Have you heard of red light therapy and wondered what’s the buzz all about?
If you’ve been keeping up with our skin care blogs, you may remember the the gist of why we use LED Therapy in the treatment room.
New to our blog? No problem! Here are a couple links to catch you up:
- To read the background of why LED Therapy is a fantastic part of the facial and how it can unlock your skin’s potential, click here → https://beyoutifulescapepc.com/led-therapy-1/
- To take a slighter deeper dive to see how blue light can benefit the skin, click here → https://beyoutifulescapepc.com/blue-led/
All caught up? Fantastic!
And now we’ll talk a little bit about the type of light that most of you reading this may be interested in: red LED.
Why Red LED? Before we get into the nitty gritty, most of us (especially us <ahem> seasoned ones) may be interested in red LED for its age management properties. We’ve never had a person come to us because they want to look older!
Turning Light Into Energy
Red LED penetrates deeper than blue light into the layers of the skin, to a depth of approximately 2mm. When the red light reaches the layers of your skin that are still alive, the photons are absorbed by the cell’s mitochondria, which is known as the “powerhouse” of the cell. Through a series of amazing processes, the mitochondria then converts the photon energy into Adenosine Triphospate (also known as ATP, an energy carrying molecule), resulting in increased cellular activity.
What does this increase in energy do?
When oxygen rich blood travels through the body, it has the ability to reduce overall inflammation. This reduction in inflammation is the reason why red light therapy is beneficial in healing inflamed acne, wounds, cuts, scars and infections. It is also recommended as a post-care treatment after fractional laser, dermal rolling or needling, chemical peels, electrodessication, and microdermabrasion or dermabrasion.
The increased energy also boosts your fibroblast cells to produce more collagen and elastin. Collagen is the foundation of your skin that keeps it strong and elastin is the “bounce back” of the skin. You will also experience increased blood circulation to the exposed tissues, which also will stimulate the body’s lymphatic system. Promising studies have shown that red light therapy has been effective in a variety other ways, such as improving hair growth.
So…what does this all mean for me?
To sum up all that science-y stuff, red light energy is absorbed by the cells, resulting in increased energy. This increased energy means increased cellular activity. What does all this mean for you and your skin?
A whole slew of benefits with no down time!
Though there are some contraindications, LED therapy is generally safe and can be done multiple times a week. Of course, like all other things good, results improve with time and consistency.
If LED therapy sounds like something you would like to add to your skin care routine, head on over to our Appointments page to schedule your self-care session!
