Table of Contents
- Why Use Red Light Therapy While Traveling?
- Consistency
- Travel-Related Health
- Mobile Red Light Therapy Options
- Handheld Devices
- Small Panels
- Red Light Therapy Spas
- Wearables
- Mito Red Light
Red light therapy is an easy and relatively safe health intervention that is growing in popularity. This form of therapy relies on a red light that is thought to stimulate mitochondria in the cells. Mitochondria play an important role in producing energy in cells and in reducing inflammation.
People use red light therapy for many different reasons. Some of the most common reasons that red light therapy is used include:
- Reducing chronic pain
- Speeding healing
- Recovering after workouts
- Improving sleep quality
- Improving skin quality
- Promoting hair growth
- Improving circulation
While people use red light therapy for many different reasons, all of these benefits center around the stimulation of the mitochondria by red and infrared light.
One of the keys to using red light therapy is consistency, as a single treatment here and there will not be enough to produce a noticeable effect. To see the best results, most experts recommend using red light therapy every one to three days. This can, however, make it difficult for people who travel to keep up with their treatments and cause them to wonder what the best options are to get red light therapy treatments on the go.
Why Use Red Light Therapy While Traveling?
There are several different reasons that someone who is traveling should continue using red light therapy. Red light therapy is thought to work best when used consistently without a significant period of interruptions. This not only continues treatments but helps to avoid losing progress that has been made. Red light therapy may also provide health benefits that are especially important when traveling.
Consistency
With any medical treatment or health intervention, consistency is essential. Not only is consistency the key to slowly building up the effects of a therapy that is having a positive effect on your health, but it also creates good habits. Interruptions in therapies or medical treatments that are supposed to be done on a regular basis can end up being longer than planned once the habit is broken. It can often be hard to resume something that you know you should be doing once you are out of the habit of doing it on a regular basis.
When traveling, it can be easy to break the habit of using it regularly. This can lead to underuse of the therapy, making it harder to resume. Because red light therapy tends to act somewhat gradually, there are no immediate effects to missing a few days, which can ultimately increase the likelihood of a prolonged gap in therapy.
Travel-Related Health
People use red light therapy for many reasons that can be related to travel. Traveling, especially for longer periods of time, can be physically exhausting and worsen existing health conditions. The effects of red light therapy could reduce some of these symptoms, ultimately improving the travel experience.
Some travel-related health effects that red light therapy can be used for include:
- Joint or back pain - Red light therapy is used to improve circulation and suppress inflammation in joints and muscles. People with chronic joint or back pain often find that sitting for prolonged periods in an airplane, train, or vehicle increases pain and stiffness in muscles and joints. This makes red light therapy especially important during or after travel.
- Sleep quality - A newer use for red light therapy is improving the quality of sleep. Traveling often involves getting up at an early time, changing time zones, and potentially getting jet lag. Improving sleep quality can be very helpful for those who have just finished traveling or are recovering from travel-related fatigue.
- Skin quality - One of the more popular uses of red light therapy is improving the quality of one’s skin by reducing blemishes, evening skin tones, and speeding the healing of any wounds that are present. Traveling can affect skin quality because changes in the environment can often affect the skin. Offsetting changes in skin quality may be beneficial while traveling.
- Improved circulation - While traveling, one often sits for prolonged periods of time. Normal circulation requires muscle movement, and staying still for long periods of time can lead to decreased circulation and even increase your risk of developing blood clots. People use red light therapy to promote circulation, an effect that may be particularly desirable after traveling.
Mobile Red Light Therapy Options
A challenge to using red light therapy while traveling is that many of the best red light therapy panels are large, designed to provide red light therapy to as much area of your body as possible. While full-body red light therapy panels provide the greatest coverage possible and are ideal for home use, they are not practical to put in a suitcase and travel with.
While full-body panels are generally recommended when using red light therapy, there are several options for getting red light therapy during travel or while away from home.
Handheld Devices
Red light therapy can be given by small, handheld devices. These devices are ideal for travel, as they can be used during travel in airports, train stations, airplanes, or even vehicles. These devices are portable and able to be stored in a purse, backpack, or carry-on. Good handheld devices will hold a charge and can be used without having to be plugged in.
Handheld devices are ideal for use during the process of traveling as well as once you reach your destination away from home. They can also be used to provide red light therapy right after a workout in a gym or other places and situations, even if you are not traveling far from home. At Mito, we offer two handheld, mobile red light therapy devices that are ideal for use during travel, providing the most versatile red light therapy options both during travel and once you have reached your destination.
Small Panels
While traveling with full-body panels is unlikely to be practical, smaller red light panels can fit in a suitcase and be taken with you. A small red light panel will weigh about six pounds, taking up a decent about of weight in a suitcase but not an impractical amount when flying. Our smallest panels can be transported in a suitcase without taking up to much space or weight.
Small red light therapy panels will generally need to be plugged in, making them a better option for use while away from home but not while actually in the process of traveling. Small panels can, however, provide better coverage than a handheld device and could provide a better option for someone who is looking for a way to use a treatment that is similar to using full-body panels at home.
Red Light Therapy Spas
One potential option while traveling is to visit red light therapy spas. There are locations that provide red light therapy as a service. Sometimes this will be the sole service they provide, but it will more commonly be part of many different health or wellness-related services.
Many people who use red light therapy prefer to use their own devices while traveling instead of using red light therapy spas. Finding a location that provides this service can be difficult and unpredictable when staying in a new location. It is also very difficult to be certain of the quality of a red light therapy spa without using it, making it a potential waste of money. Finally, using a red light therapy spa is more costly and time-consuming than using your own device from the comfort of your hotel room, Airbnb, or other accommodations.
Wearables
While handheld devices offer the greatest versatility in how they can provide red light therapy during travel, wearables offer a greater degree of freedom but with more limited applications. Wearables, like the Mito Red Light Advanced Red Light Therapy Belt, allow you to place a belt with an LED on your torso or a limb and leave it on while moving around. This provides the freedom to engage in other activities while also receiving treatment and can be more discrete than using handheld devices.
An important consideration when selecting wearable devices is that with the device sitting right up against your skin, the LEDs must be positioned very closely together. Many wearable devices do not have a dense arrangement of LED light sources, creating a less even and more patchy distribution of the light in the area being treated.
Mito Red Light
Having the right red light therapy equipment when traveling is important. We provide handheld devices, wearable devices, and red light therapy panels small enough to take in your suitcase. Our portable red light products are designed to meet whatever needs you have while on the go.
Many of our products have all five-star reviews by hundreds of customers, and our equipment is recognized as providing industry-leading quality red light therapy. We welcome you to review our selection of high-quality products or to contact one of our expert representatives at +1 866-861-6486 to learn more about us and the products that we provide.
Related Articles:
- What Is Red and Near Infrared (NIR) Light Therapy?
- Red Light Therapy Buyer’s Guide
- Everything You Need to Know About Red Light Therapy and SKIN
DISCLAIMER: Mito Red Light devices are Class II wellness devices aimed at affecting the body through topical heating and supporting cellular function. The information provided in this article and on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to imply effectiveness of Mito Red Light devices for any specific application. The information provided in this article and on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, is not a substitute for consultation with a licensed medical provider and should not be construed as medical advice. Click here to read our article on potential contraindications of red light therapy..