Can Red Light Therapy Help With Joint Pain? (It’s working for me!)

A calf, a rope, and a gate. What could possibly go wrong?

Imagine finding pain relief without using drugs.  It sounds to good to be true, but that has been my experience using red light therapy. 

You may be well-aware that light affects our wellbeing in all kinds of ways. 

You probably wear sunscreen because you know that UVA and UVB radiation (part of the invisible spectrum of light) can damage your skin and body cells.

What you may not know, however, is that specific wave lengths of light are both beneficial and therapeutic in the treatment of pain and other health issues.

This my story.  I am not a medical doctor and nothing in my story should be construed as offering medical advice.

If you, or someone you know, is suffering from joint pain, then this is a story to consider.

Kala Red Light Mini (affiliate link Red Light - for a discount)

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My Injury

In early April of 2023, I went out to check on my cows and discovered that Cinnamon had given birth, but I couldn’t see the calf anywhere.  She was calling in distress for her calf who was not answering. 

A quick search revealed that he had slipped out through the fence and was in the tall grass just out of sight of his mother.

No problem I thought.  New born calf.  Easy. 

I grabbed a rope cow-halter and went to fetch him.  But he had other ideas.  

My bull calf “Beetle” lost in the grass (Source: Sue Senger)

He took off like a rocket.

I chased him down and caught up to him when he eventually stumbled on some uneven ground.  I looped the rope on him and went to pick him up.  But nope!  He fought like a demon calf. 

There was no way I could carry him all the way back to his mother.

Back down on the ground, I managed to adjust the halter onto his little head and looped the rest around his butt, and with a pull and push motion, I got him moving in the direction of his mother.

The trouble came when I went to navigate through a gate.  To this day I have no memory of exactly what when wrong. I had him fully in my left hand but still held some of the rope in my right hand when I went through the gate.  I felt a sharp pain in my right hand, swore like a trucker, and carried on with a reluctant calf, hauling him to his mother.

I made sure he settled back with his mother, I fed the cows, and at this point my finger was still moving (shock is a crazy thing).  It wasn’t long after that when I began to realize just how badly hurt my hand really was.  The pain was significant and it was swelling up and bruising.

I called a neighbor for help.  She took me to the hospital and it was later determined that I had a significant (displaced) spiral break in my ring finger that would require surgery.

I didn’t see that coming! Who breaks their ring finger?

I thought this would be okay – bones heal well, right?

Yeah – that didn’t  happen for me.

So long story short, as of December 2023, I STILL don’t have full use of my right hand despite months of physiotherapy and exercises. 

My ring finger bones are reconnected (whew!), but it doesn’t straighten or bend properly.  My pinky finger joints are knobby and sore. My middle finger bends about ¾ of the way, but doesn’t curl into my palm. Actually none of these fingers curl properly so I don’t have much of a grip for any fine motor tasks like cutting with a knife or peeling carrots. 

Yikes!  From what seemed like a very small accident I’ve had serious repercussions all year long. 

Frustrating?  You bet.  And I am right-handed!

The upside? There is every reason to believe that my injury is recoverable.  There is nothing suggesting I should settle for the degree of use that I have right now. The thing is that I made a lot of progress early on, and it’s slowed to a crawl.

Enter red light therapy!

What is red light therapy?

Red Light Therapy (RLT) is a non-invasive treatment that exposes your body to red light (which you can see) and/or near-infrared light (which you cannot see) to help you heal faster with minimal side effects. 

The light waves are capable of penetrating through the skin and all the way to the bone. This light energy stimulates the cells and triggers improved cellular repair, collagen synthesis, immune response, and reduced inflammation and pain. 

The therapeutic dose of red light is affected by wave lengths, duration of exposure, distance to the light source, frequency of application, and the specific part of the body being targeted.  For example, the light treatment regime for fingers and hands is different from that which would be used for knees or hips.

Can red light therapy help joint pain?

When I first heard about red light therapy I dismissed the idea as too good to be true.  But my curiosity got the best of me and I started looking into the science of it.  What I found surprised me.

Red light therapy has been extensively researched since the 1980’s. 

Clinical evidence for the benefits of a treatment in humans is the gold standard of research for different therapies.  Randomized and controlled trials in humans are needed to ensure that the treatment is significant, and to watch for negative effects. These trials exist for red light therapy.

A 2022 paper in the journal Frontiers of Bioengineering and Biotechnology reviewed 6 randomized controlled clinical trials on red light therapy for humans with knee joint pain (published dates range from 2018 to 2022).   These trials showed that red light therapy was a reliable, non-drug, and non-surgical treatment for people with knee joint osteoarthritis.  Among the clinical results, participants experienced:

• Reduction in pain

• Reduction in stiffness

• Improved range of motion

• Improved sit to stand results

• Improved ability to walk

• Reduced use of pain medications

A 2019 summary in the journal Current Asthma and Allergy Reports found that red light therapy (also known as laser light therapy and low-level laser light therapy - LLLT) shows evidence of being an effective treatment for inflammatory, musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases.  Among the findings, red light therapy was helpful for the treatment of :

• Pain

• Mild to moderate carpel tunnel syndrome

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Psoriasis

• Atopic Dermatitis

• Inflammatory conditions like asthma and MS

Early results for me

My red light unit arrived Dec 5, 2023.   I chose to buy from a Canadian company called Kala.  They have well-tested units which include an affordable “red light mini” option.  [You can learn more about red light therapy and access a discount for Kala products using my affiliate link: Kala Red Light Therapy.]

The glow of red light therapy (Source: Sue Senger)

I started using it the very next day according to the directions.  For me that meant using it for 10 min once a day on my right hand.  I noticed significant differences within 3 days! 

The pain in my joints disappeared for hours at a time and this continues to improve as I go along.  The pain associated with the tendons and movement of my fingers is lessening.  That means I can do my finger exercises with greater ease and increased effectiveness. 

What’s interesting for me is how different red light therapy is from simply using heat.  I’ve been using heat on my hand in association with the exercises from the beginning.  Heat provides short term relief at best for me, and the stiffness returns to my hand rapidly post therapy session.  But with the red light, the effects last well beyond the treatment.  I can already skip a day and not experience a setback which is amazing to me. 

And most interesting of all, I can see the knobbiness in my pinky joints is changing. It looks like the joints are starting to remodel and heal. My hand is closing easier with less strain on my tendons.  This feels like a game changer for my rate of recovery.  We will see what a few months of consistent red light treatment brings.

[Note for clarity - the Kala Red Light Mini combines red and infrared wavelengths in a small portable and rechargeable unit]

Benefits of Red Light Therapy for Joints

Red light therapy is an interesting alternative for pain and inflammation management.  Guidelines for clinical use and recommended treatment regimes are in the works.

Overall benefits of red light therapy for joints includes:

• Fast and effective pain relief

• Reduced joint inflammation

• Improved joint mobility with reduced stiffness

• Regeneration, restoration and repair of the connective tissue around joints

• Healing of skin, nerves, tendons, cartilage and bones for wounds and joint injuries

Intrigued by what I am learning from the research, I have started using my mini-red light on my face and for other joint pains that I have unrelated to my hand injury. 

As I experiment with its practical application, I am looking for health and wellness wins. Feeling better without resorting to medications is something worth exploring, at least for me.

Do you use red light therapy or other alternative treatments for pain?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

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For a discount on Kala red light therapy products, use my affiliate link: Kala Red Light

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