With red light therapy’s abundant benefits, like circulation improvement, scarring reduction, and mood enhancements, red light treatments offer many uses. People use red light therapy for many reasons, from aesthetic purposes to athletic performance improvements. As a versatile and highly beneficial treatment form, red light therapy is suitable for many people, including pregnant women, as long as it’s not used directly on the stomach and baby. Discover how red light therapy is safe during pregnancy on select areas of the body and explore its many pregnancy benefits.
Expert Research
Although red light therapy and photobiomodulation have been around and studied for a while now, there aren’t many studies on red light therapy and pregnancy. Given the limited amount of research available to judge whether direct red light therapy can harm a baby, we don’t recommend using it on your stomach during pregnancy. Instead, use it on other parts of the body away from the uterus.
Here are some of the areas of the body for red light therapy treatments that are great during pregnancy or after:
- Reducing the appearance of pregnancy stretch marks on arms and legs—stomach treatments are only recommended after pregnancy ends
- Soothing feet or lower leg inflammation
- Reducing upper back and lower back body aches—after baby birth only
- Using red light therapy on the face to enhance mood and regulate sleep
Currently, red light therapy is mostly used to help pregnant women with inflamed feet and post-pregnancy stretch marks. Due to the limited available research, we don’t recommend red light application directly on the uterus or the full-body pod to be used until after baby is born.
Non-Invasive Treatment
Red light therapy is a non-invasive treatment, making it safer and less risky than other treatment forms. Since red light therapy doesn’t involve incisions, it doesn’t have the same risks of potential complications, infections, and tissue damage.
Red light therapy treatments use low-level red or near-infrared light at specific frequency levels to achieve a specific goal. It targets a cell’s mitochondria and stimulates natural and beneficial adenosine triphosphate energy (ATP). ATP plays an important role in many internal body systems and functions, from collagen production to immunity defense.
Low Heat Production
Energy generates heat. Red and near-infrared light operates on lower energy levels compared to other light waves, like ultraviolet and blue light, meaning they produce very little heat. Red light therapy poses no risks of burns or overheating.
Is red light therapy safe during pregnancy? It’s unclear for certain due to the lack of research, but in certain uses on the body, red light therapy proves to provide minimal risks. Prism Light Pod does not endorse or recommend the use of any of its devices during pregnancy and prefers to recommend post-partum use because, although studies point to many benefits, full side effects on a fetus are not measurable yet.
Prism Light Pod therapy systems give users the option to choose and control different frequency levels to customize each individual’s session. Our pads also offer lots of flexibility due to their versatile design. You can use them to wrap feet—avoiding red light exposure directly on the uterus—and enjoy full body treatments for post-pregnancy stretch marks and healing. Having more control over your therapy sessions further enhances treatment safety, making it safer and more beneficial for all.
