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

Phototherapy is clearly enjoying a surge in popularity. Consumers can purchase glowing gadgets for everything from complexion problems and aging signs as well as aching tissues and gum disease, the latest being an oral care tool outfitted with small red light diodes, marketed by the company as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Worldwide, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. 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. As claimed by enthusiasts, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and chronic health conditions as well as supporting brain health.

Understanding the Evidence

“It appears somewhat mystical,” observes Paul Chazot, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Of course, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, as well, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Artificial sun lamps frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to elevate spirits during colder months. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In rigorous scientific studies, 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, extending from long-wavelength radiation to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It affects cellular immune responses, “and suppresses swelling,” notes Dr Bernard Ho. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

UVB radiation effects, 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, so the dosage is monitored,” explains the dermatologist. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – different from beauty salons, where regulations may be lax, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Colored light diodes, he explains, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and skin cell regeneration, and stimulate collagen production – a primary objective in youth preservation. “Studies are available,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, amid the sea of devices now available, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, how close the lights should be to the skin, if benefits outweigh potential risks. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – even though, notes the dermatologist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he observes, however for consumer products, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Unless it’s a medical device, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in innovative scientific domains, 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 says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that claims seem exaggerated. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, however two decades past, 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 quite suspicious. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, which most thought had no biological effect.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” says Chazot, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is consistently beneficial.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, notes the scientist, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: free radical neutralization, inflammation reduction, and pro-autophagy – self-digestion mechanisms eliminating harmful elements.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he states, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, comprising his early research projects