have headaches or muscle pain or even what appears to be the beginning of arthritis. Though your muscles may feel tense, the reality is, it takes more energy for those muscles to relax and it may be the lack of cellular energy that keeps them tense and hurting. Methylene Blue and Red Light Therapy can make a huge difference in your body’s ability to heal after the COVID-19 infection.

A Word About Enemas for Long COVID / Long Haul COVID

If you are using Red Light Therapy, Methylene Blue Therapy, or the combination of the two as Photodynamic Therapy to heal after COVID-19, it may be valuable for you to use an enema to help your body detox quickly. As cellular energy goes up, you may find that you experience flatulence or digestive upsets. The cells may dump toxins into the body that need to be removed in order for you to fully restore health. Every few days, you may feel terrible...as though you can’t think and like you slept terribly (even if you didn’t). This is “endotoxemia” and a detox reaction and it occurs if your body is producing toxins more quickly than your body can remove them. If you don’t do enemas daily or sometimes even twice a day during this process, it will simply take longer for you to get past Long COVID. 

To add increase the medicinal potency of enemas for Long COVID, consider adding any of the following:

  1. Lugol’s Iodine 2% - up to 4 drops per enema
  2. Activated Carbon
  3. Bentonite
  4. Chlorine Dioxide - up to 6 drops of activated CDS




At Home Photodynamic Therapy Basics

NOTE: In addition to reading about Red Light Therapy above, be sure to study Methylene Blue Basics before you do Photodynamic Therapy at home to learn about proper dosage and how to take this medicine to energize the body so that you can fight infection more easily. 

  1. Set up an area where you can do Near Infrared Light Therapy using the proper wavelength of light. You need to shine the light at the affected areas of your body for no less than 10 minutes. For COVID-19, for example, shine the light at both the chest and the upper back. 
  2. Determine the proper dose of Methylene Blue based on body weight.
  3. Mix the Methylene Blue with water.
  4. Drink it.
  5. Begin the Near Infrared Light Therapy on affected areas of the body
  6. Shine light on each affected area for no less than 10 minutes each.
  7. Do this treatment every 12 hours until you achieve the desired effects.


Far Red to Red Light Photodynamic Therapy with Methylene Blue

Diseases that can be treated using Methylene Blue and Light Therapy:

  • Cold Sores / Herpes simplex - 0.1% Methylene Blue + either fluorescent light or sunlight can clear up herpes simplex symptoms within 48 hours in approximately 70% of cases. The relapse rate remains the same, but symptom clearing is much faster. 




  • Age-related wet macular degeneration - Photodynamic therapy and red light therapy as a stand-alone treatment has been successfully used to prevent the progression of macular degeneration.




  • Cancer - Photodynamic Therapy is used in a variety of formats including laser therapy and radiation therapy, as well as less toxic and gentler light treatment options.




  • Clostridium difficile (C. difficile - also known as “C diff”) - I worked with a woman who used only infrared light along with prescribed antibiotics to cure C. difficile. The use of Methylene Blue to kill C diff has been used with Red Light at 665 nm to cure the disease. Alternative photosynthesizers include chlorin e6, and polyethylenimine. 


  • Other Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria


  • Periodontitis (Dental Infection) - Red light helps fight infection, reduces pain related to dental problems and lessens tooth sensitivity. It also speeds up healing after dental procedures. Red Light Therapy has healing effects on bone tissues and it can be used with vitamin D3/K2 therapy to enhance the health and remineralization of the teeth and bones. The device below is able to provide Red Light Therapy not just to the teeth but also to the sinuses to potentially treat sinus infection. 

  • Wound treatment




  • Burn treatment




  • Acne Treatment




  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome


  • Achilles Tendinopathy








  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) -  The increased ATP (energy) available in brain cells seems to be responsible for helping people with PTSD reprocess their traumatic memories to lessen symptoms of this disorder.




  • Candida albicans / Thrush Treatment - Red light therapy can be used in the mouth to get rid of Candida albicans. Below is a device that is used to flood the mouth with red light.



  • Improves Thyroid Health - If you suffer from Grave’s Disease or Hashimoto’s Disease, hyperthyroidism, or hypothyroidism, shining a red light on your thyroid gland for 15 minutes daily can help jumpstart your thyroid gland and give it a boost to start functioning properly again.


  • Promotes Weight Loss - Red light laser therapy at 635 nm has been used to break down fat deposits. The use of a red LED light at between 630-650 nm is currently in clinical trials to prove that it can do the same thing as red light laser therapy, except during a 32 minutes period. 


  • Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment - Near infrared light therapy at 10-15 Watts between 810-980 nm has been used to improve recovery in patients with traumatic brain injury.


  • Stroke Recovery Treatment - Near infrared light therapy at 10-15 Watts between 810-980 nm has also been used to improve recovery in stroke patients.


NOTE: Wavelengths of light between 600 nm and 1200 nm all have significant biological activity. These wavelengths of light also have the ability to penetrate beneath the skin. But Violet Light / Blue light in the 400-470 nm spectrum is also antimicrobial against numerous bacterial pathogens including Tuberculosis. Blue light has been shown to inactivate the influenza coronavirus, which is similar to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Blue light is also antimicrobial against Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Eschericia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella, Acinetobactera baumannii, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum.  Blue / Violet light does not, however, have the ability to easily penetrate through human skin.



COVID-19 and Respiratory Infection Self treatment and Prevention BUNDLE - Volumes 1, 2, and 3









Resources:
Enwemeka, C. S., Bumah, V. V., and  Masson-Meyers, D. S. (2020). Light as a potential treatment for pandemic coronavirus infections: A perspective. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7194064/
Chang, T., Fiumara, N., Weinstein, L. (1975). Methylene Blue and Light Therapy for Herpes Simplex. Retrieved October 20, 2021 from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/534807  ​​

King, A. (2012). Photodynamic Therapy: Making Light Work. Rerieved October 20, 2021 from https://www.rsc.org/images/Photodynamic%20Therapy%20-%20Making%20Light%20Work_tcm18-215827.pdf


De Sordi, L. et al. (2015). Development of Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (PACT) for Clostridium difficileI. Retrieved October 201, 2021 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4551672/

Santos, N. R. S. et al. (2011). Influence of the combination of infrared and red laser light on the healing of cutaneous wounds infected by Staphylococcus aureus. Retrieved October 20, 2021 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21214389/


R3Built.com (n.d.). Discover the Life Changing Benefits of Red Light Therapy. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://r3bilt.com/2020/06/12/benefits-of-red-light-therapy/


Murray, D. (2021). Red Light Therapy: The Complete Guide. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://www.byrdie.com/red-light-therapy-5112808


Manamed, Inc. (2018). Effects of Red Light LED Therapy on Body Contouring. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03470272


Aguida, B., Pooam, M., Ahmad, M., Jourdan, N. (2021). Infrared light therapy relieves TLR-4 dependent hyper-inflammation of the type induced by COVID-19. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2021.1965718
Henderson, T. A. & Morries, L. D. (2015). Near-infrared photonic energy penetration: can infrared phototherapy effectively reach the human brain? Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4552256/
De Mendonca et al. (2021). Photobiomodulation to Treat Necrotizing Fasciitis. Retrieved October 21, 2021 from https://journals.lww.com/jcraniofacialsurgery/Citation/2021/08000/Photobiomodulation_to_Treat_Necrotizing_Fasciitis.114.aspx 

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