What’s the right amount of red light for your skin?

I’m a big believer in finding ways to gently stimulate and support our skin without putting it through its paces too much and potentially doing more harm than good.

And when it comes to anti-aging skincare and clinical or at-home treatments that can be a delicate balance.

One of the gentlest yet most effective skin treatments around in my view is red light.

How does red light work?

In short, red light therapy typically uses low-level wavelengths of red and near-infrared light to treat skin issues including wrinkles and scarring.

The difference between red and near-infrared light is simply the wavelength, with red light falling into the visible part of the light spectrum and near infrared falling into the invisible part.

Most of the top-selling red lights masks use LED (Light Emitting Diode) which means they emit varying wavelengths of light to treat different skin concerns, but for anti-aging we want to focus on the red light.

It’s thought to work by strengthening the mitochondria in our cells which play a vital role in supporting and boosting a cell’s energy, working in tandem with the energy-carrying molecule found in all cells called ATP (adenosine triphosphate).

What’s the science behind it?

In a Korean study published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology, seventy six patients with visible facial wrinkles were treated with LED on the right half of their faces twice a week for four weeks and followed up after three months, including a group that were given a ‘sham treatment’.

In the results there was a significant reduction of wrinkles and an increase in skin elasticity and a marked increase in the amount of collagen in those treated with LED compared with the untreated group.

So far so good.

How much red light should we use?

But what we also know about red light is that too much of it is not necessarily a good thing and that it’s possible we can overdo it and tip those initially positive effects into negative.

Scientist and founder of Maysama skincare, Bev May Sanderson, believes the benefits of a red light mask or panel can be experienced in just six minutes a day at home to keep our cells energised and to support the production of collagen which contributes to our skin looking bouncy and youthful.

She points to studies suggesting red light emits a burst of free radicals (unstable molecules) that are initially helpful to the skin – but only up to a point.

Bev explains: “The free radicals can accumulate beyond a certain level where they’re not beneficial and it then starts to undo the good work of your red light.

“Those free radicals then inhibit the fibroblasts’ proliferation [fibroblasts play an important role in collagen production], and that’s not great for anti-ageing. So for anti-ageing, we want to keep the free radicals below a certain level.

“That means it’s not about how frequently you use your red light device, it’s how long you do it within a single session that is important.”

That view is supported by a study on the effects of red light therapy to treat myopia (short sightedness) in children.

The children were treated with 3 minute sessions twice daily and followed up over a 12 month period, during which no adverse effects were found and, happily, it had a positive impact in controlling the myopia.

This suggests frequent, shorter bursts of red light therapy is a safe and effective way to use it.

My red light product picks

If you’re investing in red light then one of the best value options is a panel that you can use to treat multiple areas of the skin.

Bev has recently launched a red light therapy panel incorporating both red and near-infrared light and with a pulsed light option which I now use every other day.

Pulse light has the advantage of delivering very short bursts of light that limit the possibility of a build-up of free radicals.

For mask fans she also has a pulse option called the Prana Light Therapy Mask. And if you prefer to use continuous light, HigherDose have two well-designed options in their face mask and neck enhancer.

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