Red Light Therapy vs. Infrared Sauna: What's the Difference?

The main difference: light vs. heat

Before we dive in any deeper, let’s start with the first and most important thing to understand about red light therapy vs. infrared saunas: they are different types of energy. Infrared saunas use an energy that is similar to traditional heat energy, while red light therapy uses light energy. What does this mean?

This means that infrared saunas and red light therapy machines work in different ways. Infrared saunas heat up the body directly by emitting infrared rays, while red light therapy works by targeting parts of your body with infrared light.

Infrared saunas vs. traditional dry saunas

You may have asked the question, “How is an infrared sauna different than a regular sauna?” or may now be wondering. We are here with the answer.

Infrared saunas heat the body from the inside out, whereas traditional saunas heat you from the outside in. Traditional saunas use steam to generate heat, while infrared saunas use infrared radiation, which heats your body directly without heating the air around you. [2] Infrared radiation is a form of thermal energy which means that it’s invisible to the naked eye but can be felt as heat. In an infrared sauna, far-infrared ceramic emitters generate this form of heat.

How infrared saunas work & the benefits

Infrared saunas use infrared heat instead of steam to provide deep-penetrating warmth and detoxification from within. While there are many different infrared sauna devices available, each type provides similar benefits: detoxification, improved circulation, better sleep, and pain relief.

Infrared saunas can help with arthritis, muscle spasms, injuries, chronic pain, and weight loss. [3] These wavelengths of light penetrate through the body and cause your core temperature to rise – which makes you sweat.

The main difference between infrared saunas and red light therapy

Red light therapy devices promote healing in similar ways to infrared saunas, but do so by using light beams (non-thermal light), instead of heat. These light beams are used to relieve pain and discomfort associated with muscle and joint stiffness, chronic pain relief, and other painful conditions associated with inflammation such as carpal tunnel.

In simple terms, saunas rely on heat to produce biological health benefits. Red light therapy, on the other hand, relies on light energy to produce a biological response.

Are infrared saunas backed by science?

The research on infrared sauna therapy is relatively new but promising. One study summarizes key findings on infrared saunas and states that they improve cardiac and vascular function as well as improve the quality of life in patients with type II diabetes. [4]

However, there is something very important to note about the majority of infrared saunas. Unfortunately, most of the red lights used in the leading brands of infrared saunas are not the medical-grade, therapeutic red lights that we use at Vital Red Light. Instead, they are something called chromotherapy.

While chromotherapy can be helpful, it is not the same as true red light therapy. This form of therapy serves much of the same purpose as traditional infrared therapy, by providing relaxation and reducing stress, among other benefits. [5]

Chromotherapy is a type of color therapy that uses different colors on the visible spectrum to treat different ailments. It’s been around since ancient times, and you can find it in yoga studios and other alternative healing settings today. The notion is that each color has a different effect on the body, with some being better for your digestive system and others for your circulatory system.

In this sense, red light therapy isn’t necessarily the best choice if you have issues with your digestive system—you’d want a blue or yellow light instead. Some people even use the concept of chromotherapy at home by taking baths with colored salts or by exfoliating with colored scrubs.

Some sauna companies like to market their saunas as having “red lights” when they really mean chromotherapy lights. That’s because the term “red light” is more well-known and sounds more appealing than “chromotherapy light.” Thus, more often than not, when you see something marketed as an infrared sauna, it is likely a chromotherapy sauna. Though chromotherapy does offer some great benefits, it is not the same as red light therapy.