Has anyone heard of using LEDs to increase post surgical healing rates and accelerate hair growth? I've read some of the research NASA has done with these things and I'm thinking of buying one for myself. They are fairly expensive, so before I do, does anyone have any knowledge, experience or reccomendations re: Infrared LEDs pro or con?

read up on the lasercomb pros/cons about 5 topics down.

In other words steer clear. Try MSM, a much cheaper option!

LED's for wound healing are not the same thing as laser comb. LED treatment accelerates healing of skin, reduce redness and improves the appearance of skin. Light Emitting Diodes are not used to regrow hair. Diabetics at University of Chicago have been using LED treatments to improve healing of wounds resistant to healing.

I don't know what kind of light source a "lasercomb" uses, but LED treatments do improve rate of healing and might do so on the scalp after surgery.

Thanks for the explanation Paul. But I'm not sure whether an LED treatment would be of any benefit in this case. The way I see it, it could only interfere with the growth, and from my experience the recipient area heals perfectly fine & fast without external intervention. Perhaps it could be used only on the donor area, where any means of "improving the appearance" are obviously welcome!

Well, I've done a bit if research since my last post. Apparently, LEDs will work and are being used to accelerate healing after hair surgery and other injuries. Infrared light between 660nm and 900nm delivered via LED or low level laser will have the effect of accelerating cellular activity. Check out the research (www.laser.nu) DNA and RNA sythesis under infrared light triples. ATP production 4X greater. Increases in the blood gas nitric oxide (a known vasodilator). Beneficial changes in cell membrane permeability reported. Mitochodrial activity increased. Doubling reported in production of collagen and elastin. Growth hormones increased. Lyphatic drainage increased. Injured tissue granulation rates, blood oxygen levels and fibroblastic activity increases. Even serotonin and acetylecholine levels go up after just twenty minutes of exposure to these lights. Amazing huh? the effects of exposure to these lights are not just topical, they are systemic. So, these lights will help heal you faster, and theoretically, these lights should significantly accelerate hair and nail growth.

Good info, but I'd like to see it recommended by one of the top HT docs... You say it's "being used after hair surgery": where?