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How Red Light Therapy For Wrinkles Works - covid-19 tracker

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How Red Light Therapy For Wrinkles Works

By Elaine Guthrie


Skincare products, beauty creams and other such anti-aging lotions, creams and liquids can easily pack a vanity or medical closet. There are likewise many different cosmetic and surgical procedures that can get rid of wrinkles and other symptoms that come with age. But a technique that makes use of red light therapy for wrinkles is an increasingly popular alternative.

Heliotherapy, also known as phototherapy, is a well-established and science driven technique that is helpful in treating patients suffering from many different ailments. It's very effective for cases of eczema, acne and other skin disorders. It also hastens the healing process for open wounds. It has produced positive results in combating cancer and other ailments such as stress, depression and sleep disorders.

Phototherapies typically come under one of two broad categories. The non-targeted type is where the patient is asked to get more and regular exposure to sunlight, which can be direct or through a lightbox that reflects sunlight. On the other hand, targeted types of therapies focus intense rays of light from sources such as lamps, LEDs and lasers on a particular patch of skin.

Red light therapy comes under the latter category, where wrinkles below the eyes are targeted with visible rays. Note that this is different from infrared rays, which are not directly visible to the human eye. A study published a few years ago by researchers at the University of Ulm in Germany showed how it works.

It's all about elastin. This protein is what keeps skin elastic by controlling the producing of collagen as needed. When a person starts aging, these elastin fibers go out of whack and there's not collagen to help the skin bounce back, both literally and figuratively. The end result is that the skin is increasingly more stretched and baggy, and this is what is called wrinkles.

The core cause of this dysfunction is because of water layers around the elastin fibers. Subjecting such affected areas of the skin with light rays at a high intensity leads to a sudden spurt in blood circulation, in the process freeing up the elastin to resume their work. Collagen starts being produced like before, and the skin starts regaining its earlier healthiness.

The process is simple, non-invasive and completely painless. Areas of the skin which have wrinkles or wounds will heal quickly. Other areas that are normal will gain a healthy sheen because of the extra collagen production.

Devices approved by the FDA that provide this kind of treatment are already in use in skincare and beauty salons. Phototherapy devices that can be used at home are also available. Most of these are designed as headgear that emits high-intensity rays around the eyes. The user is supposed to wear goggles to protect the eyes while using the device.

Even so, it's important to remember to use it in moderation. It's helpful up to a certain point, but bombarding a specific patch of skin with intense light rays for extended periods will have adverse consequences. The ideal usage is for one minute exposures for no more than three to four times per day, at most. Also note that patients with medical conditions and other skin ailments should talk to a dermatologist first.




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