🔗 Share this article

Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a surge in popularity. There are now available glowing gadgets targeting issues like skin conditions and wrinkles along with muscle pain and periodontal issues, the newest innovation is an oral care tool enhanced with tiny red LEDs, promoted by the creators as “a significant discovery in at-home oral care.” 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, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. Based on supporter testimonials, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, stimulating skin elasticity, relaxing muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes a Durham University professor, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Certainly, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Sunlight-imitating lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. During advanced medical investigations, including research on infrared’s impact on neural cells, finding the right frequency is key. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, extending from long-wavelength radiation to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Phototherapy, or light therapy employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and suppresses swelling,” notes Dr Bernard Ho. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

Potential UVB consequences, including sunburn or skin darkening, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – that reduces potential hazards. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, thus exposure is controlled,” explains the dermatologist. And crucially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where regulations may be lax, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, though they might benefit some issues.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, enhance blood flow, oxygen absorption and cell renewal in the skin, and stimulate collagen production – a primary objective in youth preservation. “Studies are available,” states the dermatologist. “However, it’s limited.” Regardless, amid the sea of devices now available, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, proper positioning requirements, if benefits outweigh potential risks. There are lots of questions.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, microorganisms connected to breakouts. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – although, explains the specialist, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, 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

Simultaneously, in innovative scientific domains, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, 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 states. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that it’s too good to be true. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, but over 20 years ago, 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 explains. “I was quite suspicious. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, that nobody believed did anything biological.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. 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, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is generally advantageous.”

With 1070 treatment, cellular power plants create limited oxidative molecules. In low doses this substance, says Chazot, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, preserve cell function and eliminate damaged proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: oxidative protection, anti-inflammatory, and cellular cleanup – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

Upon examining current studies on light therapy for dementia, he reports, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, comprising his early research projects