‘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 wave of attention. You can now buy light-emitting tools designed to address complexion problems and aging signs along with sore muscles and gum disease, the newest innovation is an oral care tool outfitted with tiny red LEDs, described by its makers as “a major advance in at-home oral care.” Worldwide, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. According to its devotees, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, boosting skin collagen, soothing sore muscles, reducing swelling and persistent medical issues and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Artificial sun lamps are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to elevate spirits during colder months. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Types of Light Therapy

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. During advanced medical investigations, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, finding the right frequency is key. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, extending from long-wavelength radiation to short-wavelength gamma rays. Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It modulates intracellular immune mechanisms, “and dampens down inflammation,” notes a skin specialist. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to 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 understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – meaning smaller wavelengths – that reduces potential hazards. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. And crucially, 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.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, enhance blood flow, oxygen uptake and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – an important goal for anti-aging. “Studies are available,” comments the expert. “However, it’s limited.” Regardless, with numerous products on the market, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, proper positioning requirements, the risk-benefit ratio. There are lots of questions.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, bacteria linked to pimples. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – even though, explains the specialist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he observes, though when purchasing home devices, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. Without proper medical classification, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

At the same time, in advanced research areas, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Pretty much everything I did with the light at that particular wavelength was positive and protective,” he reports. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, however two decades past, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I remained doubtful. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, which most thought had no biological effect.”

What it did have going for it, however, was its efficient water penetration, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. These organelles generate cellular energy, creating power for cellular operations. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is generally advantageous.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, says Chazot, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: oxidative protection, swelling control, and waste removal – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Ongoing Study Progress and Specialist Evaluations

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he states, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, incorporating his preliminary American studies