🔗 Share this article

Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a surge in popularity. Consumers can purchase glowing gadgets designed to address complexion problems and aging signs to muscle pain and gum disease, recently introduced is a dental hygiene device enhanced with small red light diodes, marketed by the company as “a major advance in at-home oral care.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. According to its devotees, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, stimulating skin elasticity, relaxing muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It appears somewhat mystical,” says Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. 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. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, as well, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Sunlight-imitating lamps are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to elevate spirits during colder months. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In rigorous scientific studies, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It modulates intracellular immune mechanisms, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” notes a dermatology expert. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

Potential UVB consequences, like erythema or pigmentation, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – signifying focused frequency bands – that reduces potential hazards. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” says Ho. And crucially, the light sources are adjusted by technical experts, “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.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “don’t have strong medical applications, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, improve circulatory function, oxygen utilization and dermal rejuvenation, and promote collagen synthesis – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” Regardless, given the plethora of available tools, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Optimal treatment times are unknown, proper positioning requirements, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Many uncertainties remain.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – despite the fact that, says Ho, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he mentions, 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, standards are somewhat unclear.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Simultaneously, in advanced research areas, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “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. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, however two decades past, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He developed equipment for cellular and insect experiments,” he recalls. “I was pretty sceptical. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was that it travelled through water easily, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

Mitochondrial Effects and Brain Health

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. These organelles generate cellular energy, creating power for cellular operations. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, including the brain,” says Chazot, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is consistently beneficial.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, cellular power plants create limited oxidative molecules. In low doses this substance, notes the scientist, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and cellular cleanup – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he states, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, incorporating his preliminary American studies