Lisa Neville is "chief enlightenment officer" for the Redjuvenate light therapy lounge. Photo via Lisa Neville

Redjuvenate, a new light therapy lounge, will host its grand opening Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7077 N. West Ave., suite 103, near Herndon Avenue.

The owners are renting two rooms inside an existing business, Braunzed and Bare, which offers sugaring, tanning and esthetician work.

The lounge was founded by Lisa Neville and Kimberlee Moody, both of whom carry the title “chief enlightenment officer.”

Light therapy uses artificial light to treat various health conditions, including seasonal affective disorder, acne, sleep disorders, arthritis, anxiety, hair loss and inflammation.

Neville’s background is as a rehab yoga instructor, working at the Sierra Pacific Orthopedic Center.

She said she was spurred into starting the business after seeing the benefits it brought to Moody — her yoga client — after going through light therapy.

“That took me to look into this a little bit more on my own,” Neville said.

She searched for places offering light therapy treatment, but couldn’t find one.

Neville did find a fluorescent light treatment lounge, rather than LED light. The practice used converted tanning beds, and they gave off more heat than light waves, she added.

The light options at Redjuvenate are red light, which treats injuries and reduces pain; near-infrared light, used to promote deep muscle and recovery; green light for its calming effects; and blue light to enhance mood, focus, attention and skin appearance.

Light therapy could also help with certain side effects of cancer treatment, such as mucositis, which causes sores in the mouth, white patches or pus on the tongue and bad breath, Neville said.

 

She said people are mostly unaware of the science behind light therapy, which can be traced back about 50 years to a Hungarian scientist using it to promote hair growth on rats, Neville said.

It was also used in NASA experiments in the 1980s for plant growth in space, which was then used on returning astronauts for muscle growth.

There are no long-term effects associated with red light as there is with tanning beds or exposure to sunlight, which has UV rays, she said.

Neville said the nearest places that offer treatment like Redjuvenate are in Southern California and the Bay Area.

“Most of the places we found in Fresno County that claim to have light therapy usually have infrared, which is a heating mechanism bed, or fluorescent lights,” Neville said.

The grand opening goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, with free mini sessions and grand opening specials.

Other business owners planning to attend the opening event in support include the owners of Pretty Pickie Boutique; Happy Hat Co., a mobile custom hat bar; permanent jewelry studio Linked and Wild Flower Girls, with food provided by Hummus Republic.

District 2 Councilmember Mike Karbassi will also attend the ribbon cutting, which will also offer tours, Neville said.

“We hope we can see the masses take the opportunity that Fresno now has,” she added.