Originally Posted by Azazello
I use a “ceramic infrared heat emitter for reptiles”. It comes in power ranging from 75W to 250W, either white or black color, costs around $10-$15 on Amazon. There is no visible light emitted. You will need a ceramic socket with a reflector or wire guard. I also protected the front of fixture with a fine metal mesh to prevent accidentally touching it. The 100W version I have needs to be positioned within 15 cm to heat well. To cover from 30 cm or more you may need a more powerful bulb. For US to not interfere I would probably get a 250W and position it far enough away.Tutt, do you use FIR throughout the whole routine as a complementary heat source?
Yes I use the FIR through the entire routine except during any cooldown phase. My lamp is so powerful that I have to keep it at least 25cm away or my leg skin can’t handle the heat for more than 5 minutes. The penis skin can handle much higher temps without pain, but is prone to burns if not careful. Also, a word of caution. The skin on the glans is a mucous membrane and not like the shaft. The combination of heat and vacuum simultaneously should be avoided entirely on the glans. If using a vacuum cup extender, make sure you shield the glans from the FIR heat during the treatment or you will risk blisters even at moderate loads of 3-5kg.
If you do get blisters on the glans at any time, do not pop them. Instead, gently clean the area and wrap the glans with a silicon protective cap often used with the vacuum cups. If you don’t have one of these, go to the store and get silicon toe shields. Wear one of these night and day for about 5 days. If you do this, the blisters will not scab over and the new skin will regenerate in less than a week and you can go right back to PE.
Regarding the lamps. If budget is a concern, those reptile heaters are fine. They actually don’t produce much energy in the FIR range. They have a bandwidth of 1-10um but a peak wavelength around 3um and produce about 80% of their light around that peak. TDP lamps have a broader bandwidth of 1-50um and the peak wavelength is typically between 10 and 20um. So the reptile heaters are mostly MIR with a bit of FIR, while the TDP is mostly FIR with a bit of MIR. Arguably the TDP lamps are better, but are they really worth 10x the cost? You decide.