Red light therapy can be a wonderful addition to your wellness and self-care rituals, particularly as a part of your ongoing skincare routine. This gentle and non-invasive option supports skin health with issues ranging from acne to ageing and scarring and is suitable for the face and body. If you’ve considered red light therapy before but are unsure if it’s suitable for you, discover the benefits here.
How Red Light Therapy Improves Skin Health
Red light therapy utilises a particular wavelength of light, which our eyes perceive as the colour red. Different light colours and their frequencies can penetrate the skin in different ways and to different degrees. While UV light from the sun reaches far deeper into the skin and can cause damage, red light is far more gentle and only affects the top 1mm to 2mm of the epidermis. It’s a much lower wavelength and doesn’t generate much, if any, heat.
When the red light wavelengths reach your skin, they can promote normal cellular function by stimulating the mitochondria in your cells. This promotes the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) within the mitochondria, which then increases the cell's ability to work efficiently. In turn, you can experience lower levels of inflammation, faster healing time for damaged skin and a boost in collagen production. Collagen is especially key here as it’s one of the proteins that the skin needs for structural support, elasticity and healing.
Increased levels of collagen can help with a range of skin concerns, from improving acne scarring to reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Due to the gentle nature of red light therapy, it can be done at home anywhere from three to five times a week.
Anti-Ageing Effects
One of the main reasons that our skin changes as we age is a gradual decrease in collagen production. Lower levels of this essential protein can contribute to more hollow-looking eyes, less volume in the temples, jowls and sagging skin.
While you might expect collagen levels to decrease later in life, our skin begins to produce less as early as our mid-twenties. The levels of collagen in our skin generally drop around 1.5% a year, which means that by around 60 years old, you’ll have lost around 80% of the levels you had at the age of 20.
With the main function of red light therapy, including specialised LED facial masks, being to promote collagen production, it can be a useful tool in anti-ageing. By targeting the part of the cell that can increase collagen production, red light therapy can help reduce the visibility of a number of age-related factors, including:
- Wrinkles and fine lines
- Sagging or loose skin around the eyes, jaw and neck
- Sun damage and age spots
Acne Treatment
Red light therapy can be a useful tool in treating both the causes and effects of acne. Acne can impact people of all ages and can be caused by a number of factors, including excess sebum production and bacteria which can then also lead to skin inflammation and scarring.
Red light therapy targets these three aspects of acne in slightly different ways. Firstly, red light therapy, whether used exclusively across the face or the on whole body with a larger red light therapy panel, can help reduce levels of acne-causing bacteria. The pores of the skin that can get inflamed and blocked by this bacteria are on the thinner layer of the skin, the epidermis.
Red light can penetrate the skin, creating an inhospitable environment for bacteria. Consistent treatment can reduce the frequency and severity of breakouts over time.
Red light therapy can reduce the number of acne-causing bacteria and regulate sebum production. Excess sebum traps more dirt, resulting in blocked pores that can turn into whiteheads or blackheads. The red light frequency can help target the glands in your skin that produce oil, resulting in a more normal, regulated skin type.
If you’re past acne breakouts but still have redness and scarring from it, red light therapy can help with the after-effects, too. Some forms of acne can leave deeper marks or discolouration, which can be improved by increasing the skin’s collagen content with the use of red light therapy. This, combined with red light’s anti-inflammatory properties, can help reduce the appearance of active acne breakouts, along with improving the appearance of irritated skin as it heals.
Healing and Recovery
Along with aiding ageing skin and influencing the causes of acne, red light therapy and its collagen-boosting properties are also wonderful for improving scars and minor wounds.
For more recent wounds, red light can be a supportive aid in recovery. The increase in blood flow and collagen production it provides both support your body through the recovery process—whether that’s after a breakout or from cuts and scrapes in daily life. Similarly, red light therapy can help with older scarring, which often stems from inflammation. It can help soften the scar tissue itself, improve discolouration, and reduce the relief of scars for a more even skin texture.
Red light therapy can be a wonderful option for at-home treatment, particularly for those wanting a more gentle, customised and non-invasive option. Regardless of your skincare goals, at-home red light therapy can help you achieve them and deliver more youthful, healthy-looking skin. Safe for all skin types and suitable for almost all ages, however, using red light therapy on children should be approached with caution. Red light therapy is kind to skin and can help with a range of concerns. It can be used alone or paired with other skin rejuvenating healthcare like infrared saunas for deeper muscle penetration as well.
Along with topical skin issues, red light therapy is also beneficial for muscle recovery, joint health and even quality of sleep. If you have any questions regarding which red light therapy panel is best for you, we’re more than happy to help. You can contact our team any time and we can answer questions, along with providing personalised recommendations.