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Phototherapy is certainly having a moment. You can now buy illuminated devices designed to address skin conditions and wrinkles along with sore muscles and periodontal issues, the latest being a dental hygiene device outfitted with miniature red light sources, marketed by the company as “a significant discovery in personal mouth health.” Internationally, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, the infrared radiation heats your body itself. Based on supporter testimonials, the experience resembles using an LED facial mask, stimulating skin elasticity, easing muscle tension, reducing swelling and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.

The Science and Skepticism

“It appears somewhat mystical,” says Paul Chazot, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Certainly, we know light influences biological functions. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, as well, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Sunlight-imitating lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to boost low mood in winter. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Types of Light Therapy

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. During advanced medical investigations, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, finding the right frequency is key. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to short-wavelength gamma rays. Light-based treatment employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and finally infrared detectable with special equipment.

Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and reduces inflammatory processes,” notes Dr Bernard Ho. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy 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 well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which decreases danger. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. Essentially, the light sources are adjusted by technical experts, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where it’s a bit unregulated, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Consumer Devices and Evidence Gaps

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “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 skin cell regeneration, and stimulate collagen production – a primary objective in youth preservation. “The evidence is there,” states the dermatologist. “Although it’s not strong.” Nevertheless, with numerous products on the market, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, proper positioning requirements, if benefits outweigh potential risks. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, a microbe associated with acne. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – even though, says Ho, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he observes, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we just tell them to try it carefully and to make sure it has been assessed for safety. Without proper medical classification, standards are somewhat unclear.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

Meanwhile, in a far-flung field of pioneering medical science, researchers have been testing neural cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Pretty much everything I did with the light at that particular wavelength was positive and protective,” he says. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that it’s too good to be true. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

Chazot mostly works on developing drug treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, however two decades past, a physician creating light-based cold sore therapy requested his biological knowledge. “He developed equipment for cellular and insect experiments,” he says. “I was pretty sceptical. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, though, was that it travelled through water easily, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Mitochondrial Impact and Cognitive Support

Growing data suggested infrared influenced energy-producing organelles. These organelles generate cellular energy, producing fuel for biological processes. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, who, as a neuroscientist, decided to focus the research on brain cells. “Research confirms improved brain blood flow with phototherapy, which is consistently beneficial.”

With specific frequency application, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. At controlled levels these compounds, says Chazot, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he states, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, comprising his early research projects