🔗 Share this article

Light-based treatment is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. You can now buy light-emitting tools designed to address dermatological concerns and fine lines along with aching tissues and gum disease, recently introduced is an oral care tool outfitted with miniature red light sources, described by its makers as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Globally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. There are even infrared saunas available, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. As claimed by enthusiasts, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, stimulating skin elasticity, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and long-term ailments and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

Understanding the Evidence

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” notes a Durham University professor, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, additionally, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Daylight-simulating devices are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to combat seasonal emotional slumps. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Different Light Modalities

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In rigorous scientific studies, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation, 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, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It works on the immune system within cells, “and suppresses swelling,” notes a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “generally affect surface layers.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

Potential UVB consequences, including sunburn or skin darkening, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which decreases danger. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, so the dosage is monitored,” explains the dermatologist. And crucially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where oversight might be limited, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue light sources, he notes, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but could assist with specific concerns.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, improve circulatory function, oxygen absorption and dermal rejuvenation, and stimulate collagen production – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, how close the lights should be to the skin, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Many uncertainties remain.”

Targeted Uses and Expert Opinions

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 – despite the fact that, notes the dermatologist, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he says, however for consumer products, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Unless it’s a medical device, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Cutting-Edge Studies and Biological Processes

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 states. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – that results appear unrealistic. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, but over 20 years ago, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I remained doubtful. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, though, was that it travelled through water easily, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, generating energy for them to function. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is consistently beneficial.”

With 1070 treatment, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. In limited quantities these molecules, explains the expert, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, look after your cells and also deal with the unwanted proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: antioxidant, inflammation reduction, and cellular cleanup – 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 states, about 400 people were taking part in four studies, incorporating his preliminary American studies