Why Near Infrared is better than FIR and US

So has anyone found NIR pad/device that is at or near the 850nm? Unless I missed it, I didn’t see a link or a brand, etc. That anyone has purchased. I have a 660nm wand that feels like it does a pretty good job of heating things up but obviously not as useful as a pad.

Also, I think I’ve seen this elsewhere and I’ve experienced first-hand that heating when using a vacuum device leads to blisters much easier so keep that in mind.

?

I can’t imagine why.

If the vacuum cup wall is heated, then the glans surface is more prone to blisters. Often happens with IR lamps, and would probably happen with other sources of heat that raise the temperature of the vacuum cup. Its recommended for people using the IR lamps to somehow cover the vac cup and only expose shaft to the IR light, to avoid unnecessary heating of the cup.

Surely it looks looks like it too. Just wanted to know what is the type, as if it is not any calibrated equipment in your lab. Curious to run some testing also myself.

How far you kept the power meter?.

I’ve been eyeing infrared for quite a long time, even if I was considering FIR.

I’ll try getting a NIR pad to see if it really helps.

See the linked article for a pretty good compilation of how red light with NIR may be beneficial in a number of ways. Granted, this article is a precursor to an attempt to sell a device, but the compilation of information (with internal links) is a good synopsis of what I’ve read in various actual studies, etc.

How to Use Red Light Therapy for ED

I also saw a new release from earlier this year that Japanese researchers are studying an injectable compound that’s activated by red light to release nitric oxide and essentially reverse ED effects in various ways. Right now it seems to only be used on a few lucky rats….

It seems as though we are on the rising horizon of discoveries on red light/NIR benefits.

Solvay 1927, do you recommends those cheap chinese NIR pads from ebay? Since the costly brands are the same but rebranded to cost 3 times more.

What do you think of this one

LED Near Infrared Red Light Therapy Belt Waist Leg arm Wrap Pad for Pain Relief | eBay

You can find the exact same pad from sellers on aliexpress or similar, for even less - and it’s shipped from China all the same.
I just bought mine for 25$, shipping included.

edit: this is the one I purchased https://shorturl.at/apDHO , it does look the same.

Solvay1927 I have to thank you for providing us with another potential option and a vast amount of knowledge :-) .

I think it is always good to explore potential other options and even if they are equal or even inferior to the proven US, you still learn valuable lessons.

Would you be so kind and give us 1-2 a bit higher quality devices than the cheap chinese one posted above?

If it is around a few hundred dollars, I would gladly buy it and also test it for myself.

It is very motivating to see that people with fitting backgrounds keep on joining and furthering the progress.

All the best

CB

If I do, I think it will really seem like I’m trying to promote sales of a product or a vendor.
But apart from that, I do believe that:
- ALL NIR pads, none excluded, come from China. There’s no sense in trying to find a "extra quality pad" produced elsewhere.
- We’re not talking space science here, just stay away from those which aren’t even real IR pads (such as, simple thermal pads with or without an IR-emitting polymer coating).

Honestly I wouldn’t even know what to recommend, apart perhaps from a website which at least seems to be testing its products. But it’s still selling pads coming from China, so you’d basically be paying them just to filter out the bad products.

As I previously said, I’d avoid buying from western resellers, which only adds a (sometime ridicolous) overprice to sell the same pads you can order straight from the producers.
There are 3 specific, typical sizes of pads you can find in most Chinese vendors (see attached image).
For PE, the smaller one (15x25cm) is probably the best. The emitting power of this pad is not too high (around 130mW/cm2, if I remember well), but it’s good enough.
I think you can find it for as little as 25$.

I have one that’s in between the small and medium sizes. It’s long and skinny.

I had good luck with Red Light Therapy when treated scars on my penis and scrotum. I was using a round RLT emitter in an articulated desk lamp.

I also have lymphedema in my left leg. It’s a condition where the lymph nodes that ordinarily pump lymph around quit working properly. Being crushed in a car wreck years ago was probably the main factor there. My leg would swell up to the size of a watermelon, until the skin started to split and stuff started leaking out. There’s no cure as such; the only therapy is palliative, by wrapping the area in elastic bandages to keep the swelling under control.

The years of swelling had left behind dark splotches, stretch marks, and weirdly mottled skin. Since Red Light Therapy had worked so well for my genitals, I bought an emitter panel sized suitably for my leg and began using that.

In three months, I would say the visible skin issues have improved 50%. It doesn’t look quite like the other leg, but it’s not a freak show any more, either.

I’ve also been using the panel on my torso, which is covered with stretch marks from when I was so fat before. I’ve used it everywhere *except* where I wear a compression band around my middle, to contain an umbilical hernia. You can see a big difference in from the areas that get the RLT and the ones masked by the belly band.

Is it going to make my skin perfect? I doubt it. But it only cost $40 on eBay, and I have gotten way more than $40 of visible results from it.

In the meantime: in the last 5 weeks or so I changed a few things.

First of all, I’ve been less than consistent, due to external family issues (plus a small blister I got from pumping). I’d say I’ve been PEing for about half of that time.
I added pumping to my routine, reducing (a lot) the time in the extender. Now a PE session usually consists of 30min in the pump and an average of 2 hours at most in the extender. At first I was enthusiast about it, since it required less time and it was more comfortable, then I started to notice some effects I don’t necessarily enjoy:

- The cylinder gets hot. The 660nm seems to heat it up (it doesn’t happen using 850nm only), so I guess there’s less radiation reaching the tissues. I’ve been considering irradiating before using the pump or just drop the 660nm wavelenght.

- After a couple weeks or so, I could swear my foreskin was growing a lot more than the rest. I’m uncut but I always had very short foreskin: my glans was uncovered 95% of the time. Now it’s not anymore. I’m rather sure it’s due to my not using a silicone seal at the base of the cylinder, so skin gets sucked into the pump and gets stretched. It could likely be a temporary effect, but after a month or so, something definitely changed. It’s not something I want nor like, I’d prefer for it to stay just as it’s always been.

- Also following what we discussed here, I’ve been testing the pad with 850nm only. In the beginning it was mostly to check the temperature, now I must say I’m liking it more and more; on a few occasions I used the pad for an hour straight. I can testify that the skin doesn’t get hot. Even after an hour, you can clearly feel (by touching, I mean) that the inner tissues are way warmer than the outside layer. The skin never exceeded 38°C, in most cases it stays around 36.5.

In the end, did I gain in these 5 weeks?
Yes, but not like I used to.
In 5 weeks I measured a minor +1mm increase in BPEL, but a +8mm in BPFSL and a +3mm increase in EG.
It seems pumping contributed much more to girth and flaccid length, rather than EL: even when it’s not stretched, my flaccid length is now visibly higher. I guess that’s probably normal. I also think some of those gains might be temporary, even if I don’t see a relevant fluid buildup.

All in all, I can’t say I’m overly happy with this change of course. Honestly I’m looking to gain in EL more than EG (at least at this stage). Of course I can’t say I’m disappointed, but I’m considering going back to just extending for a while.

From a scientific point of view, I did what a researcher should never do: I changed too many variables in my experiment to be able to track down the consequences of every change. Of course I’m sure switching to pumping caused the most difference.
Using almost exclusively 850nm (instead of 660+850) for a longer period of time could bring consequences but it’s too soon, since I started doing it only recently.

I know I should try to focus and consider this like a proper experiment, doing (and measuring consequences) more precisely to build a consistent model.
I have to say in a way I’m in a struggle. On one hand, I get high considering what I gained since I started and I’m so happy with my grown unit now. On the other, I feel like I’m losing motivation - I keep reminding myself I shouldn’t gain for the sake of gaining and I just don’t want a huge tool that will probably make it harder to receive oral, not to mention what my wife would feel.

I hope others will begin to report results, in a way or another, so we get more data points which would really help to build a reliable model and a shareable routine.

It’s good to hear that it helped.
Your case proves the different uses of 660nm (red light) and 850nm (NIR): I would never use NIR on the scrotum, since you don’t want to heat up the testicles nor you want to meddle with cellular proliferation / sperm creation there.
Red light in the meantime can provide a much more beneficial effect, exactly because it targets almost exclusively the skin.

Is it a red light emitter?
Just curious because we (in the company I work for) have been considering the effects of NIR for increased circulation (lymphatic system too), so I don’t understand if you noticed gains only at the skin level or deeper.

It’s supposed to have equal numbers of 660 and 850nm LEDs. I don’t have the equipment to check it.

The skin is all I can see, and the part I was interested in. The lymphedema isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be, but that’s probably due to dietary change and weight loss.

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer, Solvay!
I ordered a pad and will start after my decon in the next 30-60 days (depends on personal life).
I am just a bit unhappy the power output is 130mW/cm2 and not the ideal 200+. So if anyone here finds a pad with more power, I would gladly buy that and test it, too :-) .
My research always led to the same pads, unfortunately.
Although I am not a very representative case, I will gladly share my results here.
Maybe I can gain a bit again.

All the best