Now it would be unfair of me to call out one particular review, so instead I read over a sample of reviews that claimed they were giving the reader the “best devices currently on the market today” What I found was a series of common mis claims and common mistakes or gaffs made by these reviewers who claimed to be beauty experts. Here’s just a sample of those so-called foibles.

“you’re shining a bunch of NASA-approved lights at your face to change your entire skin tone”

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA don’t approve lights or light emitting diodes for that matter. You’ll often see this claim as if NASA has waved a magical wand over certain Light emitting diodes and certain devices over others. It’s not correct. In the early 2000’s Dr Harry Whelan authored several papers on the successful use of LED in space to heal wounds and used the word NASA LEDs. Since then hundreds of companies have labelled their devices as NASA approved or using NASA LEDs when in fact there really is no basis for their claim.

“Shines a rainbow of light to treat your common skin conditions from wrinkles to rosacea”

It seems that some of these manufacturers want to offer you a multitude of colors to treat a myriad of conditions.

Green light: has a wavelength of 495–570 nm and a quick search on Pubmed reveals no real significant clinical data to prove it works on pigmentation. Orange light: 590–620 nm, searches on Pubmed and Google scholar draw a blank.

White light: – well white light is white light, like the light that comes out of your bedside lamp and that really doesn’t do much at all apart from light up your bedroom!

So, what wavelengths or colors really work?

The research group of Michael Hamblin (Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital) published several research papers identifying the complex cellular mechanisms potentially explaining how light therapy works on reducing facial wrinkles, healing wounds and smoothing skin texture. In several of his papers his group made a statement that basically light from around 600nm (red) to 1000nm (near infra-red) has some effect at the cellular level. However, there’s a big caveat in play here, because it’s not only the color of the light, signified by the wavelength but other parameters such as the energy or the power of the light and how quickly the light is delivered to the skin. Think about it like baking a cake, there’s a list of ingredients – but it’s the weights and measures and how you combine them that counts. Sure we can suggest that amber light works, but until Dr Rocha Mota publishes their data on red versus amber light, I am sticking to the clinically proven wavelengths of light, Red at 633nm and near infra-red at 830nm, proven in clinical studies to improve facial wrinkles, smooth surface roughness and improve overall tone. Why look elsewhere – those 2 wavelengths have been proven in the right combination to work, the others (apart from yellow1) have not.

1. There are a handful of clinical publications on yellow light improving wrinkles and helping to heal radiation induced dermatitis.

“The best LED masks include at least 2 important wavelengths: red and blue.”

There’s a grain of truth in this, but only if you want to treat mild to moderate acne vulgaris. Red and blue light combined is more efficacious than blue light alone for treating acne vulgaris. A comparison of clinical data goes some way to prove this. However, if you really want to treat the signs of skin ageing then Red at 633nm and near infra-red at 830nm are the proven wavelengths of choice and the wavelengths recognized by regulatory bodies such as the Food and Drug administration (FDA) to be effective.

“LED masks may not kill the degree of acne-causing bacteria or stimulate collagen at the rate an in-office treatment might.”

Don’t be fooled, if a manufacturer understands the importance of how the light is delivered to the skin, then some home use masks, especially those that lie close to or on the skin can perform just as well. As I mentioned earlier, phototherapy is a combination of several key parameters; the wavelength of the light (color) the intensity of the light, the time of the treatment and how close the device is to the skin, get all 4 correct and you will see the same benefits from a home use mask as you will from an in office LED device and what’s more you can treat your skin more frequently without the need to visit the physician’s office.

“Uses FDA approved technology”

The Food and Drug administration (FDA) doesn’t approve a technology, they clear devices for marketing. It is in fact illegal to sell an LED mask indicated for the treatment of wrinkles and/or acne vulgaris in the US without an FDA clearance or K number. I looked at five devices listed in various “best LED mask” reviews. These names appeared in several “reviews” and yet none appeared to be FDA cleared for the treatment of wrinkles or acne vulgaris. Don’t believe me? Well the FDA make it easy for you – here’s the link https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/510k-clearances/search-releasable-510k-database. You can search the releasable 510(k) database by Device name.

So, a handful of devices recommended by experts in the field and yet none have been cleared for sale in the USA by the FDA and therefore there is no particular guarantee of how safe and effective these devices are?

“the most powerful LEDs”

This is a common mistake by manufacturers claiming that they have the most powerful LEDs and that power is great and more effective -wrong. I am repeating myself once again and I apologise but effective phototherapy is a combination of several key parameters;
i. The wavelength of the light (color)
ii. The intensity of the light (how quickly the light is delivered)
iii. The time of the treatment
iv. How close the device is to the skin?

If the light is too powerful, then it can deliver too much light to the skin and the skin’s cellular mechanism cannot cope, so all of this light is wasted and actually has a negative effect. Phototherapy obeys a law called the Arndt Schulz Rule. Too little light has no effect on the cell, too much light has an inhibitory effect and in the middle is the cell’s sweet spot, where the right amount of light energy using the right wavelengths of light delivered in the right amount of time will give the best results.

“FDA Registered technology” – “FDA cleared technology”

Some companies claim they are FDA registered – that may be true, but this does not mean that the device has been cleared for marketing in the US, it just means that they have registered their company and product on the agencies website to allow import of the product. Their product has not had to undergo rigorous testing.
Some of these companies claim they are using FDA cleared technology – it’s snake oil salesman talk. They are implying that their technology is the same, but again the agency does not clear “technology” per se they clear devices that have clear trade names and give those products K numbers.
If you are ever in doubt and you reside in the US use the link above to the FDA’s own website to check out product.