‘It sounds like witchcraft’: can light therapy really give you better skin, cleaner teeth, stronger joints?

Phototherapy is certainly having a moment. There are now available illuminated devices for everything from complexion problems and aging signs to sore muscles and oral inflammation, the newest innovation is a toothbrush outfitted with tiny red LEDs, marketed by the company as “a breakthrough in personal mouth health.” Globally, 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, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. Based on supporter testimonials, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, soothing sore muscles, reducing swelling and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It appears somewhat mystical,” notes a neuroscience expert, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Naturally, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Daylight-simulating devices are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to elevate spirits during colder months. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and dampens down inflammation,” notes a dermatology expert. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

The side-effects of UVB exposure, such as burning or tanning, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – that reduces potential hazards. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, thus exposure is controlled,” notes the specialist. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – unlike in tanning salons, where oversight might be limited, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and dermal rejuvenation, and activate collagen formation – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” comments the expert. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, amid the sea of devices now available, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. We don’t know the duration, ideal distance from skin surface, if benefits outweigh potential risks. Numerous concerns persist.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, bacteria linked to pimples. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – although, notes the dermatologist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. If it’s not medically certified, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

At the same time, in advanced research areas, researchers have been testing neural cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, but over 20 years ago, a physician creating light-based cold sore therapy requested his biological knowledge. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he says. “I remained doubtful. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, though, was its efficient water penetration, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. These organelles generate cellular energy, producing fuel for biological processes. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, even within brain tissue,” says Chazot, 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, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. In limited quantities these molecules, notes the scientist, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: free radical neutralization, anti-inflammatory, and waste removal – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Ongoing Study Progress and Specialist Evaluations

Upon examining current studies on light therapy for dementia, he states, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, incorporating his preliminary American studies