🔗 Share this article

Light therapy is definitely experiencing a surge in popularity. There are now available illuminated devices designed to address skin conditions and wrinkles along with sore muscles and periodontal issues, recently introduced is a toothbrush enhanced with small red light diodes, marketed by the company as “a significant discovery for domestic dental hygiene.” 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, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. As claimed by enthusiasts, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, boosting skin collagen, easing muscle tension, alleviating inflammatory responses and persistent medical issues as well as supporting brain health.

The Science and Skepticism

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes a Durham University professor, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Certainly, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, 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. Sunlight-imitating lamps 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

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. During advanced medical investigations, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Therapeutic light application 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 for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and dampens down inflammation,” says a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than 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 Considerations and Medical Oversight

Potential UVB consequences, like erythema or pigmentation, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, so the dosage is monitored,” says Ho. Most importantly, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where it’s a bit unregulated, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, though they might benefit some issues.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, help boost blood circulation, oxygen absorption and cell renewal in the skin, and stimulate collagen production – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Studies are available,” comments the expert. “However, it’s limited.” Nevertheless, given the plethora of available tools, “we don’t know whether or not the lights emitted are reflective of the research that has been done. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, ideal distance from skin surface, the risk-benefit ratio. Many uncertainties remain.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, a microbe associated with acne. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – although, notes the dermatologist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he observes, however for consumer products, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Unless it’s a medical device, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

At the same time, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, Chazot has been experimenting with brain 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. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – that it’s too good to be true. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, however two decades past, 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 recalls. “I remained doubtful. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

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

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” says Chazot, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is always very good.”

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, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: antioxidant, swelling control, and pro-autophagy – 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, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, including his own initial clinical trials in the US