Red light therapy uses very low levels of heat and doesn't damage or burn the skin. It's not the same type of light used in tanning booths and it doesn't expose your skin to harmful UV rays. Using infrared light for red light therapy is more likely to cause side effects because, unlike LED light, infrared is also thermal energy. Side effects can generally be related to overheating of the tissues, which can cause burning.
This would be a type of thermal burn, not like sunburn that can be used with ultraviolet light. Red light therapy is a skin care treatment that responds well to multiple daily uses, and using it more than once a day can give you faster results. A red light therapy device does not damage the skin surface or underlying tissue. Instead, red or infrared lights stimulate cell repair and increase blood flow.
Blue light similarly penetrates pores and hair follicles to kill acne-causing bacteria and is often available in a portable device for on-the-go treatment. Some studies have shown that red light therapy improves thyroid hormone production, as it is thought to interrupt this cycle. Because of its anti-inflammatory effects, doctors can also use red light therapy to help treat acne, often in conjunction with blue light, which doesn't penetrate as deep as red light, but has been shown to kill surface bacteria that cause acne. Red light therapy appears to be safe and not associated with any side effects, at least if used in the short term and as directed.
Photodynamic therapy (PTD) uses skin sensitizing medications to improve the impact of light-based skin treatment for acne. A clinical trial published in the journal Photomedicine and Laser Surgery explored light treatment for some basic skin problems in a small group of 136 people. In addition, many FDA-approved phototherapy devices are FSA-eligible because they are designed to help with medical conditions. One-hour sessions will not be more effective than 20-minute sessions and, in fact, will reduce the effectiveness of treatment if that means you skip sessions.
Red light therapy is a form of multi-light-emitting diode (LED) therapy, but of all of them, red light penetrates deeper into the skin. Recording your progress with photos or videos is the best way to see evidence of the benefits of phototherapy. The depth of the reference wrinkles according to the modified Fitzpatrick wrinkle scale (MFWS), 12 and the degree of wrinkle reduction after treatment had to be evaluated after sequencing. While LED sources release very little heat, infrared light sources also produce a lot of thermal energy.
So how does all this happen just by pointing a red light at your face? “Red light waves stimulate mitochondria, which are the energy center within each cell. There is no scientific evidence to support the use of red light therapy for weight loss, cancer, cellulite removal, or mental health problems such as depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But if you plan to buy your own home phototherapy device to treat acne, wrinkles, or pain, it's you may wonder if you can get too much LED light therapy.
