FlexBeam and the Sun: How Near-Infrared Light Really Compares
FlexBeam and the Sun: How Near-Infrared Light Really Compares
Sunlight does more than light up the day. It delivers near-infrared light—an invisible wavelength that interacts deeply with the body and supports cellular energy and recovery.
FlexBeam is designed around this same principle.
To understand how they relate, it helps to look at how near-infrared light works, and why how it’s delivered matters.
Near-infrared: the part of sunlight people don’t talk about
When thinking about the sun and it’s health benefits, people usually think about visible light or different effects of UV light. Red light therapy has secured its place in the conversations about skin rejuvenation. However, near-infrared wavelengths are those that penetrate deeper underneath the skin and offer more systematic and topical health benefits.
Namely, this part of the light spectrum reaches mitochondria and helps cellular energy production, and consequently recovery processes. All this happens in an entirely safe manner without tanning, sunburn, and other side effects.
So, if it is safe and effective, what might be the downside of getting your daily dose of near-infrared therapy from the sun? The answer is simple - the delivery is not that reliable or stable. The amount of NIR that actually reaches the body changes constantly and is influenced by several external and behavioral factors:
- Season and latitude: At the higher latitudes, the sun sits lower in the sky for much of the year, making the light scattered so not enough of it reaches the skin.
- Time of day and sun angle: Near-infrared intensity peaks when the sun is high and drops sharply in the morning, late afternoon, and winter months.
- Cloud cover and atmospheric conditions: Even thin cloud layers or pollution can significantly reduce effective NIR exposure.
- Clothing, posture, and duration: What areas of the body are exposed, how directly light hits the skin, and how long you remain outside all shape the final dose.
As a result, sunlight can provide meaningful near-infrared exposure. However, not in a way that is predictable, repeatable, or easy to quantify. That variability is part of what makes sunlight biologically powerful, but also why it is not as effective for healing purposes.
What FlexBeam Program 3 delivers
FlexBeam Program 3 delivers precisely the clinically relevant dose of near-infrared light, but in a way that is convenient, predictable, unconditioned by external factors, and without the necessity to endure the side effects of UV. In other words, all the best of the sun without the downsides.
In a single 10-minute session, Program 3 delivers approximately:
- ~44 J/cm² of near-infrared light
- Delivered locally, at a fixed distance
- Indoors, without UV exposure
- The same dose every session
This is the key difference: FlexBeam is not dependent on weather, season, or geography. When dose, distance, and duration are fixed, the body receives a stimulus that can be repeated day after day, year-round.
How long would you need in the sun to get the same dose?
Let’s explain what the dose actually means in this context. For the sake of explanation, it helps to translate energy into something more tangible: time spent in the sun. While sunlight can deliver meaningful amounts of near-infrared light, the time required to reach a therapeutic dose will vary with the conditions.
A dose around ~44 J/cm² sits within this clinically relevant window. It reflects the amount of near-infrared energy needed at the tissue level to produce a meaningful biological effect, rather than just surface-level exposure. The examples below illustrate how those differences play out.
| 10 minutes | 20 to 30 minutes | 30-75 minutes | 1.5 to 6+ hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FlexBeam Program 3. | Ideal summer conditions. Clear sky, sun high. | Average yearly conditions. Including mixing cloudy days, lower sun angles, and shorter exposures. | Winter sun in Oslo. Low sun angle, often cloudy. |
Even with the perfect conditions at play, FlexBeam delivers the dose faster and more consistently.
Why this comparison matters
Sunlight delivers health benefits beyond recovery. The exposure to sun is essential and irreplaceable for overall health. However, therapeutic use of near-infrared light asks a different question than general sun exposure. It’s not about how much light there is, it’s about whether a specific, effective dose can be delivered intentionally, repeatedly, and to the area that needs it.
In that context, sunlight has clear limitations:
- Inconsistent: Near-infrared exposure varies widely with season, time of day, weather, and geography.
- Difficult to dose: There’s no practical way to measure how much NIR actually reaches tissue during sun exposure.
- Untargeted: Sunlight delivers light broadly, not to a specific area of concern.
- UV exposure: Prolonged or repeated exposure often comes with UV, which isn’t part of therapeutic NIR use.
FlexBeam doesn’t aim to replace the sun. It complements it by offering a different kind of exposure, the one designed for controlled use:
- Precision: A known, repeatable dose every session
- Targeting: Delivered directly to the area of interest
- Consistency: Independent of season, weather, or location
- Convenience: Ten minutes, indoors, on your schedule
The comparison matters because it highlights the difference between ambient exposure and intentional therapy, and why each has a distinct role.
The takeaway
FlexBeam does not replace the sun. And it never tries to.
It won’t stimulate vitamin D production. It won’t reset your circadian rhythm, lift your mood with natural brightness, or replicate the sensory and psychological benefits of being outdoors on a sunny day—the warmth, the movement, the sense of space that only natural light provides.
What FlexBeam does is something far more specific.
It isolates one biologically active component of sunlight—near-infrared light—and delivers it with intention. The same dose. At the same distance. To the area that needs it. Session after session.
That level of control allows near-infrared exposure to be used not just incidentally, but therapeutically. For both localized applications, where deeper tissues need targeted support, and systemic effects, where consistent signaling matters more than environmental variability.
Sunlight remains essential for overall health. FlexBeam exists for moments when healing and recovery call for precision, consistency, and repeatability—something nature, powerful as it is, doesn’t always provide on demand.