Use of infrared-based devices in aesthetic medicine and for beauty and wellness treatments

Use of infrared as a complementary treatment approach in medicine and aesthetic medicine

“…The interaction between living tissues and IR determines the development of heat within the tissues themselves. This heat does not derive from the heating of the air, but rather from the absorption of the IR radiation by the photoacceptors and is called "endogenous heat" because it develops in the tissues that receive the IR rays [1].…”

“…IR rays find wide application in non-invasive aesthetic medicine, in beauty and wellness treatments. Appropriate devices are used for various types of treatments on the face, on the body and on the scalp and aimed essentially at stimulating the biological processes of the human tissues, particularly in body toning, for slimming, for non-surgical body remodelling, for non-surgical lymphedema treatment, for hair regrowth, photorejuvenation, in muscle recovery of athletes after training and sports performance and in relaxation treatments [1,22,23]. The devices, thanks to the technology with which they are built, their purpose and the possibility of adjusting the emission power, allow safe, painless and noninvasive treatments and are perfectly tolerated by the subject treated.…”

“…The devices that are included into these applications are the IR thermal blankets (called also sauna blankets or FIR blankets), the IR lipo laser paddles (called also soft laser), the IR heat lamps, the IR saunas and the IR caps (IR helmets) for hairdressers [1,2,21]. These devices allow to perform treatments on the whole body or localized treatments in specific areas, such as the thighs (for example in anti-cellulite treatments), the arms (for example to reduce fatty deposits or the bat wings blemish), the abdomen (to reduce fatty deposits) or scalp (for the treatment of alopecia, receding hairline, balding and thinning hair).…”

“…In addition, via IR lamps, infrared rays are used to improve the absorption of cosmetic products applied to the skin and for heating hair and scalp i.e. for permanent wave setting and for hair colouring [1].…”

“…The infrared (IR) is an invisible form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 780 nm and 1000 μm and it is divided into three different bands (according to standard ISO20473:2007): near-infrared, mid-infrared and farinfrared rays. Near-infrared rays (NIR) have the wavelengths between 0.78 μm and 3.0 μm, the midinfrared rays (MIR) have the wavelength between 3.0 μm and 50.0 μm and the far-infrared rays (FIR) have the wavelengths between 50.0 μm and 1000.0 μm [1,2]. IR rays are absorbed by living organisms [3] through photoacceptor molecules (endogenous chromophores) and are perceived as heat [4].…”