Wellness, Actually with Emily Oster & Perry Wilson, MD What's the deal with red light therapy?
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Mar 12, 2026 They dive into red light therapy’s biology and whether light can truly boost mitochondria or just heat your skin. Medical uses are contrasted with influencer claims for skin, wound healing, hair regrowth, mood, and athletic recovery. They unpack dosing chaos, device variability, safety concerns, FDA clearance, and whether any benefits are believable or just placebo.
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Don't DIY Photodynamic Therapy
- Use photodynamic therapy only under medical guidance since it combines light plus a chemical to kill precancerous skin cells.
- It's application-specific (actinic keratosis) and relies on clinician-controlled dosing and creams, not consumer masks.
Skin Studies Are Small And Hard To Blind
- Studies on red light for skin/wrinkles are small, inconsistent, and plagued by placebo and blinding issues.
- Sham-placebo is hard for light treatments, so reported benefits may reflect expectation or biased evaluators.
Wound Healing Evidence Is Device Specific
- Some medical-device trials show wound healing benefits with specific lasers, but those devices and wavelengths differ from consumer LEDs.
- A 30-person RCT found benefit with a 904 nm medical laser not sold as a consumer product.