In the constant quest to get athletes back on the field of play more quickly, IR Therapies offers a revolutionary approach to an expedient recovery. After a hard hit causing a bruise or contusion, to as little as a wound from sliding into second Near Infrared/red light therapy (NIR™) is helping Athletic teams from the Pros to High Schools compete and handle minor injuries.

The word "Infrared" is hardly foreign to athletic trainers. Found in most modality texts and course syllabuses, the term usually refers to a source of heat, as in the high school physics description of infrared energy as "heat waves" typically delivered by far-infrared electrical lamp .NIR™ is instead based on harnessing the effects of the light waves themselves and a cellular level re-education and grew out of research from the early 1970s on the effects of infrared lasers and resonance frequencies.

During this time, light in the infrared spectrum showed to have the most positive effects, and the field of low-level laser therapy was born. Lasers are expensive and, even at low power, must be used carefully. As a result, researchers turned to less-expensive light-emitting diodes as an alternative to lasers. NASA, interested in any potentially effective, simple, and compact therapy for use during space flight, has sponsored many studies. During the course of these studies, it was determined that the therapeutic effects of lasers where not caused by the coherency of the light, but the wavelength of light itself.

In promotional materials, IR Therapies points out that light-triggered biological phenomena are ubiquitous, from photosynthesis in plants to tanning and vitamin D synthesis in humans. Dr Whelan, among other scientists, have written that near-infrared light penetrates skin more deeply than visible light, and that its energy is absorbed by mitochondria to stimulate metabolism. It is also suggested that a free-radical gas known as Nitric Oxide is released and triggers a number of biological effects.

Currently, this is what we know about the therapy. The science behind this technology is still relatively new, so the exact mechanisms or action and occurring processes are not fully understood. In time more will be revealed, and the mystery unlocked as more and more research studies are conducted. Basically for now, the light gets into the cell and creates a photochemical response that leads to all these great things.