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If you visited Dr. Joel Kahn’s Detroit home around nine p.m., he might answer the door wearing a red-light helmet. Kahn, a cardiologist practicing longevity medicine, is one of a growing number of people using such hair-growth-stimulating headgear and wears his every night before bed. “There’s pretty good data for it, and a lot of people are gravitating that way right now,” he says.
Doctors have long used various forms of light to improve sleep disturbances, depression, and other conditions. But recent studies have focused on “a more specific wavelength, in the 600nm to 700nm range of red light, which is perhaps deeper than just the general white-light sort of [treatment],” says Dr. Samuel Lin, a Boston-based plastic surgeon and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. What those studies have discovered is that this light, applied correctly, can increase local blood flow while also supercharging the performance of mitochondria, our cells’ power plants. The result? Certain doses have been found to improve fine lines and wrinkles in skin, ease creaky knees, and speed up wound healing. One 2016 report even suggested that exposure to red light before lifting weights can help you build stronger muscles.
No surprise, then, that there has been an explosion of red-light-therapy devices using lasers and light-emitting diodes to purportedly improve the way we look, feel, and function. And while the best models are built on legitimate science—and come with reassuring FDA clearances—every physician who spoke with Robb Report for this story cautioned that they’re best used to enhance the effects of good lifestyle choices, not replace them. “My 70-plus-year-old mother, who looks amazing, is not going to turn her skin back to how she looked when she was 20 with one of these devices,” says Dr. Morgan Rabach, a dermatologist in N.Y.C. “But I think it’s a good additive treatment to all the other things that we know help the skin look healthy.”
One caveat: “You have to be very consistent with these devices,” says Dr. Ross Kopelman, a hair-transplant specialist who splits time between New York and Palm Beach. To see results, “once you start, you can’t stop.” Here, a guide to the most cutting-edge examples on the market.
Mito Red Light Commercial Premiere
Image Credit: Mito Red Light
This six-foot two-inch panel uses over 1,150 LEDs to bathe you in red and near-infrared light from head to toe, making it a good option if you prefer one device to many. It’s even programmed to beep halfway through its 14-minute sessions—a reminder to turn around and toast your other side.
iRestore Elite
Image Credit: iRestore
More doesn’t always equal better, but this hair-growth helmet boasts 500 lasers and light-emitting diodes and achieves the highest power output of any at-home cap on the market. A 2017 clinical study of iRestore’s tech found that after four months of daily use, both men and women had over 40 percent more new hair.
CurrentBody Neck and Dec Perfector
Image Credit: Courtesy of CurrentBody
The skin on our necks and upper chests tends to be thinner than around other areas of the body, so it develops wrinkles more easily. This device uses both red and infrared light to stimulate collagen growth, which lifts those lines, while its pillowy silicone material makes it comfortable to wear.
Déesse Pro
Image Credit: Courtesy of Déesse PRO
With its shiny, hard-shell plastic, Déesse’s new Pro mask looks like something you might be handed at the start of an immersive theater production. But with modes for anti-aging red light, acne-killing blue light, hyperpigmentation-fading green light, and healing infrared light, it’s more like a kaleidoscope of rejuvenating energies.
Omnilux Contour Glove
Image Credit: Courtesy of Omnilux LED
Most people don’t put enough sunscreen on the backs of their hands, which is one reason the skin there tends to age faster than anywhere else. But consider the cosmetic effects to be a bonus: In addition to treating sunspots and wrinkles, this glove can also help with stiffness and joint pain.
Kineon Move+ Pro
Image Credit: Courtesy of Kineon
Each of this wearable’s peanut-shaped modules is fitted with eight deep-red lights and 10 lasers; combined, they’re meant to decrease chronic inflammation wherever you aim them over two weeks. The device is great for people with bad knees, but an optional extender strap allows you to use it on your lower back and shoulders, too.
