The ESK blog

Light Therapy at home – LED masks, do they work?

24 May 2024

Dr Anne Thomson

If you’re at all interested in skincare (which we assume you are because you’re here!), and you don’t live under a rock, you can’t fail to have noticed the LED mask trend taking over the interwebs and cosmetic stores. Maybe you’ve already taken the plunge and swear by yours?

Touted by celebrities, influencers, beauty editors and your average skincare obsessed Reddit user, there are some impressive claims being bandied about. No doubt we can thank the pandemic for some of it – the perfect storm of being cut off from our in-clinic professional treatments whilst staring at our own faces staring back at us from our Facetime and Zoom meetings!

And the claims are certainly seductive:

“Stimulate collagen production for firmer, more youthful-looking skin”
“Refine skin texture and tone for an effortless glow”
“40+ peer-reviewed clinical studies”

This last one particularly piqued our interest, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the evidence behind light therapy and whether LED masks really work.

What is light therapy?

Light therapy for skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, skin rejuvenation, wound healing and even hair removal or regrowth has actually been around for decades. Laser and IPL (intense pulsed light) are two forms of light therapy that harness the different wavelengths and energy properties of light to penetrate the skin to certain depths and stimulate various effects. These effects basically amount to causing micro-injuries to the various skin layers, stimulating a cascade of healing processes that boost collagen production, repair inflammation and rejuvenate the skin. And the evidence for these more intense forms of light therapy is pretty robust.

LED light

LED, which stands for light emitting diodes, is a form of low level light that was invented by NASA to help try and grow potatoes in space (so the story goes). Researchers noticed that cuts or abrasions on their hands were healing much faster than normal – could it be the LED lights?

LED light was subsequently indeed found to improve wound healing, leading to interest in using different wavelengths of LED-generated light to help with acne (red and blue light), psoriasis (blue light and near infrared) and aging/skin rejuvenation (red light). All this without the intense stripping of the outer layer, such as with some types of laser treatment. This meant virtually no downtime and very little in the way of safety concerns.

But wavelength is not the only thing that’s important when it comes to LED’s effectiveness. What also matters is the strength (intensity) of the light. And this is where in-clinic LED treatments and at-home LED masks start to differ…

In-clinic LED treatments vs at-home LED masks

Almost all of the evidence supporting LED treatments for fine lines and wrinkles has been conducted using in-clinic treatments, which usually use higher powered machines. This research can be tricky to interpret – there is huge variation in the wavelengths, intensity and total dose (each machine can have different settings) which make comparisons difficult. Many of the studies are poorly designed - not randomised or with no control group – often with small sample sizes and short follow-up periods. Further complicating things is that many of them are funded by the companies who make the machines.

There are glimmers (pardon the light pun!) of promising evidence, particularly with the use of blue and red light for acne, but the evidence for treating aging skin with LED is still emerging; the few seemingly independent review articles we could find - where the authors examine all of the studies to date – conclude that, whilst promising, more research is needed.

In real life ie. not under the controlled conditions of a research study, practitioner qualifications and skill can also vary. Buyer beware!

The research on home-based LED devices like masks is even patchier. Most devices which claim to be backed by studies, are actually “borrowing” the evidence from the in-clinic treatment studies. Because the masks generally emit light at a MUCH lower power than the in-clinic machines used in the studies, this is a very long bow to draw. If you were an evidence-fiend, you’d even be forgiven for thinking it was misleading…

Are there any downsides to LED masks?

Other than the fact there is scant evidence (so far) that they work and they aren’t cheap? On the whole, they seem pretty safe - note that FDA and TGA approval of LED masks is about safety NOT effectiveness.

There are some theoretical safety concerns to be aware of:

Eye damage: one TGA approved mask had to be recalled recently due to eye safety concerns. Some dermatologists recommend wearing eye protection (sunglasses or tinted goggles) when using an LED mask.

Darker skin types may have an increased risk of pigmentation problems, especially from devices that generate heat.

Light sensitive conditions or medications: it would be prudent to avoid light therapy if you have medical conditions or take medications that increase light sensitivity.

There is also a risk that blue light may cause oxidative stress leading to skin aging and hyperpigmentation

So what DOES work?

If you’re looking to invest your hard-earned money in at-home skin rejuvenation, we reckon following the evidence is your best bet. And it just isn’t there yet for LED masks.

But we DO have evidence for the safety and effectiveness of active ingredients you can use at home in your skincare:

Niacinamide for its anti-inflammatory and skin barrier protective effects
Retinal for reducing fine lines and wrinkles and dealing with acne and pigmentation
L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for repairing sun damage, wrinkles and pigmentation
Hydroxy acids for gentle exfoliation and skin smoothing
Hyaluronic acid for hydration and collagen-boosting
Daily sun protection with zinc oxide, a mineral sunscreen that acts as a physical block to harmful UV rays without irritating.

And if you already have an LED mask? Fear not! Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions (for safety) and the evidence by incorporating proven active ingredients in the rest of your skincare routine ☺️