Medical & Health Writer | Wellness Enthusiast | MEng in Biomedical Engineering
Jessica is a medical writer with an unquenched thirst to discover something new. She believes that medical content should be universally accessible and strives to write content that everyone, no matter their background, can understand. Credentials: MEng in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University
While the red glow may seem like something out of a science fiction novel, there are many benefits to red light therapy for your skin and muscles. These benefits were discovered by accident in 1967 when Endre Mester found that laser light helped to promote wound healing and hair growth in rats. Since then, our understanding of red light therapy and the list of its benefits has only grown.
Low-level light therapy, biostimulation, cold laser therapy, and soft laser therapy are all phrases synonymous with red light therapy. With this treatment, your skin is repetitively exposed to low levels of red and near-infrared light. When the light is at a low wavelength, it doesn’t generate heat (avoiding any pain) but also penetrates the skin between 1 and 2 millimeters.
When the light infiltrates your cells, it strengthens your mitochondria, which is where the energy used by your cell is created. As for how this happens, red light therapy may increase oxygen consumption, the transportation of electrons, and your ATP levels, all of which strengthen your mitochondria.
What does this mean for your body? When your mitochondria energy increases, your cells may function more efficiently (preventing injury and signs of aging) and may even repair themselves.
Red light therapy may help your cells become more efficient or even repair themselves; let’s see what this looks like in action:
It’s the 1967 finding that started all the research into red light therapy, and it’s stood the test of time. Research has shown that red light therapy can help promote wound healing by decreasing inflammatory cells, stimulating angiogenesis, increasing fibroblast proliferation, and increasing the synthesis of collagen. Combined, these effects support the body’s natural healing process, allowing skin wounds to heal faster.
Collagen is one of the building blocks of our skin’s foundation, and as we age, it’s one of the first things to go. Our collagen levels decline as we get older, and this can manifest as wrinkles and sagging skin. However, red light therapy may be able to increase collagen levels, which not only prevents this sign of aging but may even reverse the signs already present.
Red light therapy offers additional benefits for your skin, specifically for those with psoriasis. This autoimmune inflammatory skin disease can manifest with itchy and scaly patches on the elbows, knees, trunk, and scalp. In addition to being uncomfortable, these lesions may be a source of embarrassment, but red light therapy can penetrate the lesions and encourage photobiomodulation, reducing the appearance of the lesions.
While red light therapy is shone on the skin, its ability to penetrate this outermost layer offers benefits for other elements of the body, including your tendons. Specifically, studies have shown that red light therapy can relieve pain and inflammation in those with pain in the Achilles tendon.
Red light therapy is an easy-to-integrate practice that offers benefits for your skin, muscles, tendons, and overall well-being. See how YOURx can help you get started with this non-invasive treatment that helps your well-being shine.
Avci, P., et al. (2013). Low-level laser (light) therapy (LLLT) in skin: stimulating, healing, restoring. Seminars in cutaneous medicine and surgery, 32(1), 41–52.
Heiskanen, V., & Hamblin, M. R. (2018). Photobiomodulation: lasers vs. light emitting diodes?. Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology, 17(8), 1003–1017. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8pp90049c
Chaves, M. E., Araújo, A. R., Piancastelli, A. C., & Pinotti, M. (2014). Effects of low-power light therapy on wound healing: LASER x LED. Anais brasileiros de dermatologia, 89(4), 616–623. https://doi.org/10.1590/abd1806-4841.20142519
Zhang, P., & Wu, M. X. (2018). A clinical review of phototherapy for psoriasis. Lasers in medical science, 33(1), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-017-2360-1
Bjordal, J. M., Lopes-Martins, R. A., & Iversen, V. V. (2006). A randomised, placebo controlled trial of low level laser therapy for activated Achilles tendinitis with microdialysis measurement of peritendinous prostaglandin E2 concentrations. British journal of sports medicine, 40(1), 76–80. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2005.020842
Hashmi, J. T., Huang, Y. Y., Osmani, B. Z., Sharma, S. K., Naeser, M. A., & Hamblin, M. R. (2010). Role of low-level laser therapy in neurorehabilitation. PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation, 2(12 Suppl 2), S292–S305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2010.10.013
