Endometriosis and Red Light Therapy

How Red Light Therapy Might Help

What Is Endometriosis?

Your body has a special lining inside the uterus (womb) that grows and sheds during your period. With endometriosis, tissue like that lining grows in the wrong places, like on the ovaries, bladder, or intestines. This "misplaced tissue" swells and bleeds during your period, causing pain, inflammation, and scars called adhesions - like sticky spiderwebs inside your abdomen. (Learn more about adhesions and red light therapy here). It can be horribly painful especially if you have severe endo and current medical treatments just aren’t enough.

Why it hurts:

• The blood from this tissue has nowhere to go, so it irritates your organs.

• It can cause cramps, heavy periods, pain when you poop or cause problems with fertility.

• About 1 in 10 girls and women have it, some as young as 8 years old.

Can Red Light Therapy (PBM) Help?

Photobiomodulation (PBM), also called red light therapy, uses gentle red or near-infrared light to calm inflammation and help your body heal. Here’s how it works:

1. Calms the "Fire":
   Endometriosis causes inflammation (like a tiny fire in your belly). PBM cools this fire by reducing chemicals that cause swelling.

2. Eases Pain:
   Studies show PBM can reduce endometriosis pain as effectively as birth control pills, without side effects. Women felt less cramping, stabbing, and burning pain for up to 6 months after treatment.

3. Repairs Tissue:
   The light boosts energy in your cells, helping them heal scars and adhesions. In lab tests, it made endometrial cells healthier and better at supporting pregnancy.

4. Supports Fertility:
   PBM enhances blood flow to the uterus, making it more welcoming for an embryo. It also softens scar tissue that can block pregnancy.

What Science Says

• Pain Relief: In one study, 60% of women with chronic pelvic pain (often from endometriosis) felt much better for 6 months after PBM treatments.

• Fertility Support: Research shows PBM improves the uterine lining and may help women get pregnant.

• Safety: It’s non-invasive, painless, and can be done at home.

Note: PBM isn’t a cure, but it’s a promising tool to manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

In Simple Terms

Think of PBM like a "healing flashlight" for your insides, such as the Fringe wand used internally.

Scientists are still studying it, but early results are hopeful!

A recent study used red light therapy to help women with abdominal pain. That's what happened.

1. The Study:

   • Doctors treated 13 women with chronic abdominal pain.

   • They used a laser light wand inside the vagina (gentle and painless).

   • After 9 treatments, 60% felt much better - and the pain stayed reduced for 6 months!

Could the Fringe Wand Work Like This?

The Fringe Wand is like a home version of the study’s device. Here’s how it compares:

Why the Fringe Wand Might Help

• Same Science: Both devices use soothing light to calm inflammation and heal tissue.

• Safety First: The wand’s gentle light is non thermal - so important for the vagina so it can’t burn you.

• Easy to Use: Just 10 minutes, 3 - 4 times a week.

How does an internal laser device compare to the Fringe wand?

If you have severe endo - double up on your light tools.

Adding the Novaa Light Pad can be especially helpful for someone with severe endometriosis - here’s why:

1. Broader Pain Relief:

   • The pad covers a large area, so it can help soothe pain not just in the pelvis, but also in the lower back, hips, and abdomen, places where endometriosis pain often spreads.

   • Many people with severe endometriosis have pain that radiates outward or feels deep inside, and the pad’s gentle warmth and light can reach these areas.

2. Reduces Inflammation:

   • Red and near-infrared light from the pad helps calm inflammation, which is a big part of why endometriosis hurts so much.

   • Less inflammation can mean less pain and more comfort.

3. Supports Healing and Relaxation:

   • The pad’s light boosts blood flow and helps your body heal, which is important if you’ve had surgery or ongoing pain.

   • It’s also relaxing, which reduces stress hormones known to amplify pain.

4. Easy and Safe to Use:

   • You can use the pad at home while resting, reading, or watching TV, making it easy to fit into your routine.

5. Complements the Fringe Wand:

   • While the wand targets deep pelvic tissues, the pad helps with pain and stiffness in the muscles and skin around your abdomen and back.

   • Using both together gives you a more complete approach to managing endometriosis symptoms.

Fringe is the only wand for internal use with NIR wavelengths as standard and contains no heating element.

Use my code SOLASTA10 for 10% off.

Resources

Transvaginal PBM for Chronic Pelvic Pain
Transvaginal Photobiomodulation for the Treatment of Chronic Pelvic Pain
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8617585/

Low-Level Laser Therapy for Endometrial Cells
Has the time come to include low-level laser photobiomodulation as adjuvant therapy in infertility?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29546619/

Low-Level Laser Therapy for IVF/Endometrial Receptivity
Low-Level Laser Therapy for Improvement of In Vitro Fertilization Outcomes in Individuals with Recurrent Implantation Failure
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11266823/

Pelvic Floor PBM for Chronic Pelvic Pain (Large Cohort)
An observational cohort study of pelvic floor photobiomodulation for chronic pelvic pain
https://www.becarispublishing.com/doi/10.2217/cer-2021-0187