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

Phototherapy is certainly having a surge in popularity. Consumers can purchase glowing gadgets targeting issues like skin conditions and wrinkles along with aching tissues and oral inflammation, the newest innovation is a dental hygiene device outfitted with tiny red LEDs, marketed by the company as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. Based on supporter testimonials, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, boosting skin collagen, easing muscle tension, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions while protecting against dementia.

Research and Reservations

“It appears somewhat mystical,” observes a Durham University professor, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Of course, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, additionally, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Artificial sun lamps frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to elevate spirits during colder months. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Different Light Modalities

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. During advanced medical investigations, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Phototherapy, or light therapy employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It works on the immune system within cells, “and suppresses swelling,” says a dermatology expert. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

UVB radiation effects, like erythema or pigmentation, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – that reduces potential hazards. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, meaning intensity is regulated,” notes the specialist. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where oversight might be limited, and wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he notes, “don’t have strong medical applications, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red light devices, some suggest, help boost blood circulation, oxygen uptake and skin cell regeneration, and activate collagen formation – a primary objective in youth preservation. “Studies are available,” comments the expert. “However, it’s limited.” Nevertheless, amid the sea of devices now available, “we don’t know whether or not the lights emitted are reflective of the research that has been done. We don’t know the duration, ideal distance from skin surface, the risk-benefit ratio. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – although, says Ho, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, though when purchasing home devices, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. Unless it’s a medical device, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in advanced research areas, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he states. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that claims seem exaggerated. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, but over 20 years ago, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he explains. “I was pretty sceptical. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, which most thought had no biological effect.”

What it did have going for it, though, was that it travelled through water easily, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” says Chazot, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is generally advantageous.”

With 1070 treatment, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In low doses this substance, explains the expert, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: oxidative protection, inflammation reduction, 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 says, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, comprising his early research projects