What Is Red Light Therapy? Benefits & Uses Explained
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Time to read 8 min
Some of the most popular red light therapy masks look to be straight out of a sci-fi movie, but there’s nothing fictional about these devices. They’re entirely backed by science.
Red light therapy devices are the next wave of skincare treatments — and we’re here to make sure you don’t fall behind the curve.
Today, we’ll explain what red light therapy is, how it works, and what it can do for your skin. By the end of this article, you’ll understand exactly why people are using these LED masks , and might even be ready to try one out for yourself.
What Is Red Light Therapy? What Are the Benefits of Red Light Therapy? May Support Collagen Production May Reduce the Look of Fine Lines Supports Overall Skin Health Supports Blood Flow to Skin How Do You Use Red Light Therapy? How Often Should You Use Red Light Therapy? Can You Do Red Light Therapy At Home? The Red Light Roundup Sources:
What Is Red Light Therapy?
Don't feel bad if you’ve never heard of red light therapy. Though the medical practice was first discovered in 1967, it didn’t become a mainstream skincare treatment until recently. Today, social media videos about the at-home devices have accumulated millions of views — but do people really know what these treatments can do?
Red light therapy is a noninvasive medical treatment that uses low levels of red light waves to penetrate the skin's surface and treat the body beneath.
Often, this treatment is referred to by its acronym — RLT — but it also goes by several other names depending on the context of the red light treatment:
LED light therapy
Laser light therapy
Low-power laser therapy
Low-level laser therapy (or LLLT)
Photodynamic therapy
Phototherapy
Photonic stimulation
Photobiomodulation
The light used in red light therapy is not just a normal LED light set to the color red. This treatment is all about the specific wavelengths of light.
On the visible light spectrum , which outlines how the lengths of light waves determine different colors of light, red light has the longest wavelength. It sits on the lowest end of the spectrum, boarding infrared light (which is invisible to the human eye). The type of light used in most RLT devices often balances between low-level red light and near-infrared light.
While red light therapy is sometimes used to treat muscle pain or various neurological conditions , it is most often used for the skin.
Thanks to a type of atom in the skin called chromophores , red light waves are able to slip through the skin barrier and reach a few millimeters into the skin. Once inside, these wavelengths target your skin cells — and, more specifically, organelles within those cells called the mitochondria.
As you might remember from high school biology, the mitochondria is the cell's powerhouse. When this structure is struck by red light, the energy from those light waves gives the organelle a sudden power boost, sparking cellular function in the skin. This energy can power all sorts of processes in the skin, including cell turnover, collagen production, and even wound healing.
Higherdose Red Light Neck Enhancer
What Are the Benefits of Red Light Therapy?
The unique ability of red light waves to supercharge skin cells makes it an especially effective skincare treatment — and a versatile one.
May Support Collagen Production
One benefit of red light therapy is the effect that these lightwaves might have on collagen production.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body , and it works alongside another protein called elastin to provide the framework and internal structure of your skin.
Your body produces collagen throughout your life — though the amount it makes will decrease with age. As you lose collagen, you lose this structural support for your skin, which is one of the driving factors behind signs of aging.
If early research is correct and red light therapy can boost collagen production, this skincare treatment can support a more youthful complexion as you age.
May Reduce the Look of Fine Lines
Another benefit of red light therapy also has to do with the internal structure of the skin: fine lines, wrinkles, and muscle tone loss that occurs with aging.
One of the visible signs of aging associated with declining levels of collagen in the skin is the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles . This is because the unsupported skin is no longer strong enough to bounce back after normal use. What once would have been temporary creases while talking, smiling, or scrunching your eyebrows can become permanent lines in the skin.
If red light therapy can increase the amount of collagen in the skin, then it can also reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
The Light Salon Boost LED Mask
Supports Overall Skin Health
This extra boost of energy from the red light waves doesn’t only support a few proteins in the skin. This zap to mitochondria can power your skin cells themselves.
Though your skin may feel relatively thin, there are millions of layers of skin cells making up even the outer layer of your skin. As your body’s first line of defense, these skin cells often get a lot of wear throughout the day — and, as a result, need to be replaced often.
Before your body can shed one skin cell, it needs to grow another to replace it. That is the purpose of cell turnover , a biological process that generates new cells through cellular division to replace dead or damaged ones.
Red light therapy can support the constant cycle of new skin cells, thereby improving the overall health and function of the skin.
Supports Blood Flow to Skin
When red light enters the skin, it interacts with your skin cells, yes, but there is more going on beneath the surface of your skin than just these copy-and-paste cells. Another element of your skin that red light therapy benefits is your blood vessels.
When red light waves strike the capillaries, arterioles, and other types of blood vessels in your skin, it can cause these vessels to dilate . This process (called vasodilation) allows for more blood to pass through the vessels, increasing blood flow and circulation to the skin.
Increased blood flow benefits the skin in several ways, primarily by increasing the amount of nutrients delivered to it and removing toxins.
As a carrier, blood is responsible for transporting key vitamins and nutrients throughout the body — including to the skin. When your skin has a higher volume of nutrient-dense blood circulating through it, the organ has all the resources at its disposal to operate at peak function.
This means that red light therapy's ability to boost blood flow in the skin and muscles can support healthy and youthful aging.
How Do You Use Red Light Therapy?
While there is a lot going on between the light-emitting diode and your skin, the actual process of using a red light therapy device is not nearly as complicated.
When you wear an RLT mask or use an RLT wand, you don’t have to think about light wavelengths or what is happening in your skin at a cellular level. All you have to do is hold the device to your skin.
The specific instructions for performing red light therapy at home vary from device to device. Thankfully, each skincare tool comes with specific instructions on how to use it. Most often, all you have to do is let the light shine on your skin for 10 to 20 minutes.
If you’re using a mask, you can put it on and go about your morning as normal. If you’re using a wand, you’ll have to hover and move the device over your skin for the duration of the treatment.
How Often Should You Use Red Light Therapy?
The guidelines are less specific about how often to use your red light therapy device. Clinical studies are still underway to determine the best frequency for these skin treatments; however, it seems that there is no wrong answer when it comes to RLT.
Some dermatologists recommend red light therapy twice a week, whereas others recommend four or five times. Others still say there is no limit to how often you can expose your skin to red light and that you could use your RLT device every day if you wanted.
Can You Do Red Light Therapy At Home?
One of the best things about red light therapy is that you don’t have to visit an aesthetician or healthcare professional to get these benefits for your skin. With the right red light therapy device, you can do it all from your home.
The right RLT device for you depends on what you’re trying to accomplish for your skin.
If you’re looking for targeted red light treatment, then a red light therapy wand is probably the best choice for you. The Solawave Advanced Skincare Wand With Red Light Therapy has a small but mighty red light-emitting diode that delivers specific and centralized treatment to whatever area of the face you want to use it on.
If you’re looking for a more generalized treatment for your entire face, then a red light therapy mask might be the better option for you. The Light Salon Boost LED Mask is made to cover the entire surface of your face, evenly distributing the red light benefits from the bridge of your nose to the sides of your cheeks.
If you’re looking to take the benefits of red light therapy below the jawline, then you’ll want to opt for an RLT device made for your neck. The HigherDose Red Light Neck Enhancer is designed specifically to fit around your neck and chest, delivering the same red light skin benefits to these parts of your body.
The Red Light Roundup
Though red light therapy might seem out of this world, it’s not too good to be true.
Despite some of the more extravagant-looking masks, red light therapy devices are powerful skincare tools that can complement almost anyone’s daily routine. And with so many different types of red light devices out there, you can find the best match for your routine and your skin’s needs.
And the best part? You don’t have to leave the planet to get otherworldly skin.
Sources
Red Light Therapy: Benefits, Side Effects & Uses | Cleveland Clinic
Chromophore - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Collagen: What It Is, Types, Function & Benefits | Cleveland Clinic
Decreased Collagen Production in Chronologically Aged Skin | National Library of Medicine
Wrinkles & Fine Lines: Types, Causes & Prevention | Cleveland Clinic
Epidermal turnover time | National Library of Medicine
Functions of blood: transport around the body | NHS Blood and Transplant
Phototherapy with Light Emitting Diodes | National Library of Medicine