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

Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a moment. You can now buy light-emitting tools for everything from skin conditions and wrinkles as well as sore muscles and oral inflammation, recently introduced is an oral care tool equipped with miniature red light sources, promoted by the creators as “a breakthrough for domestic dental hygiene.” Globally, 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, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. According to its devotees, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, stimulating skin elasticity, soothing sore muscles, relieving inflammation and chronic health conditions while protecting against dementia.

Research and Reservations

“It feels almost magical,” says a Durham University professor, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Certainly, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, needed for bone health, immunity, muscles and more. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Artificial sun lamps are standard treatment for winter mood disorders to boost low mood in winter. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

While Sad lamps tend to use a mixture of light frequencies from the blue end of the spectrum, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. During advanced medical investigations, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, identifying the optimal wavelength is crucial. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, extending from long-wavelength radiation to short-wavelength gamma rays. Light-based treatment utilizes intermediate light frequencies, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow 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 works on the immune system within cells, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” notes a skin specialist. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “tend to be a bit more superficial.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

UVB radiation effects, including sunburn or skin darkening, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – signifying focused frequency bands – which decreases danger. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. 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 wavelength accuracy isn’t verified.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he notes, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and skin cell regeneration, and promote collagen synthesis – an important goal for anti-aging. “The evidence is there,” comments the expert. “Although it’s not strong.” Nevertheless, given the plethora of available tools, “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. Many uncertainties remain.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, microorganisms connected to breakouts. 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 commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he says, though when purchasing home devices, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. Without proper medical classification, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

Simultaneously, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, 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. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – 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 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 was quite suspicious. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, nevertheless, was its ability to transmit through aqueous environments, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, 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 generally advantageous.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, explains the expert, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, preserve cell function and eliminate damaged proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cellular cleanup – 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 states, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, comprising his early research projects