January 2, 2021
Skincare doesn’t just affect the way you look. It also plays a huge role in your overall health — from body temperature to hormone regulation to your immune system. If you’re into skincare as much as we are, one of the many ways that can help you keep your skin healthy is red light therapy. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into why you should take care of your skin, and we’ll also discuss how red light therapy devices can help you achieve your skin goals.
Are you ready? Let’s go straight into it.
As the largest organ in our body, your skin is your body’s first defense line to bacteria, germs, viruses, etc. It’s a vital part of the immune system and some processes in your body, such as temperature control, blood circulation, and hormone production.
Main Functions of the Skin
Let’s take a look at the skin's main functions to help you understand how essential it is for you to take care of this vital organ.
1. Defense and Immunity
The skin is an active immune organ, and it serves as our physical barrier from the dangers of the environment. It helps protect our bodies from diseases, germs, viruses, dirt, UV radiation, and potential thermal and physical injuries. It also helps detect and fight off infection, toxins, allergens, hazardous substances, and carcinogens.
2. Temperature Regulation
Aside from protecting us from extreme cold or heat, the skin also helps prevent moisture loss, keeping us from being dehydrated.
3. Sense of touch
The skin has a somatosensory system that is composed of touch receptors and nerve endings. This system is responsible for the sensations we feel, including pain, pressure, vibrations, smoothness, roughness, heat, cold, tickle, itch, and more.
4. Storage and Production of Vitamin D
Your body also uses your skin's deeper layers to store metabolic products, fat, and water. The skin is also responsible for producing vitamin D, supplied in the body when the skin gets enough sunlight exposure.
5. Beauty
Need we say more? Your skin plays a huge part in your appearance. Of course, when your skin is healthy, you also look glowing, radiant, and definitely more attractive.
Before we proceed with the “how,” let’s first define what red light therapy is. Red light therapy is a non-invasive treatment option for different kinds of medical conditions. It is also used for health improvement and various aesthetic procedures.
Decades ago, red light therapy machines were only available in clinics, high-end salons, and spas. Nowadays, red light therapy devices can be bought and used by anyone. In fact, you can do red light therapy at the comfort of your home and incorporate it into your skincare routine.
Red light therapy works by delivering wavelengths of red and near-infrared (NIR) light to our cells and skin. Besides helping enhance cellular function, red light therapy also helps stimulate the mitochondria and produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy. This treatment option usually takes only about 10 minutes per session.
Our skin relies on millions of cells to be able to perform its functions. When our cells experience homeostasis or a state of balance, our skin and body perform (and look) better. And as mentioned above, red and NIR light enhances cellular function while also preventing inflammation and oxidative stress. Red light therapy helps make your skin look and feel softer, smoother, and healthier.
Besides, red light therapy also helps damaged tissues heal and regenerate faster. It also has anti-inflammatory benefits, potentially increasing blood flow to damaged and inflamed tissues and reducing oxidative stress.
Skincare is self-care, as keeping your skin healthy also produces multiple benefits to your health. Thankfully, aside from proper hygiene, regular exercise, a balanced diet, and an established skincare routine, red light therapy can also improve your overall skin health.
For more information about red light therapy or to view our catalog of red therapy devices, click here.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/professional/causes/structure.htm
