🔗 Share this article

Phototherapy is clearly enjoying a surge in popularity. You can now buy illuminated devices targeting issues like dermatological concerns and fine lines to sore muscles and gum disease, recently introduced is a dental hygiene device outfitted with small red light diodes, described by its makers as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Worldwide, the sector valued at $1bn last year is expected to increase to $1.8bn within the next decade. There are even infrared saunas available, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. According to its devotees, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, enhancing collagen production, soothing sore muscles, reducing swelling and chronic health conditions as well as supporting brain health.

Research and Reservations

“It appears somewhat mystical,” observes Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Of course, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, 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. Daylight-simulating devices frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to elevate spirits during colder months. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Different Light Modalities

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. During advanced medical investigations, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Therapeutic light application employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, 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 suppresses swelling,” says a dermatology expert. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (typically emitting red, infrared or blue wavelengths) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

UVB radiation effects, such as burning or tanning, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” says Ho. Essentially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where regulations may be lax, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue light sources, he explains, “don’t have strong medical applications, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red light devices, some suggest, help boost blood circulation, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and promote collagen synthesis – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “The evidence is there,” comments the expert. “Although it’s not strong.” Regardless, 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, proper positioning requirements, the risk-benefit ratio. There are lots of questions.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – although, explains the specialist, “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. If it’s not medically certified, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

At the same time, in innovative scientific domains, researchers have been testing neural cells, identifying a number of ways in which infrared can boost cellular health. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, though twenty years earlier, 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 says. “I remained doubtful. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, which most thought had no biological effect.”

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

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, producing fuel for biological processes. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, including the brain,” says Chazot, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is consistently beneficial.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. In low doses this substance, says Chazot, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and waste removal – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he reports, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, comprising his early research projects