Anybody have an opinion on Infrared Therapy?

I'm just learing about Far Infrared. There is a clinic in Pensacola, FL that has saunas and beds that radiate you. They say a patient from Atlanta with four brain tumors came there as a last resort, and left after purchasing all they had to continue at home with one small tumor. A friend with a mass of scar tissue in their head bought a small unit and their seizures reduced from 6-8 a day to 1 or 2 after two weeks of use. Far IR is said to melt scar tissue and this therapy is supposed to be a life saver for people recovering from surgery.

"They say" that we used to get heavy natural doses of it from the sun before the ozone started getting burned off, so these units give us what we no longer get naturally. They claim to cleanse the body of toxins, including heavy metals. The list of things it's supposed to help or cure is long (gout, depression, fibromyalgia, insomnia, acne, allergies, gum disease, COPD, memory loss, etc - etc - etc)

Anyone ever heard of this or have an opinion? Thanks!

Originally posted by FlaBamaFar IR is said to melt scar tissue and this therapy is supposed to be a life saver for people recovering from surgery.

I can definately tell you that scar tissue cant 'melt' due to IR expossure or anything in that area.

"They say" that we used to get heavy natural doses of it from the sun before the ozone started getting burned off, so these units give us what we no longer get naturally.

Now we actually get more, since the layer is diminishing!

They claim to cleanse the body of toxins, including heavy metals. The list of things it's supposed to help or cure is long (gout, depression, fibromyalgia, insomnia, acne, allergies, gum disease, COPD, memory loss, etc - etc - etc)

Based on my knowledge of cellbiology, molechular biology and biochemistry, I can almost definately vote this off as being bogus. Most of the IR radiation is being absorbed by the epidermis, and the rest that gets in shouldnt have much effect on cells. If it is very concentrated, it *might* raise temperature in the exterior cells, but since almost all enzymes in the body are working at almost optimal temperature, it would actually have a effect to the worse.

Remembar that IR radiation is lower-energy than visible light.

[edit on 9/3/07 by Thain Esh Kelch]

quote: "They say" that we used to get heavy natural doses of it from the sun before the ozone started getting burned off, so these units give us what we no longer get naturally.

Now we actually get more, since the layer is diminishing!

First, thanks for the info! My only question would be if we're actually getting more IR from the sun now than before, of what wavelength is it? You have low, medium and far. The makers of the IR equipment I've heard about say that the low and medium isn't as good, and can cause eye damage they now think. This equipment uses far infrared, which is said to be safe.

The two things that leads me to believe there "may" be something to it is the friend I have that uses it is getting better, and as soon as it's turned on, their dog cuddles up as close to it as he can get. Dogs sense things we can't.

IR is heat. Dogs like it cause it is warm.