Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a moment. You can now buy light-emitting tools targeting issues like skin conditions and wrinkles to sore muscles and gum disease, recently introduced is a toothbrush equipped with tiny red LEDs, marketed by the company as “a significant discovery for domestic dental hygiene.” Internationally, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. Options include full-body infrared sauna sessions, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. Based on supporter testimonials, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, soothing sore muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions and potentially guarding against cognitive decline.
“It feels almost magical,” says Paul Chazot, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Of course, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Our bodies produce vitamin D through sun exposure, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Natural light synchronizes our biological clocks, additionally, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Daylight-simulating devices are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to elevate spirits during colder months. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.
Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In serious clinical research, such as Chazot’s investigations into the effects of infrared on brain cells, finding the right frequency is key. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).
Dermatologists have utilized UV therapy for extensive periods for addressing long-term dermatological issues like vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and dampens down inflammation,” says a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA goes deeper into the skin than UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “generally affect surface layers.”
UVB radiation effects, including sunburn or skin darkening, are understood but clinical devices employ restricted wavelength ranges – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which minimises the risks. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” says Ho. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to ensure that the wavelength that’s being delivered is fit for purpose – different from beauty salons, where it’s a bit unregulated, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”
Colored light diodes, he says, “don’t have strong medical applications, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and skin cell regeneration, and activate collagen formation – an important goal for anti-aging. “The evidence is there,” states the dermatologist. “But it’s not conclusive.” Regardless, amid the sea of devices now available, “it’s unclear if device outputs match study parameters. We don’t know the duration, ideal distance from skin surface, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. There are lots of questions.”
Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, a microbe associated with acne. The evidence for its efficacy isn’t strong enough for it to be routinely prescribed by doctors – although, explains the specialist, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he mentions, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Without proper medical classification, oversight remains ambiguous.”
Meanwhile, in innovative scientific domains, scientists have been studying cerebral tissue, identifying a number of ways in which infrared can boost cellular health. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he reports. The numerous reported benefits have generated doubt regarding phototherapy – that results appear unrealistic. However, scientific investigation has altered his perspective.
The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, though twenty years earlier, 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 was pretty sceptical. It was an unusual wavelength of about 1070 nanometres, that nobody believed did anything biological.”
What it did have going for it, however, was its efficient water penetration, allowing substantial bodily penetration.
Additional research indicated infrared affected cellular mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, creating power for cellular operations. “All human cells contain mitochondria, particularly in neural cells,” notes the researcher, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is always very good.”
With specific frequency application, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, explains the expert, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”
These processes show potential for neurological conditions: free radical neutralization, swelling control, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.
Upon examining current studies on light therapy for dementia, he says, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, incorporating his preliminary American studies
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