‘It seems like sorcery’: is light therapy truly capable of improving your skin, whitening your teeth, and strengthening your joints?

Light therapy is certainly having a moment. There are now available illuminated devices designed to address dermatological concerns and fine lines as well as aching tissues and gum disease, the newest innovation is a dental hygiene device equipped with small red light diodes, described by its makers as “a major advance in personal mouth health.” Worldwide, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. As claimed by enthusiasts, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and persistent medical issues and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It feels almost magical,” says a Durham University professor, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Certainly, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Artificial sun lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to combat seasonal emotional slumps. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Types of Light Therapy

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. During advanced medical investigations, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to the highest-energy (gamma waves). 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 infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It modulates intracellular immune mechanisms, “and dampens down inflammation,” notes a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Considerations and Medical Oversight

The side-effects of UVB exposure, like erythema or pigmentation, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – that reduces potential hazards. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, so the dosage is monitored,” says Ho. Essentially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – unlike in tanning salons, where oversight might be limited, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Colored light diodes, he explains, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red light devices, some suggest, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and stimulate collagen production – an important goal for anti-aging. “Studies are available,” says Ho. “Although it’s not strong.” In any case, with numerous products on the market, “we don’t know whether or not the lights emitted are reflective of the research that has been done. We don’t know the duration, how close the lights should be to the skin, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – even though, says Ho, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he observes, though when purchasing home devices, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Unless it’s a medical device, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

Meanwhile, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that claims seem exaggerated. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, though twenty years earlier, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He designed tools for biological testing,” he explains. “I remained doubtful. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

Its beneficial characteristic, 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. These organelles generate cellular energy, producing fuel for biological processes. “All human cells contain mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” notes the researcher, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is consistently beneficial.”

With 1070 treatment, cellular power plants create limited oxidative molecules. In limited quantities these molecules, explains the expert, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, preserve cell function and eliminate damaged proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and waste removal – self-digestion mechanisms eliminating harmful elements.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he says, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, including his own initial clinical trials in the US