I would like to say thank you to the people in that thread for helping me out and answering my questions. There are a few pictures from fellow members of their DIY hats in that thread.
It’s 670nm and 810nm LEDs, about 300 LEDs each wavelength pulsing at 40hz in an old snowboard helmet.
I took some random photos and videos while I was building and just put it into a slide show app. So here is the video. Oh if you have any pics of your own DIY hats and are willing to share please do.
Your helmet uses 670nm and 810nm diodes in the near infrared range. I have a cheap FIR tent for sweating. I've read the purpose is to stimulate mitochondria. If so does it matter whether the diodes are on the skull or body? I sit in the tent and zip it up to my neck.
Hi. Red and NIR light do stimulate mitochondria I do not know if FIR does. From what I’ve researched and read, red and NIR on the head is one of the ideal spots for PD. Even if it’s a low power device like mine that I don’t believe penetrates the skull.
But red light can also have a systemic effect too. Meaning treating one area of a the body can have an effect on another part of the body. There are some good YouTube videos on a channel called “brain-PBM”. I think it’s a channel run by Massachusetts General Hospital which is quite good. Lots of great information.
I don’t know much about FIR. So I don’t know if any benefits will be had if applied to the head or if it is safe to do so. But I’m interested in learning more about FIR.
That is very creative of you to make your own red light therapy helmet. I think there is more and more science coming through indicating that red light therapy helps as well as pulsing. My husband just received his Neuropulse Pro from Neurowrap.com yesterday. It includes a mode for Parkinsons - cognitive support - which has a PEMF setting at 50Hz. As well, it has settings for red light therapy only including 630nm and 870nm combined.
Hi. I haven't calculated the actual cost probably around $300 or so. With enough spare parts to build a second helmet which i might for someone else. Yeah you could say I over complicated things a bit. I planned on a simple mesh hat but my brother handed me his old snowboard helmet to use. Then I got into switches, pulse controllers and the project spiraled out of control. Which for me probably was better as I needed a project to keep myself busy and the fingers and brain moving.
I've used red light only for about a 4 weeks and both red and NIR for another 4 weeks. So about 8 weeks now. I tried not think about it or look for any changes during that time. I'm going to start monitoring now and try and make a list. Also I'm gonna look back at my journal for the past year and start comparing things now that I started using the helmet.
I don't notice much during use though at times it can feel a bit relaxing. Initially I didn't notice anything after use. But lately, and I hate to be vague here, I "feel better". I can't really explain it. Before making this helmet I looked up a lot of old posts here on the use of red light hats to see what improvements members were experiencing. Some were mentioning return of sense of smell, better sleep, I think less tremor etc... But a few mentioned they just "felt better" and I scratched my head at that wondering what it meant. I'm just wondering if what I'm feeling is what they were describing.
I'm skeptical it has something to do with the red light but I was about one month into using red light only (not both wavelengths) when I had a check-up with my movement disorder specialist. I was having really bad day. Bad sleep, bad mood, Anxiety higher than normal, body felt weak. I just felt like garbage. I went to the check up and did the usual movement tests. Touching my nose then her finger, foot tapping, finger tapping, pull test jerking me back from behind etc... I asked out of curiosity if she could compare my results to 3 months back and my MDS said I scored better in each test compared to last time. Red light? I think its too hard to say even though my meds and diet and everything else stayed the same. I have another appointment with my MDS in 3 months so I'll see what happens then.
I hope to see some improvements in the symptoms that give me grief. But I can't pick what symptoms I want red light to potentially improve, so I just have to accept that too. Every persons response is different as well as the device they may be using. I don't know how my homemade device stands up to the expensive ones.
Along with trying to manage my diet, supplements, exercise I hope for the best. If say in one or two years I don't see much improvement in symptoms, but they haven't gotten any worse I'll take that too.
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