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

Light-based treatment is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. You can now buy illuminated devices for everything from dermatological concerns and fine lines along with muscle pain and oral inflammation, the latest being a toothbrush equipped with small red light diodes, promoted by the creators as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Internationally, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. According to its devotees, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, stimulating skin elasticity, easing muscle tension, alleviating inflammatory responses and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“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, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, additionally, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Artificial sun lamps are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to elevate spirits during colder months. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Light-based treatment utilizes intermediate light frequencies, 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).

UV light has been used by medical dermatologists for many years to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It works on the immune system within cells, “and dampens down inflammation,” notes a dermatology expert. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

Potential UVB consequences, including sunburn or skin darkening, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” notes the specialist. And crucially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – different from beauty salons, where it’s a bit unregulated, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and skin cell regeneration, and activate collagen formation – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” says Ho. “Although it’s not strong.” 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, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Many uncertainties remain.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, bacteria linked to pimples. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – despite the fact that, explains the specialist, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he mentions, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. If it’s not medically certified, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, 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 says. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that claims seem exaggerated. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, though twenty years earlier, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he explains. “I remained doubtful. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, that nobody believed did anything biological.”

What it did have going for it, however, was its efficient water penetration, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, generating energy for them to function. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, including the brain,” says Chazot, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is generally advantageous.”

With specific frequency application, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In limited quantities these molecules, notes the scientist, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: oxidative protection, swelling control, and waste removal – self-digestion mechanisms eliminating harmful elements.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

Upon examining current studies on light therapy for dementia, he states, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, incorporating his preliminary American studies