Scientific Benefits of Infrared Therapy

Infrared light therapy has been popular for years, and for good reason—it offers a wide range of benefits, including anti-aging, muscle recovery, and improved quality of life.

To make these benefits clearer, we’ve organized them by product: our Soleil Sauna Blanket, GLO Red Light Face Mask, and Aurora Full Body Red Light Pod. We’ve also included references to support this.

Here is a brief, bullet point style list of the benefits of infrared by device:

Infrared Sauna Blanket (e.g., Holistix Soleil Infrared PEMF Sauna Blanket)

Key Benefits:

• Thermoregulatory Effects Mimicking Exercise
  A controlled trial found that 45 minutes in an infrared sauna raised core temperature significantly—more than exercise—though it didn’t replicate cardiovascular or respiratory responses equivalent to moderate-intensity exercise PubMed.

• Recovery & Muscle Soreness Reduction
  For athletes, post-exercise infrared sauna use attenuated declines in neuromuscular performance (e.g., countermovement jump), reduced muscle soreness, and improved perceived recovery, without harming autonomic function PubMed.

• Pain Relief in Rheumatic Conditions
  In patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, series of infrared sauna sessions significantly lowered pain and stiffness and were well tolerated PubMed.

• Anti-Inflammatory & Systemic Benefits
  A 2025 clinical review highlights infrared sauna therapy’s ability to reduce inflammatory markers (e.g., TNF-α, CRP), relieve musculoskeletal pain, improve mobility, and offer cardiovascular advantages for patients with rheumatic diseases PubMed.

• Improved Quality of Life in Chronic Conditions
  In individuals with type II diabetes, repeated far-infrared sauna treatments over three months led to improvements in several SF-36v2 measures: physical health, general health, social functioning, stress, and fatigue PubMed.

• Cardiovascular Outcomes in Heart Failure
  “Waon therapy”—sessions in a far-infrared dry sauna at 60 °C—reduced ventricular arrhythmias, improved heart rate variability, and lowered brain natriuretic peptide in chronic heart failure patients PubMed+1. Over five years, patients receiving Waon therapy had significantly fewer cardiac events compared to those on conventional therapy alone PubMed.

• No Negative Impact on Kidney Function
  Observational data show that frequent sauna bathing poses no risk for reduced renal function or chronic kidney disease over the long term PubMed.

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Red Light Face Mask (e.g., Holistix Glo Red Light Face Mask)

Key Benefits:

• Reversing Signs of Skin Aging
  Clinical research involving 20 women using LED photobiomodulation for up to 3 months reported progressive improvements in wrinkle depth, facial firmness, elasticity, skin smoothness, pore size, complexion uniformity, and sebum regulation. Benefits persisted up to 1 month after therapy ended PubMed.

• Periocular Wrinkle Reduction (~30%)
  A randomized, split-face trial with 137 women showed a ~31.6% reduction in periocular wrinkle volume using red PBM (660 nm); participants also reported improved quality of life PubMed.

• Effective Rejuvenation in Men
  A study on a home-use RL/NIR LED face mask (633, 830, 1072 nm) in men showed improvements in fine lines, texture, skin tone, UV/brown spots, pore appearance, and overall satisfaction—in just six weeks PubMed.

• Under-Eye Treatment—High Satisfaction
  An LED under-eye device (633 nm red + 830 nm NIR) used over six weeks led to participant-reported improvements in under-eye wrinkles, texture, dark circles, bags, pigmentation, and erythema, with no significant adverse events PubMed.

• Broader Clinical Applications of LLLT
  Reviews of low-level red/NIR light therapy (photobiomodulation) support its use for skin rejuvenation (e.g., wrinkles), acne, hair loss, and body contouring. However, study limitations and variability in device types and protocols remain PubMed.

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Full-Body Red Light Therapy Pod (e.g., Holistix Aurora 3-D Red Light Pod)

Key Benefits (extrapolated from PBM literature):

While no pod-specific clinical trials exist, full-body red/NIR photobiomodulation is likely to offer benefits analogous to those seen with face-focused devices and infrared sauna modalities, including:

• Systemic Anti-Inflammatory Effects
  Red/NIR light can enhance mitochondrial function, reduce oxidative stress, and modulate inflammation—potentially benefiting broader tissue systems when applied over larger body areas PubMed.

• Enhanced Skin Rejuvenation & Potential Body Contouring
  Whole-body photobiomodulation may improve skin tone, elasticity, and subcutaneous tissue health, aligning with reported outcomes for localized PBM on the face and eye regions PubMed+1.

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Summary Table

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References

1. Infrared sauna vs exercise thermoregulation study PubMed

2. Infrared sauna aiding post-exercise recovery and soreness PubMed

3. Infrared sauna in rheumatoid arthritis & ankylosing spondylitis pain/stiffness relief PubMed

4. Review: Sauna therapy’s anti-inflammatory and systemic benefits in rheumatic diseases PubMed

5. Infrared sauna improving quality of life in type II diabetes PubMed

6. Waon therapy reducing arrhythmias and improving CHF prognosis PubMed+1

7. Sauna bathing not harming renal function over time PubMed

8. Photobiomodulation reversing skin aging signs (3-month study) PubMed

9. Split-face trial: 30% periocular wrinkle reduction PubMed

10. Male facial rejuvenation with RL/NIR LED mask (6-week study) PubMed

11. Under-eye LED device: improvements & high satisfaction PubMed

12. Clinical applications review of low-level light therapy PubMed