Bechterew's disease and rheumatism patients experience less pain thanks to IR

Treatment with infrared light (IR) reduces stiffness and pain in the joints almost immediately. This is the conclusion of an exploratory Dutch study involving 17 people with ankylosing spondylitis and 16 people with rheumatoid arthritis. The study was conducted by researchers at Saxion University of Applied Sciences and published in Clinical Rheumatology.

Both ankylosing spondylitis (also known as Bechterew's disease) and rheumatoid arthritis are autoimmune diseases in which the immune system mistakenly attacks tissue in the joints, causing chronic inflammation. This results in stiffness, pain and, in the long term, potentially serious damage to the joint. In ankylosing spondylitis, the inflammation is located in the pelvis and spine, while in rheumatoid arthritis, it can occur in all joints.

The subjects in the Dutch study were undergoing treatment. During the four weeks of the experiment, the patients did not change their medication. However, they supplemented their treatment with two infrared sessions per week during that period. In total, the subjects underwent 60 minutes of IR light irradiation each week.

Both groups of patients benefited from the IR treatment, but the positive effects were strongest in the Bechterew group. Almost immediately after treatment, patients in the latter group reported a reduction in joint stiffness and pain of no less than sixty percent. In the rheumatoid arthritis group, stiffness and pain decreased by forty and fifty percent, respectively.

The researchers were unable to demonstrate any long-term positive effects. However, they did find that, at the end of the four-week experiment, joint stiffness in the rheumatoid arthritis subjects had decreased significantly. Four weeks later, however, this positive effect had disappeared.

It is not clear exactly how IR light can improve joint function in people with autoimmune diseases. One theory is that IR light improves heart and blood vessel function, allowing the body to remove more waste products from the joints and supply more nutrients. This reduces inflammation and allows the body to build more healthy tissue in the joints.

Another theory is that IR light reduces the activity of the immune cells that attack tissue in the joints. This also leads to a reduction in inflammation and a decrease in pain and stiffness.