Red light therapy | What's the science behind it and can you overdo it?

Aesthetics specialist Dr Qian Xu, and skincare founder Ivan Galanin are back to discuss the proven benefits of red light therapy and the potential downsides of overuse.
In this video we explore what it is, how it works and what the studies show when it comes to the upsides and potential downsides.

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Ivan Galanin is the founder of Adipeau skincare and the AESFIT channel @aesfit

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
03:00 Red light benefits and how it works
06:10 If it's in sunlight, why supplement?
07:23 What's the scientific evidence?
11:19 Red light and inflammation
16:00 Frequency of use
20:30 Concerns linked to mice study
26:19 Red light and weightloss
29:43 Closing thoughts on rewards v risk of overuse

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Disclaimer: This video and all content on this channel is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice and should not be treated as a substitute for medical advice.

[santanacaipirinha]

I understand debate is necessary and I welcome it, but on the other hand also find myself getting fatigued by continuously looking for the right skincare products and devices, reading up on them, finding out what's supported by science, then landing on a routine, only to find out it might actually do more harm than good and being back to square one. I thought out of all the things I've tried red light would be the most harmless, now it's yet another thing that might cause fat loss. For every ten industry professionals that rave about a certain product, there's another ten that warn you about their harmfulness and another ten people who say it ruined their face. At this point I just don't know what to use anymore. There's just not much left that doesn't come with a "might actually age you faster".
I think I'll just go live in a cave.

[incorrigibletexan]

I have used red light for wound healing primarily with me and my kiddos. As a nurse I can tell you red light has helped in the healing process especially with surgical wounds.

[cyrilshestakov]

Would love a discussion on microneedling and what are the overlooked concerns about it

[sarathepanda]

Finally some healthy and honest discussion around skin health, devices and skincare. It's basically impossible to find this kind of content related to skin nowadays. Keep up

[keithmarshalldds]

With over 5000 clinical studies that support the safety and effectiveness of photobiomodulation it is clear to me that it’s the best game in town. It has made me look and feel 20 years younger.

[post.newness]

Taking care of my skin is essential. Red light therapy has been transformative, significantly improving my skin's texture and reducing wrinkles. At 46, I look and feel much younger, and the changes are noticeable to everyone around me! I got my RLT panel from Future Form Official, and it's budget-friendly, making it a great investment in my skincare routine.

[daniliveslifec]

I recently purchased a red light panel for skincare purposes. I work in healthcare and have had a lot of neck pain with performing frequent CPR, lifting, running to codes, and just being under pretty intense stress all shift long. I had had this pain from the base of my skull, down my shoulder, and down my back (but only on my left side.) Stretching, massage, NSAIDS, exercise, time… nothing was helping. I was like WHY NOT.. let me sit in front of my red light panel pointing toward the affected area. 15 min later, that pain was 100% gone. That was over 3 weeks ago now. The pain hasn’t returned. I also get a lot of headaches from facial muscle tension (when I can afford Botox, it helps a lot). But when I was using the read light for my face/ neck skin, I realized how much less pain I was in for the next few days. I mean, I feel like the dang red light is magic!!!

I’m happy to hear about the long covid treatment with red light also. I’m a respiratory therapist, and everything that comes from Covid is so strenuous, devastating, and still so unknown!! Thank you for doing this work!

[deborahs]

I really appreciated this discussion. I'm 69 now and have used a mito panel red light for my skin, for arthritis and sciatica. I've had the best results with it for arthritis pain. I use it for 10 minutes on my hips or lower spine- depending. Every day for maybe a week and each day the pain is less, then gone. I use it on my face maybe 1× week with green tea and have seen a tightening and softening of wrinkles. No miracles- but pretty great for arthritis..

[beautybygreg]

Red/IR is great for osteoarthritis. I use it in my practice for skin rejuvenation but my mom had bone on bone, torn meniscus and osteoarthritis in both knees. We would do the light on her knees once a week and she would be able to be up and about with minimal pain until she had replacements. We also did it after her replacements to speed recovery and it worked wonders for her. Also worked great for her skin in conjunction with other treatments i was doing.

[sarahcronshaw]

Very interesting, I’ve been using the small 300h desktop model and I’ve found it has made an amazing difference to my skin. I follow the guidelines and use it usually for 10mins five times a week. My skin looks so much better, less grey and more plumb. I’ve not lost any fat on my fave.

[Phoneman]

Just throwing my hat in the ring here, I’ve been using a Rio Facelite (same as Omnilux / Current Body type) for the past 8 months, about 5 or 6 times a week as I meditate in the morning for 30 minutes each session. My skin looks amazing and there are no signs of fat loss (blemish free, very limited fine lines, over all great skin). That being said, this (great) discussion has given me pause and I’m going to cut back to 20 minutes twice weekly from now on just in case there are some surprises coming my way in the future, I definitely don’t want fat loss of any sort on my face. Thanks for the info 👍

[tadmarshall]

It seems that maybe the model we should think of is exercise. Exercise itself does not build muscle, strength or endurance ... it challenges the body such that the body adapts and makes itself bigger, stronger or more capable of sustained effort. So, stimulate the body or skin with red and near-infrared light and then let it adapt and improve. This suggests that "every day forever" may not be ideal.
By the way, the Omnilux instructions say to use the mask 3 to 4 times a week for 4 to 6 weeks, then "as needed". Kind of vague, but they do hint that constant use may not be the right approach.

[carolabney]

Thanks so much for this discussion! (I was actually thinking the same thing that you should call it “discussion” rather than “debate” 😉). I’ve had a red light panel for a couple years. I use it for my face but also for various injuries. I’m a dancer so have various injured body parts. And I must say it absolutely works! Completely has taken away back pain! Also I’m glad to hear that you actually probably should not use it every day. I go through periods of not using it and have wondered about this. If you’re really curious about digging into the science look up Andrew Huberman here on YouTube. He’s a professor of neuroscience at Stanford and does very deep dives into the science of various health topics. He has a video about light therapy that I recently watched. It’s not just about red light and not just about skin, but fascinating information.

[sushi_donut]

Absolutely leading the way in transparent discussion on an industry that often packages hope over science. Thank you so much Ms. Johnston for continuing to ask for data and citations; seeing this in action helps us in so many ways outside of beauty, and is personally helping me how to ask for references like a journalist. You are SO COOL. thank you.

[wadenyoost]

Excellent, excellent presentation for those of us home red light users. We really needed this information and I for one had not herad it elsewhere. Thank you.

[kathleen]

I was using my Omnilux 5-6 days a week for several months when I first got it and did see some improvement. Interestingly, we went on holiday and I didn’t use it for a week and noticed when I resumed I had a greater improvement. Maybe it was the break.

[dodgygeezerdandy]

I’ve been using my red light quasar device for over 10yrs. It’s fantastic. No fat loss. And I use it before applying RetinA which helps with the absorption.

[suecone]

I started out using my red light mask 6 days a week, but now I use it 2: times a week. I have seen great improvement on my dark spots and I don’t have any deep lines in my face which I am very grateful for. I am going on a holiday and will be gone about 19 days and I definitely will not be taking my red light with me so it will be interesting to see if this did make any difference in my skin. I LOVE these discussions as there really isn’t much information that comes with red light products and there should be. Thanks 😊

[src]

Ive been using redlight since 2005. Treatment was based on NASA studies back then. Which was 24hrs in between treatments. I stick to this schedule most of the time.
Lumiere is a brand that had aesthetic face panels. I started off with that then moved to hand helds and panels.

[marklee]

I've been using a neck and a face mask, Omnilux, every day for 2 years. It works. No bad consequences yet. I recently started using it for my neck arthritis. Too soon to tell though. I would love a bed, for my entire body but $25K is currently out of my budget.