We spend roughly one third of our lives asleep.
That alone should tell us something.
Sleep isn't simply the period where we switch off at the end of the day. It is one of the most biologically active and important periods of our 24 hour cycle.
While we sleep, the brain consolidates memories, processes information and emotions, regulates hormones, supports immune function, and performs essential repair and maintenance.
And yet sleep is one of the areas of health that modern life has dramatically disrupted.
Stress. Artificial light. Late nights. Alcohol. Screens. Poor metabolic health. Chronic inflammation. Pain. Travel. Shift work. An overactive nervous system.
They can all interfere with our ability to achieve the deep, restorative sleep our body requires.
This is where mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy (mHBOT) and red light therapy, photobiomodulation, become particularly interesting.
Not because either should be considered a treatment for insomnia or a replacement for appropriate medical care.
But because both can influence some of the fundamental biological processes that allow the brain and body to recover, regulate, and function normally.
And good sleep is ultimately about recovery.
Sleep Requires Energy
It sounds contradictory.
If we're asleep, why would the body need energy?
Because sleep isn't inactivity.
The brain remains enormously active throughout the night. Memories are being processed and consolidated. Hormonal signals are changing. Neural networks are reorganising. Cellular repair is occurring. The immune system is regulating itself.
All of this requires energy.
And much of that energy comes back to the mitochondria.
Mitochondria generate ATP, the usable cellular energy required for virtually everything our cells do.
The brain is one of the most metabolically demanding organs in the human body, which means mitochondrial function and brain function are intimately connected.
When cellular energy production is compromised, the systems responsible for repair, neurological function and recovery are working with fewer resources.
So, supporting mitochondrial health isn't just about having more energy during the day.
It may also help create a better biological environment for recovery at night.
Two Different Modalities. A Similar Destination.
mHBOT and red light therapy approach cellular function from different directions.
With mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy, atmospheric pressure is increased while oxygen is breathed.
Under pressure, more oxygen can dissolve into the plasma and other body fluids, increasing oxygen availability beyond what haemoglobin alone normally carries.
This creates an environment that can influence oxygen delivery, mitochondrial metabolism, cellular signalling, circulation, inflammation, and repair.
Red and near-infrared light work differently.
Specific wavelengths of light interact with light-sensitive structures within our cells, particularly within the mitochondria.
One important target is cytochrome c oxidase, part of the mitochondrial respiratory chain responsible for producing ATP.
Photobiomodulation can influence mitochondrial respiration and cellular energy production while also affecting nitric oxide, circulation, oxidative stress, and inflammatory signalling.
So once again we arrive at two different pathways:
mHBOT increases pressure and oxygen availability.
Red and near-infrared light influence how cells produce energy and communicate.
Different mechanisms.
But both ultimately interact with cellular energy, circulation, inflammation and recovery, all of which become extremely relevant when we're talking about sleep.
The Nervous System Has to Know When to Switch Off
One of the most overlooked aspects of poor sleep is the nervous system.
Someone can be physically exhausted and still unable to sleep.
Why?
Because being tired and being physiologically ready for sleep are not necessarily the same thing.
Throughout the day, our autonomic nervous system constantly shifts between sympathetic activity, our more alert, activated state, and parasympathetic activity associated with rest, digestion and recovery.
The problem occurs when the body remains stuck in a heightened state of alertness.
The body is tired.
The brain is tired.
But the system hasn't received the message that it is safe to switch off.
This is why chronic stress can have such a profound effect on sleep.
Anything that supports healthier neurological function, reduces unnecessary inflammatory stress and improves recovery may potentially help create an internal environment more compatible with restorative sleep.
Red Light, Mitochondria and the Sleeping Brain
Photobiomodulation becomes particularly interesting when we look more closely at brain metabolism.
Red and near-infrared light have been shown to influence mitochondrial activity and ATP production, cerebral blood flow, and nitric oxide signalling.
Nitric oxide is important because it helps regulate blood vessels and circulation.
Better vascular function means tissues can more effectively receive oxygen and nutrients and remove metabolic by-products.
Photobiomodulation may also influence astrocytes, specialised cells in the brain that help support neurons and regulate the environment in which they function.
Astrocytes are involved in another fascinating aspect of sleep: adenosine.
Adenosine gradually accumulates during waking hours and contributes to what we call sleep pressure, that increasing biological drive to sleep the longer we remain awake.
Research is now exploring whether the effects of photobiomodulation on mitochondrial and astrocytic metabolism may influence these sleep-regulating pathways.
It's another reminder that sleep isn't simply about closing our eyes.
It is a highly coordinated metabolic process.
What About Melatonin?
Melatonin is often referred to simply as our "sleep hormone," but its biology is much broader.
It is an important signalling molecule involved in circadian rhythm, antioxidant protection, and mitochondrial function.
Red and near-infrared light are being investigated for their influence on melatonin and circadian biology, although this should not be confused with the powerful effect that visible light entering the eyes has on setting our circadian clock.
Morning daylight remains one of the most powerful natural signals available for regulating sleep and wakefulness.
Red light therapy should complement these biological fundamentals, not replace them.
Cleaning the Brain While We Sleep
One of the most fascinating developments in sleep science has been our understanding of the glymphatic system.
Think of it as part of the brain's housekeeping system.
During sleep, particularly deeper sleep, movement of fluid through the brain helps clear metabolic waste products that accumulate during waking hours.
Sleep therefore isn't simply giving the brain a rest.
It's helping the brain clean up after the day.
Photobiomodulation is now being investigated for its potential influence on cerebral circulation and glymphatic function.
Hyperbaric oxygen research is also exploring how improved oxygenation, reduced inflammation and changes in cerebral physiology may influence neurological recovery.
We still have much to learn, but the direction of this research is fascinating.
Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Sleep
There is another relationship that works both ways.
Poor sleep increases inflammation and oxidative stress.
And chronic inflammation and oxidative stress can make good sleep harder to achieve.
It becomes a cycle.
Sleep poorly.
Recover poorly.
Become more inflamed and stressed.
Sleep poorly again.
Both hyperbaric oxygen and photobiomodulation are being investigated for their ability to influence inflammatory and oxidative signalling.
Importantly, this isn't simply about trying to eliminate reactive oxygen species.
Some oxidative signalling is essential.
Both modalities can create controlled biological signals that stimulate the body's own adaptive and protective responses.
The goal isn't to remove every stressor.
It's to help the body become better at responding to stress.
Better Sleep Changes the Following Day
This is where the conversation becomes bigger than sleep.
Better sleep influences almost everything that happens after we wake up.
Memory.
Concentration.
Reaction time.
Mood.
Blood glucose regulation.
Hormones.
Immune function.
Training recovery.
Appetite.
Pain perception.
Stress tolerance.
Energy.
Decision-making.
This is why improving sleep can create such a profound ripple effect through someone's health.
It's not simply about feeling less tired.
It's about giving the body the opportunity to perform the biological maintenance it has been designed to perform every single night.
Red Light + mHBOT: Supporting the Environment for Sleep
Rather than asking whether mHBOT or red light therapy can "make someone sleep," it makes more sense to ask a different question:
Can we create a healthier biological environment in which the body is better able to regulate, recover and sleep naturally?
With mHBOT we're influencing pressure, oxygen availability and the physiological responses that follow.
With photobiomodulation we're influencing mitochondrial function, cellular signalling, circulation and potentially some of the neurological pathways involved in sleep regulation.
Both intersect with mitochondrial biology.
Both interact with inflammation and oxidative signalling.
Both have potential implications for neurological recovery.
And both can form part of a much bigger recovery strategy.
But the fundamentals still come first.
Morning sunlight.
Regular exercise.
Consistent sleep and waking times.
A dark bedroom.
Appropriate evening light exposure.
Good nutrition.
Stress management.
And giving the body enough time to actually sleep.
The technology should support our biology, never attempt to replace it.
Healthier Cells. Better Recovery. Better Sleep.
Sleep is not something that happens independently from the rest of our health.
A brain that is inflamed, metabolically stressed and constantly receiving signals of danger is functioning in a very different environment from one that is well nourished, adequately oxygenated, metabolically healthy, and able to move appropriately between activation and recovery.
mHBOT and red light therapy shouldn't be viewed as sleeping pills.
They don't sedate the brain.
And they aren't substitutes for diagnosing sleep apnoea, insomnia, or other sleep disorders.
They are health enhancing modalities that may help support some of the biological systems upon which healthy sleep depends.
And perhaps that's the most important distinction.
The objective isn't simply to knock ourselves out for eight hours.
It's to create a healthier body and brain that are capable of doing what they were designed to do naturally, switch off, repair, reorganise, recover, and wake up ready to function again.
Take Home Message
Sleep isn't simply about switching off. It's one of the most important periods of repair and recovery our body has.
mHBOT and red light therapy aren't sleeping pills, and they don't replace the foundations of good sleep. Instead, they may support some of the biology that healthy sleep relies on, cellular energy, oxygen availability, circulation, neurological function, and recovery.
The goal isn't to force sleep. It's to create a healthier internal environment where the brain and body are better able to switch off, repair, recover and wake ready for the day ahead.
Written by [CLINICAL AUTHOR], Medical Director, Breathe. Studios.