‘It appears magical’: does light therapy actually deliver clearer skin, healthier teeth, and more resilient joints?

Light-based treatment is certainly having a moment. Consumers can purchase glowing gadgets for everything from complexion problems and aging signs as well as muscle pain and oral inflammation, recently introduced is an oral care tool equipped with tiny red LEDs, marketed by the company as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” 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, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. As claimed by enthusiasts, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, stimulating skin elasticity, relaxing muscles, relieving inflammation and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Research and Reservations

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes a Durham University professor, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, as well, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, 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 combat seasonal emotional slumps. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Different Light Modalities

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. During advanced medical investigations, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, finding the right frequency is key. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, 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 to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” says a skin specialist. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin 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 Protocols and Medical Guidance

The side-effects of UVB exposure, such as burning or tanning, are well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which decreases danger. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” notes the specialist. Most importantly, the light sources are adjusted by technical experts, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where oversight might be limited, and wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Red and blue light sources, he explains, “don’t have strong medical applications, though they might benefit some issues.” Red light devices, some suggest, enhance blood flow, oxygen uptake and skin cell regeneration, and promote collagen synthesis – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Studies are available,” says Ho. “Although it’s not strong.” Nevertheless, with numerous products on the market, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, how close the lights should be to the skin, if benefits outweigh potential risks. There are lots of questions.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, a microbe associated with acne. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – although, explains the specialist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he observes, though when purchasing home devices, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Without proper medical classification, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

Simultaneously, in advanced research areas, researchers have been testing neural cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he states. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that it’s too good to be true. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, but over 20 years ago, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He developed equipment for cellular and insect experiments,” he says. “I was quite suspicious. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, however, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, creating power for cellular operations. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, 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.”

With specific frequency application, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In low doses this substance, says Chazot, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he reports, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, incorporating his preliminary American studies