Is Red Light Therapy Effective?

Any skin improvements you might get from red light therapy, like a reduction in pimples, is generally Red Light Therapy long term. However, to maintain those results, you might have to have one or two follow-up treatments each year. It’s also unclear who will see any improvements and to what extent.

More research is needed to determine if red light therapy is effective for other uses, as most studies on red light therapy are small and need larger sample sizes.

At this time, there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that red light therapy is beneficial or safe for treating the following conditions:

Cancer: Red light therapy has not been proven safe to be used during cancer treatments or near tumors.

Obesity: Some small studies have examined the effect of red light therapy on waist circumference. However, there is no evidence to support using red light therapy for weight loss.

Back pain: Red light therapy has been used to treat mouth pain, but there is not enough evidence to know whether it can treat other types of pain such as back pain.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): You may have heard of light therapy for SAD treatment, but red light therapy specifically has not been proven effective.

While red light therapy might benefit pimples because of the treatment’s anti-inflammatory effects, red light therapy is not effective against blackheads, whiteheads, acne cysts, or nodules