What You Should Know About At-Home LED Light Therapy

You’ve heard of microneedling—now get ready for LED light therapy. LED stands for light-emitting diode, which when taken in the form of therapy, is a skincare treatment using several wavelengths of light, such as red, blue, amber, and white. These lights have been around since the 1960s, and NASA originally developed LED therapy for plant growth experiments when on missions, but they ultimately discovered that it has wonderful healing powers for wounds. In the 1990s, the Navy Seals began using it to help regenerate damaged muscle tissues. Now, this treatment is used all over the world for both in-office and at-home treatments to help treat acne, reduce inflammation, and promote anti-aging effects, like increasing collagen. Here, L’OFFICIEL guides you on your journey of starting your own LED light therapy practice, including some at-home devices to try.

LED light therapy works by sending light waves into your skin to trigger intracellular reactions, and your skin responds depending on the light color. As the light’s wavelength increases, so does the level of penetration in the skin. It’s mostly used on the face because that’s where skin damage collects, but it can also be effective on the neck, chest, and other areas of the body.

Red light targets the epidermis, the outer layer of the skin, and helps reduce wrinkles. The epidermis absorbs the light, stimulating collagen proteins, and allowing your skin to appear smoother and decrease fine lines. Additionally, red light can reduce inflammation, providing your skin a gorgeous glow.

In contrast, blue light can reduce acne and scarring by focusing on your sebaceous glands, the oil glands beneath your hair follicles. When these glands become overactive, your skin can break out, so blue LED light therapy forces these glands to become less active, killing acne-causing bacteria beneath the skin, treating any cysts or pimples that could be forming. What’s more, it also has anti-inflammatory effects.

At-home procedures call for LED light devices or masks available online. Generally, masks should be used for around 10 minutes, while wands can be held over the skin for around 20 to 30 minutes, but be sure to follow the specific product’s directions carefully. Regardless of where the treatment is happening, you shouldn’t wear makeup and you should wear goggles to protect your eyes from the light. Because the treatment is non-invasive, you can go about your day as normal right after the procedure is over. It’s recommended to start using the light therapy three to five times per week for the first few weeks, then two to three times for weeks four through 12, and then one to two times a week to maintain results, or however you see fit—it depends on the intensity of your acne or scarring.