Fringe produces red light therapy products. At Fringe, the mission is simple: bring light back to the center of healing. They design their therapy products to mirror the natural power of the sun — because our bodies were built for it. Backed by science, grounded in nature, and tested for safety and effectiveness, Fringe products are made to reconnect you with what’s always worked: light, the way nature intended. No hype. Just healing.
Fringe partners with Performance Health to distribute their products as well as publishing informative articles on red light therapy.
The patient is a 21-year-old collegiate football player with a 3–4 year history of chronic Achilles tendon pain. He is currently playing at his third college program and has received treatment for this condition at each institution.
Red light therapy (RLT) is rapidly becoming a popular addition to athletic recovery and rehabilitation programs. Whether used in an athletic training room, sports medicine clinic, or performance facility, RLT offers athletic trainers another tool to support tissue recovery.
As red light therapy (RLT), also known as photobiomodulation, gains traction in sports medicine, many athletic trainers are exploring how it can fit into existing treatment plans.
Cryotherapy, more commonly known as icing, has long been considered the gold standard for dealing with inflammation, including the muscle inflammation that occurs following strenuous exercise. However, research has now clearly shown that when cryotherapy and red light therapy are compared to see which one works better to support exercise recovery, red light therapy consistently comes out on top.
Many studies have assessed what happens to sports performance when red and/or near infrared light is applied to muscles. Protocols usually apply red light to muscles prior to exercise – which is called muscular preconditioning. Another approach is to apply light after, rather than before, a sporting event, to support the muscle as it recovers so that it is stronger and more efficient during subsequent exercise.
A recent systematic review compiled and analyzed several clinical trials looking at red light therapy and sports performance and found many positive results, including decreased markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as creatine kinase, which is found in muscle cells and is released when cells are damaged. There are several ways in which red light therapy can be used to support exercise recovery, as laid out in this article.
