Infrared Heat Lamp
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free skin care · Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:22 am

So I bought myself a 250 watt Infrared Heat Lamp. The main purpose was for health reasons,like detoxification and nervous system balancing. One of the other main benefits touted was skin rejuvenation.

I have been doing approx 20-30 minutes session for almost 2 months now and although my skin definitely looks more radiant and smoother, it *seems* that my skin also is thinner and less elastic. I am a bit mortified, because for most of my life I have kept out of the sun and my skin was very 'pristine'. I also live in Canada, so that helps ! lol

OK, so I went and tried to do some research
on Infrared and came up with conflicting information. Some info says it increases collagen and rejuventates skin and others especially more recent websites (2011, 2012) say that infrared also ages the skin, maybe even causing cancer and cataracts ( although not so bad and obvious as UV). It *seems* that a lot of knowledge about near infrared is not thoroughly known. Just look at Far infrared. for the long time they said it was so good for you and nowall of a sudden it's not. Now it's near infrared that is in !! But for how long until someone comes along and says it is not, it seems ?

So this is my dilemma. Which info do I believe ?I thought surely someone would know here. (:

I would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks!

free skin care · Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:25 pm

As with the LED light, I think occasional use of the infrared light in a specific area of the body (ankle, knee, etc) for comfort is prudent.

Regular use on the face is more than I am comfortable with. It seems more pro-inflammatory to me.

free skin care · Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:47 pm

Tija wrote:

It *seems* that a lot of knowledge about near infrared is not thoroughly known. Just look at Far infrared. for the long time they said it was so good for you and nowall of a sudden it's not. Now it's near infrared that is in !! But for how long until someone comes along and says it is not, it seems ?

Hi, I would really appreciate reading the information about it all of a sudden not being good. I have searched about the negative effects of Far Infrared Rays, but not coming up with much.
TIA.

free skin care · Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:51 pm

I dunno, they say that near infrared is anti-inflammatory.. (??) I don't feel like I've gotten inflammation from doing it, but the opposite, but what I can say is that my skin got darker and kind of blotchy, and it *seems* like it got thinner and lost some collagen or elastin.

It seems there is consensus (and I found a post just recently at the 1st page) that many have found that Led and infrared face machines have made their skin darken but nobody has mentioned it thinning. Perhaps it's because my session have been longer at 30 minutes everyday for the last 2 months?

Aside from that my skin just glows from the treatment, just so smooth and my pores almost nonexistant. What a conflict! I hate this! haha lol

Since not using the lamp for 3-4 days now my skin is looking much better (more creamy perhaps) but I still feel like there's some sag there, so I'm still in the mortified state and still not convinced yet that it hasn't damaged my skin. I would think that in the next week though, I will know as it continues to return to normal.

I believe the health benefits of NEAR does supercede the FAR (I have both) especially when it comes to FAR'S EMF emissionS, but as far as skin rejuventation and whether the rays cause some sort of damange IN Near is something I am not so trusting Smile

of, even though I did see some great benefits. Perhaps like some think it is the skin detoxing stuff.
I think that is you google FAR Vs Near Infrared Saunas you will find more articles.
Smile

http://www.nearinfraredsauna.com/Near_Vs.html

http://drlwilson.com/articles/SAUNAS-NEAR%20VS.%20FAR%20I.htm

By the way if anybody wants to try the Infrared lamp you can buy a 150-250 W lamp at HOme Depot for $8 and the Brooder Lamp Hlder with Clamp costs $ 20. Much much cheaper than those face machiness and you get to do your whole body as well, if you want. Smile

free skin care · Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:12 pm

I use this lamp for health reason on my back, doesn't specify if it is Far or Near infrared actually, just states it is infrared, but the bulb it uses is a Phillips one and I think is is Near type. Not sure. Can't find what kind of lamp you are actually referring to, is it something similar??

http://www.medisana.com/en/Home+therapy/Pain+therapy/Infrared+Lamp+IRH.html

This one does say it can be used for cosmetic purposes to open the pores to clean them, for better blood circulation on the face, etc. but I've never used it for that myself.

free skin care · Wed Jun 19, 2013 5:29 pm

Hi Atester,

Yeah,I believe your lamp is the same a mine and that it is NEAR infrared Smile

FAR infrared's are not lamps but just heaters..

Thanks for sharing the description on what yours does to skin. I feel like this matches exactly what it did to my skin is increase blood circulation and I guess becaues the pores went to virtually being nonexsitant it must have cleaned them out Smile

I forgot to mention that my sagging skin is actually not so much on my face. It is on my chest, my arms (a bit) and *primarily* my upper torso, just under my breasts. I do facial exercises everyday (Flexeffect and AGeless, Tua Viso, Ultratone EMS) on my face so I think that it's possible it doesn't show up as bad here.

I had a lightbulb moment today, and was thinking that maybe my sag is not from the infrared -- wouldn't that be GREAT ?
I found out recently that my Potassium & Magnesium levels were lower than ever and this increased my Sodium/Potassium ratio higher and out of balance. I decided to google to see whether Potassium deficiency causes skin to sag and become dry ,and BIngo! I found out it is one of the symptoms! I am in the midst of trying to correct it now , and it will probably take about 1 - 3months. Would be so happy if that is actually the problem because then I can go back to my lamp freely ! I really loved it!

If I find it was the Potassium/Mag deficieny and my sag goes away, I will post back here Very Happy

free skin care · Wed Jun 19, 2013 5:35 pm

Hi Atester,

Yeah,I believe your lamp is the same a mine and that it is NEAR infrared. FAR infrared's are not lamps but just heaters..

Thanks for sharing the description on what yours does to skin. I feel like this matches exactly what it did to my skin, is increase blood circulation, and I guess because the pores went to virtually being nonexistant, it must have cleaned them out.

I forgot to mention that my sagging skin is actually not really on my face. It is on my chest, my arms (a bit) and *primarily* my upper torso, just under my breasts. I do facial exercises everyday (Flexeffect and AGeless, Tua Viso, Ultratone EMS) so I think that it's possible it fixed it, if it was affected.

I had a lightbulb moment today hehe.. Was thinking that maybe my sag is not from the infrared -- wouldn't that be GREAT ?

I found out recently that my Potassium & Magnesium levels were lower than ever and this increased my Sodium/Potassium ratio higher and out of balance. I decided to google to see whether Potassium deficiency causes skin to sag and become dry,and Bingo! I found out it is one of the symptoms! I am in the midst of trying to correct it now , and it will probably take about 1 - 3months. Would be so happy if that is actually the problem because then I can go back to my lamp freely ! I really loved it! Very Happy

If I find it was the Potassium/Mag deficieny and my sag goes away, I will post back here Smile

free skin care · Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:25 pm

My wheels are still spinning this evening.. Idea

It came to me that the infrared lamp sauna could have pulled even more potassium and magnesium out of me through sweating.. This *may* have been why I started noticing the sag just after I started doing it. It's really important to supplement with minerals when doing the sauna (especially if doing it on a regular basis, and especially if one is low on minerals)or else it can work against you, even be dangerous..

Sat Jun 22, 2013 6:31 pm

I have a sirious aurora led device and the instructions say to use it 3-4 times a week for the first 2 months, then 2-3 times a week. And to allow at least 24 hours between treatments to optimized the skin's regenerative cycle. The treatment length is 24 minutes

Regarding the red panel, it has both visible and non-visible lights(infared) and says both are essential to a successful treatment.

I haven't really used it consistently enough to give any testimonial about it, but it does seem like my skin looks a little brighter when I use it.

Is it possible you didn't let your skin regenerate properly by continously subjecting it to this treatment without sufficient rest?

Edit: Was assuming it was the same kind of red light therapy, didn't realize the sauna heat part of it was a major factor. I always thought all those red therapy light devices were the same thing.

free skin care · Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:51 pm

Thanks Wishful skin Smile

for providing the advice of your LED. I will certainly keep this in mind because I have gone back to using my lamp but only for 15 -20 minutes... before I actually start to sweat. Thankfully my skin did bounce back actually really quickly and looks great again because I supplemented with Potassium and Magnesium gel. Sweating just totally exacerbated my problem which is the major factor why it changed so fast for the worse. I still plan to do it daily but knowing the info you've given me, I will monitor my skins' condition and how many times a week is best for it.

Oh and and the way, my lamp is also red light and infrared. Have fun with yours Smile

Brighter skin one of the things I love about mine Smile

free skin care · Fri Jun 28, 2013 2:09 pm

Hi Wishful. I saw your edit comment and I understand the confusion about the sauna part.
My lamp is 250 W but because I use 2 of them at once, they have the ability to work as a sauna and cause sweating. Most of the near infrared saunas have at lest 3 or 4 of these lamps, but I am happy with my 2 and what they do for my nervous sytem and my skin. So that is why I only use them for 15-20 minutes now, because I don't want to sweat while I am replenishing my low minerals. I hope that makes better sense Smile

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