🔗 Share this article

Phototherapy is clearly enjoying a wave of attention. You can now buy light-emitting tools for everything from dermatological concerns and fine lines as well as sore muscles and gum disease, the newest innovation is a toothbrush enhanced with miniature red light sources, described by its makers as “a major advance in at-home oral care.” 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, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. Based on supporter testimonials, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, stimulating skin elasticity, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and long-term ailments as well as supporting brain health.

The Science and Skepticism

“It appears somewhat mystical,” notes a Durham University professor, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Certainly, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, as well, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Daylight-simulating devices are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to elevate spirits during colder months. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Different Light Modalities

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. During advanced medical investigations, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Light-based treatment utilizes intermediate light frequencies, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and finally infrared detectable with special equipment.

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It works on the immune system within cells, “and suppresses swelling,” explains a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” 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

UVB radiation effects, such as burning or tanning, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – meaning smaller wavelengths – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” notes the specialist. Essentially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – different from beauty salons, where regulations may be lax, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Colored light diodes, he explains, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, though they might benefit some issues.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and skin cell regeneration, and promote collagen synthesis – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “The evidence is there,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” Nevertheless, given the plethora of available tools, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, ideal distance from skin surface, if benefits outweigh potential risks. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, a microbe associated with acne. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – even though, says Ho, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he mentions, though when purchasing home devices, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Without proper medical classification, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

Simultaneously, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, researchers have been testing neural cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Pretty much everything I did with the light at that particular wavelength was positive and protective,” he says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that it’s too good to be true. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, though twenty years earlier, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he says. “I remained doubtful. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

Its beneficial characteristic, nevertheless, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, including the brain,” notes the researcher, 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, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In limited quantities these molecules, explains the expert, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and pro-autophagy – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

Upon examining current studies on light therapy for dementia, he says, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, including his own initial clinical trials in the US