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Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. You can now buy glowing gadgets for everything from complexion problems and aging signs as well as aching tissues and gum disease, the latest being a dental hygiene device enhanced with small red light diodes, marketed by the company as “a major advance for domestic dental hygiene.” Globally, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. You can even go and sit in an infrared sauna, that employ light waves rather than traditional heat sources, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. According to its devotees, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, stimulating skin elasticity, soothing sore muscles, reducing swelling and chronic health conditions as well as supporting brain health.

The Science and Skepticism

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” says Paul Chazot, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Naturally, some of light’s effects on our bodies are well established. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, essential for skeletal strength, immune function, and muscular health. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, as well, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Artificial sun lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to boost low mood in winter. Clearly, light energy is essential for optimal functioning.

Various Phototherapy Approaches

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, consumer light therapy products mostly feature red and infrared emissions. In rigorous scientific studies, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, which runs the spectrum from the lowest-energy, longest wavelengths (radio waves) to high-energy gamma radiation. Therapeutic light application utilizes intermediate light frequencies, with ultraviolet representing the higher energy invisible light, followed by visible light encompassing rainbow colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

UV light has been used by medical dermatologists for many years to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It affects cellular immune responses, “and dampens down inflammation,” notes a dermatology expert. “There’s lots of evidence for phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, in contrast to LEDs in commercial products (usually producing colored light emissions) “generally affect surface layers.”

Risk Assessment and Professional Supervision

Potential UVB consequences, like erythema or pigmentation, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – meaning smaller wavelengths – which minimises the risks. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” explains the dermatologist. Essentially, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where it’s a bit unregulated, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Red and blue LEDs, he explains, “aren’t typically employed clinically, though they might benefit some issues.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, improve circulatory function, oxygen utilization and cell renewal in the skin, and promote collagen synthesis – a key aspiration in anti-ageing effects. “Research exists,” says Ho. “Although it’s not strong.” Nevertheless, amid the sea of devices now available, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. We don’t know the duration, proper positioning requirements, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Many uncertainties remain.”

Treatment Areas and Specialist Views

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, bacteria linked to pimples. Scientific backing remains inadequate for regular prescription – although, notes the dermatologist, “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 recommend careful testing and security confirmation. Without proper medical classification, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Innovative Investigations and Molecular Effects

At the same time, in innovative scientific domains, researchers have been testing neural cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he reports. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. 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 created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he explains. “I remained doubtful. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

Its beneficial characteristic, though, was its efficient water penetration, allowing substantial bodily 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, producing fuel for biological processes. “Mitochondria exist throughout the body, particularly in neural cells,” says Chazot, who concentrated on cerebral applications. “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. At controlled levels these compounds, 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: oxidative protection, anti-inflammatory, and waste removal – self-digestion mechanisms eliminating harmful elements.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he reports, approximately 400 participants enrolled in multiple trials, comprising his early research projects