Transcription
Red light therapy for thinning hair? What about for fewer wrinkles and greater collagen production? Do those weird red light face masks even work? And what about those, like, helmets and the hats that we see people wearing to stimulate hair growth from red light therapy? You've probably seen a ton of influencers using these and selling these and wondered, do these things even work? Is it all hype? Is there any science to this stuff?
Or maybe you're fully sold on the benefits of red light therapy; you just don't know if the stuff that people are using at home is actually effective. And whether it's home units or medical-grade units that you're considering, you probably want to know: If I am going to see results, how long is it going to take? We're going to dig into all of it here today on the Shelene Show. Without a doubt, so many of you have said, "Like, Shelene, talk to us about hair. Like, I am having so many problems since I hit perimenopause. Like, my hair is thinning; it's just not the same; it doesn't cooperate." That is a huge issue for so many women. But the fact of the matter is, I was born with very fine hair. Like, people in my family, we just don't have thick, heavy, coarse hair. I have a lot of it, but it's very fine, and most of the women in my family have experienced hormonal thinning of their hair. And I started to experience thinning as well. Hair growth is just one of the many reasons why I started looking into, uh, red light therapy.
Now, at first, when it came to red light therapy, I was very skeptical. I mean, I've sat in front of red lights before; I didn't feel any different. And I just, to me, it was like, is this kind of a "woo-woo" kind of thing? Is there any real science behind it? And the answer is yes. But don't take it from me; take it from everybody's favorite scientist, Dr. Andrew Huberman. For those of you that are thinking that the use of light to modulate health falls under the category of woo science, pseudoscience, or biohacking, well, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, in 1903, the Nobel Prize was given to Niels Finsen—he was Icelandic; he lived in Denmark—for the use of phototherapy for the treatment of lupus. So there's more than a hundred years of quality science emphasizing the use of light, and as you'll soon see, the use of particular wavelengths or colors of light in order to modulate the activity of cells in the brain and body.
Now, I'm not going to get too deep into the science because, ladies, I know that's not really what you're interested in. I mean, there are some things you do need to know about this in terms of like its efficacy and what type of light—all those things. I'm not going to give you a dissertation on phototherapy because you just want to know: Does this work? If so, how? What specifically do I need to use? You just want the facts, ma'am. That's why you're here. No problem. I'm going to keep it simple for you, and I want to start by asking you: When you think about plants, when you think about light in general, doesn't it just—just make sense that it would have a major impact—that light has a major impact on humans? Like, we know the impact it has on plants. We accept that light changes the way organisms behave. We accept that light can bring something to life, and without it, things like plants cease to exist. But we're not just talking about all light today; we're talking specifically about red light. Red light is a type of visible light that penetrates the skin, and it boosts cellular energy; it improves our blood flow; promotes healing; reduces inflammation; and red light penetrates through the top layer of our skin deep enough to improve collagen production and hair growth. And yes, red light can pass through very thin clothing, but if you're wearing thick, opaque clothing, you're probably not going to get the true benefits of red light therapy. Red light and near-infrared light are known to produce regenerative effects.
Now, red light was initially used to speed up the healing process, but researchers soon discovered that it was helpful not just for wound healing but for reducing redness, reducing inflammation, basically healing tissues, and that includes signs of aging and wrinkles. Now, the process is called photobiomodulation, and if you want to do any research on your own, which you're welcome to do, I would encourage you to use an app called Perplexity, click on "deep research," and then type in, um, "photobiomodulation Alzheimer's," "photobiomodulation and gut health." And because of the profound research and effectiveness of red light therapy, clinics have been using red light therapy—like, plastic surgeons send their clients to do red light therapy to heal faster, to recover quicker. We're seeing red light therapy being used in hair spas where pe—you know, people are very, very interested in natural ways of regrowing hair—and not just menopausal women and men in midlife, but especially those who have been impacted by alopecia or chemotherapy-related hair loss. And as you might expect, as these things become available in clinics and from our doctors, people want access to these things at home. And because of that, I'm sure your Instagram, TikTok feeds, maybe even YouTube, have been inundated with a whole variety of infrared and red light therapies that you can do at home. But do they work? The answer is yes and no. Some do, and some don't. What matters is the device that you're buying.
Now, I am going to share with you what it is you need to know when looking at a home device. But why even talk about that if we don't first look at the science? Like, does this stuff really improve the appearance of your skin? Can we actually reduce the appearance of wrinkles using red light therapy? Well, the answer is yes, dramatically so. A study from 2024 in the Journal of Dermatology and Cosmetology and a 2023 study in the National Library of Medicine found that subjects who were exposed to red light for 12 weeks—are you ready for this?—saw a 38% increase in collagen production and 43% fewer wrinkles. Twelve weeks, dude. That's 3 months. Forty-three percent fewer wrinkles in 3 months? I mean, dude, that's huge. Another study from 2021 in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science found that collagen and elastin were significantly increased—again, just 12 weeks of red light therapy. In these studies, participants were exposed to the red light between 10 to 15 minutes per session, anywhere from 3 to 5 sessions per week. And unlike lasers, red light therapy and near-infrared light therapy work regardless of your skin's melanin. Now, for some people, depending on the color of their skin, lasers are just not effective. But when it comes to red light and near-infrared light, it works regardless of your skin type.
Here's what my friend Dr. Anthony Yun, who's been a guest of the show and happens to be a Michigan State grad—we love our Spartans—here's what he had to say: "The idea behind red light therapy is that the red light, if you put it onto your skin, it's not proven; we don't know exactly why it works, but the belief is that it can help power your mitochondria. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells, and they create ATP. And the idea is that the energy from that light, from that red light, it gets absorbed by your cells, and it helps to essentially energize them. Now, it's kind of this theoretical, you know, thing that we think this is how it works, but what we do know is that studies have been done on red light therapy and shown that, for—for example, there was one study that looked at—it was something like 1,200 patients, and they treated them for 90 days with red light therapy and found a significant, statistically significant improvement in wrinkles and skin hydration with it. Uh, they even did split-face studies where you'd have literally only half of the face treated with red light therapy and found a significant improvement in the skin tightness and the firmness of the skin afterwards, and that was, I think, after like 2 months of therapy." The good thing with red light therapy is it's completely safe. There are a lot of ways to do it. There are handheld devices that you can do like a quarter of your face at a time, which I find to be kind of annoying, 'cause I'd rather just get it all done. There are tabletop devices that are usually pretty affordable; you get them usually for a few hundred. There are these creepy-looking masks that light up that you may see people on, like, social media wear; those are great, too. You can usually get that for a couple hundred dollars. Or there's even, actually, full-body beds that some people do for red light. I think red light therapy is a great entrance point for people who are looking to use technology to look younger because it's so safe; it definitely helps, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.
And one of my favorite YouTubers—I highly recommend uh, you subscribe to Dr. Dray's channel—and here's what she had to say about the reduction in the appearance of wrinkles and collagen production: "There was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study that actually looked at either infrared therapy alone, red light therapy alone, combination infrared and red therapy, or placebo. And in that study, they were looking, obviously, for photorejuvenation, and they showed an improvement in skin elasticity and in wrinkle severity. They also took imprints of the skin, and they showed, you know, an improvement in wrinkle depth with both infrared treatment and red light treatment. In comparison to placebo treatment, showed zero improvement. There was zero change with placebo. Uh, but interestingly, they also looked at collagen in the skin, and they showed not only an improvement in collagen density and thickness, but importantly, the collagen was nicely structured and organized within the skin." What's really nice about a lot of these home units is there's variety. When I first got into using red light, I would sit in front of this—and you can still buy these types of devices—I would sit in front of this, like, panel that was on an adjustable wand, and I would have to sit in front of it for like, you know, 15, 20 minutes, and that was torturous for me to just sit there in front of it. Like, don't ask me why; just being told I couldn't move for 15 minutes felt impossible. So I very rarely use that now. They've got great devices you can wear on your face; of course, you can still sit in front of them; there's—there's lots of different options, so you can find a red light therapy that fits with your lifestyle because a lot of us don't like to sit still; we need to get our steps in.
Anyways, at the moment, I'm not currently using an at-home version of red light therapy. I do my red light therapy at Vitality Health 3 to 5 times a week. I lay in this bed for anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. The clinic was founded by Dr. Andrew Levenson, who you're going to meet in just a second, um, and he's amazing; he's brilliant; he's a psychiatrist and a medical doctor with nearly three decades of experience in functional medicine. This guy organized the first alternative medicine conference in 1993. If you are in the Miami area and you've got neurosychiatric symptoms, if you've got a complex case, if you want a whole-person approach, Dr. Andrew Levenson at Vitality Health is the man you want to talk to. And that's who we're going to talk to right now. "Hair growth is an energy-dependent process, and it works in that way. The other thing that it works for in hair is that the red light, in particular, changes the follicle from a resting phase to an active phase. So if a woman has experienced hair loss from, say, chemotherapy treatments, mhm, would it benefit her to try red light therapy? You'd want to be far enough away from cancer in order to do it because one of the things that we don't know perfectly well is, in the context of cancer, whether or not activating the mitochondria, making the cells more active and vital, is it going to put you at risk if you have an active cancer. So if you have skin cancer or anything that's active, red light therapy is a very dangerous thing; it's a—it's a contraindication." Interesting. I did not know that. That's really important for us to include. "These devices, if there isn't enough energy to them, they're completely ineffective; it's just red light. And if there's too much energy, it can be ineffective or detrimental. So like any medicine—and this is medicine as light—the dosage is really important. Different wavelengths do different things; different wavelengths will penetrate different depths into the tissue. So the ones that are in the 600s are really only going to go in a few millimeters, and for that reason, they're really cosmetic products, so they'll penetrate into the tissue. You see these face masks and the helmets; those things are designed to help the skin follicle change the way your body handles oxidative stress—something like rosacea or acne, those—those or scarring, those things are very helpful. And then there's near-infrared light, which is up in the 800s, and that's going much deeper into the tissue, and it's very important to have the right frequency for the right—right wavelength for the right ailment. So what—what is the right number of days? Like, is there doing too much? Is there doing too little? Some people are very sensitive, so I see patients who are really into longevity and have patients with chronic ailments; there are some people that are really sensitive to EMFs and electromagnetic radiation; they can get disturbed by too much Wi-Fi. It's a powerful machine, so some people we have to start the dosing very low, and some people are a little bit more robust, and you know, we do 20 minutes for those patients. So I'm doing minutes right now, like three to four times a week. Would there be any side effects or risks associated with increasing it to like five times a week? I do it every day that I can. I don't think that there are—usually you'll feel—you'll feel it, like, if you're staying tuned in to yourself, like if you're not feeling right. I mean, I wouldn't do an hour a day; I think 20 minutes is really the cap, but I see people using them and they're like in their sweatpants and sweatshirts, and I'm like, 'Do those lights go penetrate through their clo—no way. You have to get naked. If you're wearing clothing, it doesn't work.'" Dr. Malibu Jesus—I mean, I call him Dr. Malibu Jesus; he calls himself Dr. Andrew Levenson—and we'll put his contact information below this episode.
So let's talk here, shall we? How does it actually work? Well, when exposed to red light or near-infrared light, the light penetrates beneath your skin; it penetrates the cells; it improves energy production and collagen production. Obviously, collagen is what we need for stronger and thicker hair, and that's why there is actually a ton of science. In fact, a 2023 study found that using red light therapy just three times a week grew up to 30% more hair in just 6 months. I say "just 6 months." Six months sounds like a long time, but here's the deal: Six months are going to pass whether you're improving the quality of your hair or not, so why not expose yourself three times a week to red light therapy and experience a 30% increase in growth and strength of your hair? And a more recent study from 2024 that was published in the National Library of Medicine substantiated the same earlier claims. Like, we just have study after study to prove that red light therapy is tremendously effective at helping you not just to regrow hair but to grow hair that's stronger and thicker. Now, many of the studies used other modalities as well, so not just the red light therapy; they found that massaging the scalp really helped with stimulating, uh, collagen production; it helps with, you know, cleaning the scalp really well so that there's no blocked hair follicles. You know, I'm wondering if we should do a whole episode on oiling your hair. Let me know if you're interested in that 'cause I would love to do a deep dive. I don't know if I can handle having oily hair; like, I don't know how I'm going to do that, like, with extensions, too. But we'll figure it out if that's something you're interested in. Let me know in the comments below this episode.
An important precaution to note, however, is you don't want to use red light therapy right after having your hair dyed or bleached. One of the most frustrating side effects of entering perimenopause and menopause for a lot of women is the change in their hair because, let's face it, every part of our bodies is controlled by our hormones. So as testosterone starts to decline, as collagen production starts to decrease, as we start producing less estrogen, less progesterone, all of these things, including human growth hormone, impact the quality of our hair. Now, frankly, if you're taking too much testosterone as a woman, if your levels are too high, some women do experience hair loss. So be very careful that you're—make sure that you're working with a very knowledgeable clinician. Yes, women can and should be supplementing with testosterone, but you've got to work with someone who knows what they're doing so that you don't accidentally take too much for your personal needs. And remember, it's not the same across the board; no two people are exactly the same, so you want to work with a clinician who is giving you very personalized care. It's a telehealth company, which is super convenient for those of you who are like, "I need a clinician who understands women's hormone health, and I don't have somebody locally, and I need something that's convenient, and a place where they actually accept insurance." Midi Health has solved so many problems for so many of the women in my community because—and until I learned about Midi, I'm like, you just have to ask around and try to find a friend who's got a great clinician in your area—um, but Midi clinicians, they are all specifically trained in women's hormone health; it's like their obsession. And I'm so proud to partner with them again because they worked with the insurance companies, so they're going to get you insurance coverage. I mean, not all insurance carriers accept it, but it's very likely. You can find out for yourself by clicking the link below in our show description, or you can just go to shelene.com/midi. Again, they are in all 50 states, so it's super convenient, and you know that you're working with a clinician who's actually going to listen to you, and this is their obsession—is women's hormone health. And it is through Midi that I get my estrogen cream, and they've just started also doing, uh, micro—doing—so if that's something you've been interested in, microdosing of GP1s for inflammation to help improve cognitive function and for weight maintenance, weight loss, etc.—great company; I highly recommend them. Again, shelene.com/midi. Midi.
Here's what one of my favorite experts, Dr. Dray, had to say about hair loss in menopause: "Estrogen is also really important for blood flow to the follicle and the delivery of nutrients and growth factors. Also, estrogen has a vasodilatory effect, meaning it enhances blood flow by opening up the blood vessels. And therefore, when you have a decline in estrogen, you have less blood flow to the scalps. But at any rate, it is not uncommon for women to experience thinning of the hair, a change and overall hair density with menopause due to decline in estrogens and overall scalp health. The reason low-level laser therapy can be particularly effective for androgenetic alopecia is that it's really getting at a lot of the root cause issues—specifically, in the case here as we're talking about menopause and women—because it does improve blood flow to the scalp; it does improve the metabolic health of the hair follicle and, uh, the energy of that follicle. The hair follicle is a very metabolically demanding factory, and so low-level laser therapy can actually, via a process known as photobiomodulation, improve the metabolism at the level of your hair follicle, supporting improved hair growth and an overall improvement in hair thickness and hair density."
Now, I don't know if you saw this, but, um, a couple of weeks ago, I did an episode where I shared all of my crazy beauty hacks. That video is still like going viral, which is so funny. And if you haven't seen it and you want to know about some of my hair tricks that I'm not going to discuss in this video, um, check that out. Not just hair tricks; I share all the beauty hacks, all the beauty secrets, shall we say? My little secrets are all in that video, so check that out. Um, if you're watching on YouTube, it's—it's definitely one you want to watch. Now, I don't know if you've ever seen the infomercial where it's a—like a lady wearing a baseball cap that's got red light therapies on the inside of it; it's like this big, kind of like giant kazoo, uh, baseball cap. I'm sorry; I just—I'm like, I just—I—I like the idea of it being a hat, but I've also seen the helmets worn—tons and tons of people wearing the red light helmets. And I guess, you know, when you're at home in the privacy of your own four walls, what's the big deal if it's going to help you have thicker, stronger hair? But does it really work? Let's see what Dr. Anthony Yun has to say about that. "The other thing that I started doing with my hair is I started low-light laser treatments. Low-light laser treatments are scientifically proven to help thicken hair that has gotten thinner, and basically these are what we call cold lasers; they don't create any heat or anything like that, and these lasers can actually target your hair follicles; they can help increase metabolism in the area and put the hair into a growth phase. Now, whether it's the hat or the helmet, they're pricey, but they work. And you know this is not sponsored; I—I've never used one myself, but I'm telling you, after looking at all the influencers and people who I really respect talking about these two products, I'm like, there's—I—I know these individuals; there's got to be science behind this, and sure enough there is, and—and it's—it's quite remarkable. Yeah, these things, they do work. So if it's something you're considering investing in, make sure you go with a very reputable company. Again, this is not endorsed, but I will say I think it's pronounced the Kiiér laser cap—very reputable company—and also the iRestore helmet, the one you saw Dr. Yun wearing; they're very reputable companies, and those products can range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000."
Now let's talk about some of the things you'll—you probably need to write these down—for a red light therapy device, whether it's at home or in a medical spa. In order for it to be effective, it needs both red light and near-infrared light. Red light comes on a spectrum, so researchers show that there are two spectrums that make this type of treatment most effective: the first is 633 nanometers for red light and near-infrared at 830 nanometers. High-quality devices are going to need both of these. Now, you don't need to do anything with those numbers, but you'll need to remember them when you're looking into purchasing a device to use at home. And if the device you're looking at doesn't list these things, well, then you've got to—you've got to contact the company directly. And if they won't tell you this, um, buyer beware. That's the wavelength. But the second thing you need to be aware of, as it relates to a device, is the irradiance, also known as like the intensity of the light, that is measured in milliwatts. And in order for a home device to be truly effective, the milliwatts should be between 40 and 100. And if the company doesn't give you its irradiance score, doesn't know how many milliwatts per square centimeter that device puts—outputs, that should be a red flag. Now, it's also important to know that the lower the intensity, the longer and more often you need to be exposed to it. So the higher the intensity, the less time you have to sit in front of the red light or have the red light device on your head or be laying on the red light. So when looking at a home device, those are the things you want to consider. But as they say, you often get what you pay for, and you need to know exactly what it is you want to get right if—if you're going to plunk down that kind of investment on one of these types of devices. And whether it's one of these companies I just mentioned or others, I want to make sure you've got the right information so that you know what to look for. So if you're going to make this investment, it's worth every penny.
And lastly, I want to share a little bit about my own experience. I'm one of those people that, like, when I do something like infrared or even hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments, which I also do at, uh, Dr. Levenson's clinic—Brett and I do it 5 days a week—and it's—it's interesting; those types of investments, I—I look at them as investments in my power. Like, I—I don't want to live to be 190 years old or whatever; I just like the years that I'm on this planet; it—I want to have as much power and energy as possible. But when I do things like that, I know it's an investment. I'm just here to tell you, I don't feel any different; it's so subtle, right? Like, people were like, "What is an oxygen chamber? How do you feel afterwards?" I'm like, "Kind of the same." It's a cumulative effect. And the same is true for the red light therapy. After you do red light, I don't feel any different. And if I didn't see the research with my own eyes—eyes—I probably would even doubt its effectiveness because the improvements are so subtle. And because I'm not like taking a picture of my scalp every single day, I—I just haven't noticed the changes until I look back at photos and I'm like—and other you guys have commented, like, "Your hair looks so much thicker and fuller, and how are you—how is it you've got full hair with body when you live in Miami? Like, everyone's hair goes…" I'm like, "You know, I—I do think it's making a difference," and I—and I didn't even start doing the red light therapy for my hair, mainly; I was thinking about it for my cellular health, thinking about it for reducing inflammation, thinking about it for improving all of my longevity markers. But the fact of the matter is, I—I, you know, it's not just one thing; it's all the things. And I want to be very clear about that because I don't want to mislead anyone, like, "Oh my gosh, now I've got to do red light therapy." Because I've been doing a lot of things for my skin; I've been using estrogen cream on my face—yes, you have to get that from your doctor—um, I use Midi Health for that; I've also been doing, obviously, um, castor oil on my face, and I do lymphatic massage on my face, and I wear a lot of makeup on my face, and I've stopped drinking, and I sleep on my back. Like, all of these things help to improve the appearance of my skin and fewer wrinkles, and yeah, and also I've been doing red light therapy. And so again, if I'm looking at the research and—and I've been doing it for more than 12 weeks—if I'm just an average person, that probably means that I've had a 40% decrease in the appearance of wrinkles. Is that possible? Feel a little bit like Benjamin Button; maybe I should put off that facelift I was going to schedule. You know, like, so I—I just want you to know; it's—I'm doing a lot of things, and I realize that a lot of these things are cost-prohibitive; not everyone has the time or the money to do all these things. I just share with you what I do, and you can judge me; I don't care; I'm a grown adult; I—I don't have to worry about—like, I don't have to worry what you think about it 'cause I like doing it, and I've got the money to spend on it, so that's what I'm going to spend my money on. But you know I also do Botox, too, and yeah, and I'm always going to be honest and tell you all the—all the things. But maybe you're like, "I don't want to do any of those other things," but yeah, wearing a red light mask—oh, look at there's my puppy—wearing a red light mask—I—we are fostering a dog—oh my God, don't let me lose my train of thought—but we're fostering a dog; her name is Penelope, and she's just the sweetest, most adorable dog, and we're supposed to be trying to find her a good home, but I feel like she's found her good home. But Brett says it's just not practical. Who said anything about wanting to be practical when you're Miss Penelope, the most perfect, beautiful perimenopausal pup you've ever met? Anyways, back to the stuff you might not want to do—Botox or estrogen cream or—but you're like, "You know what? If just wearing that mask around the house is going to give me better skin, better collagen production," and maybe you're doing a collagen supplement or may—maybe it's your hair; maybe you've recently had to go through chemotherapy, and that's the one thing you're like, "I am thriving except my hair is not, and it's driving me nuts," well, then it might be the ultimate investment for you. I'm just really encouraged; I'm really excited about this research, and it's got me more motivated to make sure that I'm doing my red light therapies at least three times a week. If you enjoyed this episode, you want to know more about the estrogen cream, check out this—this episode of the Shelene Show.