Should You Try Red-Light Therapy?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Short Wave – "Should You Try Red-Light Therapy?"

Date: September 22, 2025
Host: Regina Barber (NPR)
Guest Expert: Dr. Michelle Wong (PhD Chemist, Lab Muffin Beauty Science)

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the growing trend of red-light therapy (RLT)–in particular, its claims to reverse skin aging and improve skin health. Host Regina Barber, prompted by her own curiosity and personal experimentation, speaks with Dr. Michelle Wong to dig into the real science behind the “red-light remedy.” The conversation uncovers where the evidence stands, what consumers should look out for, and how RLT compares to time-honored skincare practices.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Hype and Personal Anecdotes

• Regina shares the explosion of the anti-aging market and her personal intrigue regarding red-light therapy masks.
  • Regina Barber (00:17): “Aging is something I think about a lot like every single day for the last three decades as I applied my moisturizer and sunscreen. Which is why I was intrigued by the claims that red light ... could actually reduce signs of aging.”
• She surveys NPR colleagues, uncovering positive but anecdotal experiences with RLT.
  • Mansi Khurana (01:43): “I use it once a week. I think surprisingly I do think it works. Like I do notice that my skin feels ... just a little tighter after I use it.”
  • Nina Phil (02:02): “I had heard great things ... I have a skin disease and very sensitive skin on my face. So I thought this isn't a bad thing to have. In addition, it can't hurt, right? I love it.”

2. Introducing the Science Expert

• Dr. Michelle Wong, a PhD chemist and skincare expert, is brought in to clarify the science amid all the marketing “woo.”
  • Michelle Wong (03:15): “It's meant to be good for skin ... There's a lot of woo around it, I feel ... But it turns out there is stuff behind it.”

3. How Red Light Therapy Actually Works

(05:03–06:44)

• Red and infrared light are longer wavelengths that penetrate skin more deeply, possibly “powering up” mitochondria in skin cells.
• The process: Red light may displace nitric oxide within mitochondria, making cell respiration more efficient and thus increasing processes like cell growth, wound and hair healing.
  • Michelle Wong (05:11): “We have things called mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell ... there's nitric oxide that's sitting in the space where oxygen should be. And the red light just kicks out the nitric oxide. So now the oxygen can come in for respiration. You get more chemical energy, which means you get more cell processes.”

4. Is “More Light” Always Better? Caution and Limitations

(07:52–09:49)

• Medical-grade RLT at clinics is more powerful than home devices. Home masks and panels vary widely in effectiveness due to lack of standardization and regulation.
  • Michelle Wong (07:52): “Usually … in clinic treatment, it's going to be a lot stronger ... masks usually have a lot less LEDs.”
• Many at-home devices may not match their advertised specs. Overdoing it can cause adverse effects—broken blood vessels or darker spots.
  • Michelle Wong (08:59): “There's just ... a lot of lack of regulation and standardization ... you see a lot of people who have just gone too bright for too long and they're reporting side effects ... broken blood vessels, their dark spots getting much darker.”
  • Regina Barber (09:49): “Yeah, when they say like three to five times a week, it doesn't mean daily ... more light [is not] better.”

5. How to Choose (and Should You Trust?)

(10:34–11:36)

• Consult a dermatologist before starting.
• Seek companies with robust clinical data and good return policies (Omnilux noted for their studies).
• Tailor products to your specific needs; RLT may not be the best fit for everyone or every skin issue.
  • Michelle Wong (11:09): “Looking up reviews for your specific skin tone and for what you actually want to use the product for ... in general, the amount of evidence for red light is much less than for other skin care things that are really well established.”

6. What Works Even Better: Proven Skincare Basics

(11:36–13:36)

• Sunscreen is the #1 anti-aging skincare step, with massive evidence behind its efficacy.
  • Michelle Wong (11:52): “Sunscreen is the best skincare product because a lot of our skin aging is from the sun. … People who were wearing sunscreen every day, their skin, during the four to five year time they were wearing the sunscreen, there were no increased visible signs of aging.”
• Prescription retinoids (like tretinoin) and over-the-counter derivatives (retinol) are also strongly evidence-backed for improving skin texture and combating aging.
  • Michelle Wong (12:54): “The second biggest thing is probably tretinoin ... it can increase collagen and elastin ... There are the cosmetic versions like retinol ... they also work.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Michelle Wong (03:15): "There's a lot of woo around it, I feel, which is why it feels so pseudoscience-y to begin with. But it turns out there is stuff behind it."
• Regina Barber (06:44): “As a physicist, I kind of expect like light, which is energy, to be bad for my skin. So how is sending, you know, light into my skin, how can it be good for me?”
• Michelle Wong (11:52): “Sunscreen is the best skincare product ... For white people, it's been estimated that 80% of visible skin aging is from sun exposure.”

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Key Timeline

• 00:17 – Regina introduces anti-aging market & her curiosity about RLT
• 01:43 – Office anecdotes (Mansi, Nina)
• 03:03 – Michelle Wong, science-focused guest, introduced
• 05:11 – Explanation of how RLT affects skin cells (mitochondria mechanism)
• 07:52 – Clinic treatments vs. at-home devices; lack of standardization
• 09:49 – Side effects of overuse
• 10:34 – Advice for consumers: consult dermatologist, seek evidence
• 11:46 – Michelle emphasizes proven basics: sunscreen and retinoids
• 13:36 – Episode concludes

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Conclusion

While red-light therapy has some scientific plausibility—primarily through stimulating mitochondrial activity in skin cells—the field is still rife with unproven claims, uneven device quality, and sparse regulation. For most people seeking youthful, healthy skin, daily sunscreen and retinoids remain more reliable, scientifically validated choices. As Dr. Wong encourages, approach RLT with cautious optimism, but keep your skincare foundations in place.

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For more science with wit and warmth, check out other Short Wave episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Announcer]

This message comes from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center this October. For a short time, your gift to MSK will be triple matched to help support breast cancer research, treatment and care. Donate [e-mail] match short wavers everything is.

[Regina Barber]

Better with a podcast, and we hope we're your favorite. But we also know you have room in your hearts for others. That's why NPR is launching Pod Club It. It's a newsletter for podcast fans by podcast fans. Subscribing is free, and it means you'll get fresh recommendations from real human beings in your inbox every Friday. The link to sign up is in our show notes [e-mail] podclub. You're listening to Short Wave from NPR. If you've ever bought a product to prevent aging, you're not alone. The anti aging product market was roughly worth $53 billion in 2024. There's moisturize, chemical creams, jade rollers, and of course, something that's gotten popular in the last few years, red light therapy masks. And I have to admit, I'm susceptible too. Aging is something I think about a lot like every single day for the last three decades as I applied my moisturizer and sunscreen. Which is why I was intrigued by the claims that red light, literally light at the wavelength of visible red light and some near infrared red light could actually reduce signs of aging. And as I scoured the scientific literature for this episode, I also became obsessed with any real time anecdata and validation in the meantime, like, was I totally on an island with this reporting obsession or, or were my colleagues too? So I pulled a ton of people around the office from producers in their 20s, like Mansi Khurana. I use it once a week. I think surprisingly I do think it works. Like I do notice that my skin feel like looks just a little tighter after I use it to colleagues closer to my age, like Nina Phil, I.

[Michelle Wong]

Had heard great things about red light therapy for skin. I have a skin disease and very sensitive skin on my face. So I thought this isn't a bad thing to have. In addition, it can't hurt, right? I love it.

[Regina Barber]

I'm obsessed with it obviously. Next step in my quest, try it myself. And okay, yeah. After using a red light therapy mask as directed 10 minutes, three to five times a week for over a month, I thought I saw a difference for the better. But I'm a scientist. I can't fall into these anecdotal data traps. I needed to get to the bottom of the science. So I reached out to someone who skillfully breaks down the science of beauty.

[Michelle Wong]

What does it do? Which masks actually work? Why are they so expensive? And can you make your own cheaper version?

[Regina Barber]

That's Michelle Wong. She's a PhD chemist who hosts the YouTube channel Lab Muffin Beauty Science. So I asked her point blank, is there science behind all these red light claims?

[Michelle Wong]

It's meant to be good for skin. It's meant to be good for a whole list of things. There's a lot of woo around it, I feel, which is why it feels so pseudoscience y to begin with. But it turns out there is stuff behind it.

[Regina Barber]

Today on the show. The benefits of red light. Red. What is the science behind this craze? And what other methods might be just as good for your skin? I'm Regina Barber and you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from npr.

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[Regina Barber]

So let's get into the science. Like how could red light or near infrared light help your skin? Can you break that down for us?

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah. So red and infrared light, they are the longer wavelengths. So red is the longest wavelength of visible light. They aren't absorbed by as much stuff near the surface of the skin, so they can penetrate deeper. And now the mechanisms of how exactly it works, it's not fully established, but it seems like the main way that red light works is inside ourselves. We have things called mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell that produce energy through respiration. And that energy powers a lot of the biological processes inside our cells. And there's part of the respiration process, which is done by an enzyme like a Little chemical factory. It's the one that chops up oxygen in half. And so there's nitric oxide that's sitting in the space where oxygen should be. And the red light just kicks out the nitric oxide. So now the oxygen can come in for respiration. You get more chemical energy, which means you get more cell processes.

[Regina Barber]

Oh, okay.

[Michelle Wong]

So that's why we have this very general sort of benefits of light. We get all this stuff where it just seems to increase, like cell growth, it increases hair growth, it increases healing of wounds, things like that.

[Regina Barber]

And is that pretty established that it is. The red light is doing that to our cells?

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah. So the mitochondria mechanism, that's the one that seems to be happening the most. But there is actually a little bit of evidence that in cells that don't have mitochondria, that seems to also have improvement.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. So as a physicist, I kind of expect like light, which is energy, to be bad for my skin. So how is sending, you know, light into my skin, how can it be good for me?

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah. So I think light does stuff to our skin in more ways than we'd expect. We have a precursor to vitamin D in our skin. And at one point in the process of vitamin D production, UVB will come in and chop a bond and. And yeah, that takes it closer to vitamin D. So that's why people are low in vitamin D in winter, because they go into the sunless. There's less sun around to begin with, there's less uvb, which means that you don't have that natural production of vitamin D in your skin. And everyone's like, you have to take supplements or whatever. Light is good at chopping up bonds. So whether it's the bond inside the vitamin D or it's the bond that's sticking the nitric oxide to the mitochondria.

[Regina Barber]

Interesting. Okay, so light can be good sometimes. Getting back to this specific light, what are the differences between red light that you might find in the dermatologist's office and what you can do at home?

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah, so usually when you go into an in clinic treatment, it's going to be a lot stronger, it's going to be very bright because they can afford these much bigger panels. There's a lot more LEDs. There are panels you can get at home though, which are still pretty bright. And then there are masks. Masks usually have a lot less LEDs. And I guess there's a bit of a question mark around how effective home treatments are because there's not that much research and there's not that much incentive for research or publicly available research because approval of these devices isn't necessary.

[Regina Barber]

Right.

[Michelle Wong]

This is generally the case with skincare. If there's something where they need to convince doctors, then they'll do peer reviewed studies. But if they don't, then you get very spotty publicly available evidence. A lot of it is done within the industry and it's locked up and they just don't share it, which is very annoying as someone who's trying to talk about the science behind beauty products.

[Regina Barber]

So with that in mind, there's masks, there's these panels, there's also like these handheld red light therapy devices. Do you have any sense of how effective these devices are?

[Michelle Wong]

That's a really difficult question because there's just like a lot of lack of regulation and standardization when it comes to these things. I mean, a lot of people buy panels and masks off Alibaba, for example. And one of the big problems is that it doesn't seem like a lot of them have specs that are reliable. But yeah, I think generally looking at that, looking at reviews and then just using the specific product, that is probably the safest bet in terms of which ones to go with. There are things like I've been in a lot of forums looking this stuff up just to try to get some sort of grasp of what the real use situation is like. And you see a lot of people who have just gone too bright for too long and they're reporting side effects. There's things like broken blood vessels, their dark spots getting much darker.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah, when they say like three to five times a week, it doesn't mean daily, it doesn't mean you need to do that. And more light or something like that.

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah, I think a lot of people do think more is better, especially people who are new to skincare. So it seems like biologically it's a bit like when you're eating food. If you try to eat all your food for three weeks on the first day and then go hiking for three weeks and eat nothing, that doesn't really work. Your body doesn't process the food the.

[Regina Barber]

Same way our bodies don't work that way. Yeah, got it. And you're saying that there are some products that aren't necessarily what they say they are. So like, how do we, how do we as a consumer, like, know it's.

[Michelle Wong]

Always a good idea to consult with a dermatologist before you add anything to your routine that might be a bit iffy, like a red light mask?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah.

[Michelle Wong]

But yeah, I think the Safest thing to do is to look for a company that has a lot of reviews. Ideally, it's a company that's done some research. So the one that has done the most research is Omnilux. The most published studies on this. They've also done a lot of the panel research. So they are probably the safest option. But I don't think by any means they're the only option. I think also just a company that has a good return policy, I think is also really important because it is such uncharted waters and looking up reviews for your specific skin tone and for what you actually want to use the product for. Because I think there's just a lot of people buying products that are hyped up without thinking whether or not it matches what they want out of it. And I think in general, the amount of evidence for red light is much less than for other skin care things that are really well established.

[Regina Barber]

Can you kind of go into depth with these other things that may be cheaper and like you said, more scientifically studied?

[Michelle Wong]

Yeah. And also a bit easier to use, I think, and less commitment and less pain.

[Regina Barber]

Okay.

[Michelle Wong]

So sunscreen is the best skincare product because a lot of our skin aging is from the sun. I think for white people, it's been estimated that 80% of visible skin aging is from sun exposure. And the amount of sun you get, it's not just when you're going to the beach, it's every day. So there are studies done. There's one especially famous one from Australia where they found that people who were wearing sunscreen every day, their skin, during the four to five year time they were wearing the sunscreen, there were no increased visible signs of aging. Whereas the people who were wearing it just to the beach did have this. And this was done in Australia, in our skin cancer capital of Australia, which is the skin cancer capital of the world. Wow. And this is also important because there are some anti aging products that can actually make your skin more sensitive to the sun. And I've had friends who did this where they started using the anti aging product without sunscreen and their skin got worse. So sunscreen, number one.

[Regina Barber]

Okay, check.

[Michelle Wong]

Nice. The second biggest thing is probably tretinoin. This is a type of vitamin A. It's a prescription product. It seems to increase cell turnover, so your cells are produced faster and it can increase collagen and elastin. These are the proteins that are deeper in the skin that help with texture. So tretinoin is the prescription version that has the most evidence behind it. But there's the cosmetic versions like retinol, which are one step weaker, but they do seem to work. They were actually investigated first before they started looking into tretinoin, but they weren't stable enough back then. Now they are stabilized, so they also work.

[Regina Barber]

Michelle, thank you so much for talking to us today. I had a great time. You illuminated me my thoughts. You really, really helped me think through this. So thank you so much.

[Michelle Wong]

Thank you for having me.

[Regina Barber]

This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson, it was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Burleigh McCoy, and fact checked by Tyler Jones. Robert Rodriguez was the audio engineer, Beth Donovan is our senior director, and Colin Campbell is our senior vice president of podcasting strategy. I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from N.

[Michelle Wong]

Foreign.

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