This ritual is not modern.
It is ancient.
It is the biological order of things, rediscovered.
Because long before humans understood the concept of ultraviolet radiation, long before sunscreen and dermatology and the myths of modern light avoidance, our species learned the sun through sequence.
Red first.
UV later.
That order shaped our physiology.
And even now, beneath the architecture of cities and screens, the skin still remembers the pattern it was shaped by.
This is the forgotten story of skin preconditioning.
Preconditioning with Red & NIR Light Therapy
This article will explore how red and near-infrared light prepare the skin for sunlight. It dives into the biology of photobiological preconditioning, where exposure to beneficial wavelengths activates and builds resilience against potential UV stressors. We’ll look at how the skin craves certain signals to remain aligned and resilient, how modern living disrupted that relationship, and how targeted light therapy helps restore it.
Index:
Part I. Before Light Was a Technology
Part II. What the Skin Actually Remembers
Part III. The Evidence That Brings the Story Into the Present
PART IV. An Australian Surfer Rediscovers an Ancient Pattern
Part V. Chroma’s Answer to a Biological Problem
Part VI. The Skin Remembers
Part I. Before Light Was a Technology
Dawn Was the First Instruction
Before electricity.
Before buildings.
Before the dim glow of screens.
There was firelight.
And there was dawn.
Humans woke each day not to alarms but to long wavelength photons meeting the skin.
These wavelengths penetrated deeply, warming tissue, activating mitochondria, and preparing every cell for the demands of the coming day.
This was not considered therapy.
It was simply the fabric of life.
Every morning began with gentle infrared.
Only later did the intensity of UV climb overhead.
This sequence was not random.
It was the body’s training ground.
The quiet rehearsal before the stress of midday.
We evolved inside that rhythm.
And our skin learned the order of light long before it learned anything else.
The Skin Learned the Sun Through Pattern, Not Pain
Early humans spent the entire day outside.
Light changed gradually.
Tissue adapted gradually.
Infrared in the morning activated mitochondrial pathways.
Inflammation control systems awakened.
The machinery of energy and repair was primed.
Then, hours later, UV appeared.
A stressor, yes.
But a familiar one.
One that arrived only after the body had already prepared.
By the time midday arrived, melanin pathways were active.
DNA repair enzymes were circulating.
Antioxidant systems were primed.
Skin was not surprised by the sun.
It was trained for it.
This was the evolutionary contract.
Red first.
Then UV.
The modern world broke that contract the moment humans stepped indoors.
The Modern Skin Is Asked To Perform Without Training
If ancient humans adapted to the sun through gradual exposure, modern humans meet it through shock.
Most people wake up indoors.
They go straight from darkness to artificial light.
If they did not see the sun coming over the horizon in glorious yellows and oranges. They missed the dawn sequence.
The first time their skin sees the sun each day is often through a window, which blocks UVB and distorts the spectrum.
Or it is at noon, rushing around doing errands.
Or it is during a weekend binge of “getting sun” to make up for a week spent inside.
This is the opposite of what we evolved for.
The skin goes from unprepared to overwhelmed.
From low mitochondrial activity to high UV intensity.
From zero warm up to full stress load.
The result is predictable.
- Faster burning
- More inflammation
- Less efficient DNA repair
- Greater oxidative stress
- Accelerated aging of the skin
Not because the sun is dangerous.
But because the skin never received the rehearsal it was designed to receive.
Modern light exposure is out of order, out of context, and out of rhythm.
Preconditioning used to happen naturally every single morning.
Now it rarely happens at all.
Part II. What the Skin Actually Remembers
The Skin Is Not a Surface. It Is a Memory System.
The skin is often treated as a barrier.
But biologically, it is an intelligent network of sensors, communicators, and learners.
It tracks light.
It tracks temperature.
It tracks injuries.
And so on.
Every sunrise once trained it.
Every shift in the spectrum provided information.
Cells remembered that pattern because survival depended on it.
This memory is not metaphorical.
It is molecular.
Light changes mitochondrial potential, gene expression, redox balance, enzyme activation, and structural proteins.
Each exposure creates a change.
The next exposure builds on it.
Over a lifetime, this becomes resilience.
Photobiological Preconditioning: The Ancient Warm Up Re-Explained
Modern research uses the term photobiological preconditioning. But the concept is older than language.
Preconditioning means exposing a system to beneficial stress before real stress arrives. It is the same principle behind warming up muscles before a sprint to train the nervous system.
In the skin, the warm up is red and near infrared light.
These wavelengths interact with mitochondria, the energy and hormone regulators in every cell. When mitochondria receive red and NIR light, several changes occur:
- ATP production increases
- Antioxidant defenses strengthen
- Repair genes activate
- Reactive oxygen species are modulated
- Tissue becomes more resilient to future stress
This is hormesis. Mild challenge creates a stronger system.
UV exposure is a natural stressor. But the body evolved to meet it after mitochondrial readiness had been established.
This is why red before UV is not optional for optimal function.
It is fundamental biology.
Part III. The Evidence That Brings the Story Into the Present
What Research Shows About Red Light and UV Resilience
Today, studies confirm what evolution already encoded.
Animal models show that red and near infrared exposure before UV results in:
- Less oxidative damage
- Lower inflammation
- Reduced collagen breakdown
- Stronger structural proteins
- A more controlled stress response
A 2024 study using hairless mice found that 630nm red light significantly reduced UVB induced tissue damage and preserved Claudin 1, a key barrier protein responsible for keeping the skin resilient (PMC11202801).
Another experiment demonstrated that 670nm light shifted gene expression, suppressing inflammatory pathways like COX 2 and iNOS that normally spike after UV exposure (PMC4605358).
Human trials combining preconditioning and UV are still emerging, but we already have strong clues.
Red and near infrared light:
- Stimulate mitochondrial repair
- Increase collagen density
- Improve skin structure
- Enhance wound healing
- Reduce inflammation
- Strengthen tissue without causing DNA damage
The mechanism aligns.
The results align.
Evolution aligns.
Light is not just energy.
It is preparation.
PART IV. An Australian Surfer Rediscovers an Ancient Pattern
A surfer from the Gold Coast of Australia uses his Chroma setup in the early morning.
A custom Promethean Portal with only Ironforge devices.
A full body dose of dawn wavelengths before entering the sun and salt.
He noticed something within weeks.
He did not burn as easily.
His skin recovered quicker after extended exposure.
And his tan deepened.
Not just in a cosmetic way. But in a resilient way.
He did not know the term preconditioning. He simply followed intuition. And his biology responded exactly as predicted.
Anecdotal, yes.
But aligned with every mechanism we understand.
Clearing Up the Biggest Misconception
Red light therapy does not produce vitamin D.
Only UVB can do that.
But red and NIR change how the skin handles UVB.
They change the conditions in which UVB is received.
They change the state of the skin before UVB arrives.
And that state can shape how efficiently vitamin D is produced.
UVB is a stressor.
To create vitamin D, the skin must absorb that stress without slipping into inflammation.
If the tissue panics, it redirects resources toward damage control rather than vitamin D synthesis.
This is where preconditioning matters.
When the skin is primed. This means more UVB can be used instead of fought. More photons can go toward vitamin D synthesis rather than toward stress signalling.
While red light will never replace UVB. It can clear the runway.
To build the cellular environment where vitamin D production can occur more efficiently and with less collateral damage.
Professional Use and Performance
Athletes were among the first modern adopters of light preconditioning.
Red and NIR light are now widely used to reduce inflammation, accelerate recovery, and enhance tissue resilience before stress.
Professional sports teams use it before training sessions to prime muscles, before travel to mitigate jet lag, and before competition to optimize performance.
That same logic applies to the skin.
It’s not about vanity. It’s about physiology.
Preparing tissue for stress, physical, oxidative, or UV, is the essence of resilience.
And resilience is trainable.
Part V. Chroma’s Answer to a Biological Problem
Why We Build the Devices We Build
The concept of preconditioning is simple.
Expose the body to the right light, in the right dose, at the right time, and the system adapts.
That is exactly what Chroma builds for.
Our devices are tuned for biological accuracy.
Each wavelength chosen with purpose.
For skin preconditioning, the Chroma Red and NIR systems are ideal such as the Ironforge.
They deliver the wavelengths shown to fortify the skin against oxidative and inflammatory stress before UV exposure. Used consistently, they help the skin hold structure under pressure, rather than collapse into inflammation.
Then there’s the Chroma Trinity.
This is our all-in-one system designed to bring light back into alignment with time.
Red & NIR wavelengths for pre-conditioning. Cyans, Violets and UVA for morning circadian cues. Narrowband UVB for midday vitamin D production.
All unified in one device.
Every Chroma device is purpose built to restore communication between your cells and the light environment they evolved for.
Not to hack biology.
But to remember and honor it.
Part VI. The Skin Remembers
Every sunrise used to train us.
Every fire once healed us.
Every wavelength carried meaning.
Today, we rebuild that relationship consciously.
Red before UV. Repair before stress.
Remembering before forgetting.
The skin doesn’t need to be told what to do. It just needs the right signal.
And when it receives that signal, it responds like it always has.
The skin remembers.
It always did.
