‘It seems like sorcery’: is light therapy truly capable of improving your skin, whitening your teeth, and strengthening your joints?

Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a surge in popularity. There are now available illuminated devices targeting issues like skin conditions and wrinkles along with muscle pain and periodontal issues, the newest innovation is a toothbrush equipped with small red light diodes, marketed by the company as “a major advance in at-home oral care.” Worldwide, the sector valued at $1bn last year is expected to increase to $1.8bn within the next decade. You can even go and sit in an infrared sauna, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. Based on supporter testimonials, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, boosting skin collagen, soothing sore muscles, relieving inflammation and persistent medical issues while protecting against dementia.

The Science and Skepticism

“It feels almost magical,” says a Durham University professor, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Naturally, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, as well, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Sunlight-imitating lamps are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, finding the right frequency is key. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to short-wavelength gamma rays. Phototherapy, or light therapy employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It affects cellular immune responses, “and dampens down inflammation,” explains a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (typically emitting red, infrared or blue wavelengths) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

The side-effects of UVB exposure, like erythema or pigmentation, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – meaning smaller wavelengths – that reduces potential hazards. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. And crucially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – unlike in tanning salons, where regulations may be lax, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, though they might benefit some issues.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” says Ho. “However, it’s limited.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. Optimal treatment times are unknown, how close the lights should be to the skin, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Numerous concerns persist.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, a microbe associated with acne. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – even though, says Ho, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. If it’s not medically certified, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

At the same time, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he states. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that claims seem exaggerated. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, but over 20 years ago, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He developed equipment for cellular and insect experiments,” he recalls. “I was pretty sceptical. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, which most thought had no biological effect.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was its efficient water penetration, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, creating power for cellular operations. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, who prioritized neurological investigations. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is always very good.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. At controlled levels these compounds, notes the scientist, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: free radical neutralization, inflammation reduction, and waste removal – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he reports, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, including his own initial clinical trials in the US