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

Phototherapy is clearly enjoying a wave of attention. There are now available light-emitting tools designed to address complexion problems and aging signs to muscle pain and gum disease, recently introduced is a toothbrush outfitted with tiny red LEDs, marketed by the company as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” Internationally, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. Based on supporter testimonials, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, easing muscle tension, alleviating inflammatory responses and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It feels almost magical,” observes a Durham University professor, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Of course, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, as well, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Artificial sun lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to elevate spirits during colder months. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Types of Light Therapy

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, 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, finding the right frequency is key. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and finally infrared detectable with special equipment.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” notes a dermatology expert. “There’s lots of evidence for phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

Potential UVB consequences, like erythema or pigmentation, are well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” says Ho. Essentially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where regulations may be lax, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Colored light diodes, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, though they might benefit some issues.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, improve circulatory function, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and stimulate collagen production – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “The evidence is there,” says Ho. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, proper positioning requirements, the risk-benefit ratio. There are lots of questions.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, bacteria linked to pimples. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – although, explains the specialist, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he mentions, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. Unless it’s a medical device, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

At the same time, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, identifying a number of ways in which infrared can boost cellular health. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he reports. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – 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 physician creating light-based cold sore therapy requested his biological knowledge. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he explains. “I was quite suspicious. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, though, was that it travelled through water easily, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, producing fuel for biological processes. “Every cell in your body has 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 always very good.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. At controlled levels these compounds, explains the expert, “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: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and pro-autophagy – 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, incorporating his preliminary American studies