🔗 Share this article

Light-based treatment is definitely experiencing a moment. Consumers can purchase glowing gadgets for everything from skin conditions and wrinkles as well as sore muscles and periodontal issues, the newest innovation is a toothbrush outfitted with miniature red light sources, described by its makers as “a breakthrough 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, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. According to its devotees, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, boosting skin collagen, relaxing muscles, alleviating inflammatory responses and chronic health conditions as well as supporting brain health.

Understanding the Evidence

“It feels almost magical,” observes Paul Chazot, a scientist who has studied phototherapy extensively. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, as well, activating brain chemicals and hormonal responses in daylight, and signaling the body to slow down for nighttime. Daylight-simulating devices frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to boost low mood in winter. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Different Light Modalities

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, 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, extending from long-wavelength radiation to high-energy gamma radiation. Light-based treatment employs mid-spectrum wavelengths, including invisible ultraviolet radiation, then visible light (all the colours we see in a rainbow) and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

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 reduces inflammatory processes,” says a dermatology expert. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (which generally deliver red, infrared or blue light) “generally affect surface layers.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

UVB radiation effects, such as burning or tanning, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – indicating limited wavelength spectrum – which minimises the risks. “Therapy is overseen by qualified practitioners, thus exposure is controlled,” says Ho. And crucially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – different from beauty salons, where it’s a bit unregulated, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Colored light diodes, he explains, “don’t have strong medical applications, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red light devices, some suggest, improve circulatory function, oxygen uptake and cell renewal in the skin, and activate collagen formation – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Studies are available,” states the dermatologist. “Although it’s not strong.” In any case, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. 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.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Early blue-light applications focused on skin microbes, bacteria linked to pimples. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – despite the fact that, explains the specialist, “it’s frequently employed in beauty centers.” Some of his patients use it as part of their routine, he observes, however for consumer products, “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.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in advanced research areas, 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 reports. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that results appear unrealistic. Yet, experimental evidence has transformed his viewpoint.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, but over 20 years ago, a physician creating light-based cold sore therapy requested his biological knowledge. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he explains. “I was quite suspicious. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, which most thought had no biological effect.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was its efficient water penetration, meaning it could penetrate the body more deeply.

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, generating energy for them to function. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, particularly in neural cells,” says Chazot, who prioritized neurological investigations. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is always very good.”

With 1070 treatment, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In limited quantities these molecules, says Chazot, “activates protective proteins that safeguard mitochondria, preserve cell function and eliminate damaged proteins.”

These processes show potential for neurological conditions: oxidative protection, swelling control, and waste removal – autophagy being the process the cell uses to clear unwanted damaging proteins.

Current Research Status and Professional Opinions

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he states, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, including his own initial clinical trials in the US