More Than Meets the Eye

Light, warmth, and the unseen influences on how we feel

October has a way of making warmth feel especially welcome. The mornings are cooler, the days are shorter, and those cozy treatment tables become a little harder to leave.

Our TDP lamps are particularly popular this time of year. Several patients have enjoyed them enough to have us order one for their own homes. They do feel rather magical. There is something very satisfying about lying still under gentle warmth while watching leaves blow past the window or hearing raindrops hitting the roof.

But what is actually coming from those lamps? And how does it differ from the red light or cold laser we also use?

The answer takes us into the world of waves and frequency, and a reminder that something can have a real effect on us even when we cannot see it or fully explain how it works. Stay with me. I promise there will not be a quiz.

A rainbow is only part of the picture

The light we see is just a small part of a much larger spectrum. Different wavelengths give us different colors, and beyond those colors are waves our eyes cannot detect at all.

Infrared, for example, sits just beyond the red end of the rainbow. We cannot see it, but we can feel its warmth. Radio waves are invisible, too, yet they bring music into our cars. We happily sing along without giving their existence a second thought.

Sometimes I think about this when someone wonders how a needle near the elbow could possibly affect pain in the opposite knee. We can pick up a phone and instantly talk to someone halfway across the planet, but an effect traveling from one part of our own body to another feels hard to imagine.

The mechanisms are different, of course. What interests me is how easily we accept some things we cannot see, while others ask us to stretch our understanding a little.

Would you like the heat lamp?

By the time Julia has turned on the table heat and I’ve carefully arranged a cozy blanket over your needles, you might think we’ve reached maximum comfort. But there is one more option: the heat lamp.

These are called TDP lamps. They contain a heated, mineral-coated plate that gives off infrared energy, which your body absorbs as warmth. Patients often describe it as a deeply comforting heat, the kind that seems to sink into you.

Where we place it depends on what you need.

In Chinese medicine, warming the feet is one way we encourage energy to settle downward. I often offer it to patients with headaches, migraines, or even hot flashes. Warming someone who already feels hot might sound counterintuitive, but the idea is to bring warmth and attention down toward the feet. Of course, your comfort gets the final say.

The abdomen is another favorite spot. Chinese medicine places a great deal of importance on keeping our digestive center warm, and I often find patients appreciate gentle heat there when their belly feels tense or uncomfortable. If you have digestive troubles or menstrual cramps, there’s a good chance I’ll offer a lamp over your abdomen. Even in summer, I will sometimes crank up the AC and turn on the fan so we can keep the rest of you comfortable while warming the area that needs it!

Infrared heat encourages local circulation and can ease muscle tension, aches, and stiffness, making the low back, knees, and other sore areas good candidates.

Oh, and did I mention that it feels lovely even when there is no particular problem to address? Especially in October, or simply if your feet are cold.

Red light: bright, but without the heat

Red light is much more noticeable to your eyes, but it does not produce the warmth you feel under a TDP lamp. Its purpose is to support cellular activity and repair.

You may remember mitochondria, the “batteries” of the cell, from high school biology.

We don’t yet understand every detail of how red light works, but researchers believe certain wavelengths help these little powerhouses do their work, influencing the energy and signals cells use for repair.

The technical term is photobiomodulation. You are welcome to forget that word and simply enjoy your treatment.

At our clinic, we most often use red light for skin concerns, cosmetic improvement, superficial scars, and some types of rashes. We also use it for patients with nerve-related pain conditions, such as peripheral neuropathy and trigeminal neuralgia.

One patient had a rash on her shin that had been there for years. Within the first handful of red-light sessions, it cleared and has not returned. That is the kind of result that stays with me.

For acne, I sometimes combine red light with blue light. At specific wavelengths and treatment doses, blue light has an antibacterial effect against bacteria involved in acne, while red light helps address the inflammation and repair the tissue.

Cold laser: no ice involved

Cold laser is quieter still. You may barely notice anything happening.

Despite the name, there is no chill. “Cold” refers to a low-level laser. It uses a more concentrated beam of light, with a similar goal of supporting cellular responses involved in repair.

Different wavelengths of light reach different depths. Red light reaches the layers of skin where collagen is produced, which helps explain why it benefits skin. Near-infrared wavelengths, used in cold-laser devices, can reach farther into the tissue.

In our clinic, I often use cold laser for deep or stubborn scars and trigger points. From a Chinese medicine perspective, scars can disrupt the flow of energy through an area, so I consider them worth paying attention to, even long after they have healed.

C-section scars are a particular consideration. Since they run horizontally across the lower abdomen, they cross several energetic pathways that travel vertically through that area.

I generally use three five-minute rounds of cold laser. You might be resting there wondering whether anything is happening at all.

Sometimes a treatment can be doing something useful without giving you much to feel while it is happening.

What we observe matters, too

I have a bachelor’s degree in biology, and science has always been my favorite subject. In my teens and twenties, I wanted to understand everything: what was happening, why, and how we could use that knowledge to help people.

I still appreciate those explanations. But these days, I get more excited about seeing someone feel better than knowing every detail of why it happened.

Just this week, a patient emailed me to say, “I think I feel better than I did 20 years ago,” complete with a salsa-dancing woman and a smiley-face emoji. I was smiling, too.

We do not fully understand how acupuncture works, although research supports its use for several conditions. Those remaining questions should keep us curious. They should also leave room for the accumulated experience of Chinese medicine, which grew from centuries of observing nature, the body, and responses to treatment.

Published research deserves thoughtful questions, too. Who funded it? What was measured? What was left out?

I value research. I also value what I observe in the treatment room. When someone tells me they feel better than they have in twenty years, I want to understand why, but I don’t need the full explanation to appreciate what that change means to them.

And yes… our thoughts belong in this conversation

Last but not least, how we think matters.

Have you ever rehearsed an uncomfortable conversation and felt your shoulders tighten before it even happened? Or remembered something embarrassing and felt your face get warm, even though you were sitting alone?

Nothing has happened in the room. Yet something has certainly happened in your body.

Our thoughts shape what we notice, how we respond, and the actions we take. They are one part of the picture, and a part worth paying attention to.

As the days grow darker, perhaps a useful place to begin is with a little warmth, a little curiosity, and attention to what helps us feel better. We can notice that something helps before we understand every reason why.

There is more happening than our eyes can see. Sometimes we study it with instruments. But sometimes we notice it in a deeper breath, our jaw beginning to relax, or our shoulders finally settling downward.

With warmth, 

Allison, 

Licensed Acupuncturist & Owner, Basic Balance