Red Light for Skin Health
It’s been just over a year since our last real primer on the LightStim bed, so I think it’s time for a little update! We’ve really come to love both the LightStim bed and the anti-aging face plate, and so have a lot of you (it’s one of our most popular unlimited memberships).
In the past, we’ve focused mostly on the plethora of benefits for muscle pain, arthritis pain, and general physical recovery. In this post, I’m going to focus a little bit more on how red light can benefit your skin!
“LEDs represent an emerging modality to alter skin biology and change the paradigm of managing skin conditions.” - Jagdeo, et. al, 2018
As we covered in the previous post, what we’re ultimately talking about is photobiomodulation - light waves taking effect at the cellular level. Just like you absorb UV light and experience differences in your skin (and hormones), you can absorb various red light and infrared waves, and those waves alter cellular processes. We know red light boosts mitochondrial density, which increases ATP (cellular energy). We also know that red light boosts Nitric Oxide (NO), which increases blood flow.
That NO boost provides huge benefits to the skin.
Nitric Oxide acts as a vasodilator - it widens the blood vessels near the surface of the skin, which improves blood flow. Where blood flows, healing happens. This is part of why red light can really improve the quality of your skin, particularly by decreasing the look of wrinkles and fine lines. I notice an improvement immediately after, though the deeper effects are mostly cumulative.
The boost in NO provides another huge benefit for those who experience decreased blood flow in the extremities (like our customers with Raynaud’s Syndrome). Because it acts as a vasodilator, you can experience immediate increases in blood flow. It can be a great supplement to add, particularly in the colder months.
Nitric Oxide is also part of why red light can help decrease overall inflammation, which means using red light on recent injuries can greatly improve the look of scarring. Anecdotally, I used both the bed and the face plate directly on surgical scars after a laparoscopic procedure in December. Those scars healed far faster and smoother than my first round of scars I got at just 21 years old. This stuff works!
Again, while red light can make immediate improvements to your skin, the real results come from consistent use - ideally 3+ times per week. This is why we created the Unlimited Membership! You can spend just 20 minutes here a few times per week and see huge results in your skin health (plus that boost of energy, a decrease in muscle pain, and frankly just the enjoyment of having 20 minutes to listen to chill music and rest).
I’ll leave you with a tip, part of my actual Tuesday/Thursday morning routine before we open up here AND my “going out” routine:
Jump on the bed and use the face plate for 20 minutes with completely clean skin. Follow up with a quick splash or submersion of cold water (I just run a shower as cold as it goes over my face for 20-30 seconds). Finally, moisturize and use a jade or rose quartz roller that you’ve left in the fridge for a bit to cool down. You skin will be depuffed and look like it’s glowing from the inside out!
Plus, a little extra credit reading:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lsm.22791
https://www.scmsjournal.com/article/abstract/low-level-laser-light-therapy-lllt-in-skin-stimulating-healing-restoring/