I Was Wrong About Red Light Masks & Skin Aging — Transcript

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1. 0:00ever seen those red light masks
2. 0:01promising wrinkle-free youthful skin and
3. 0:03wondered if they're just overpriced
4. 0:05gimmicks well I was skeptical too until
5. 0:07diving into the research and uncovering
6. 0:09some surprising evidence that's made me
7. 0:10take a second look so does that mean
8. 0:12that I'm now ready to recommend them
9. 0:14well it's complicated we need to have a
10. 0:16look at what the current research says
11. 0:17and ask some really tough questions like
12. 0:19how big is the effect and is this truly
13. 0:21the best way to approach skin
14. 0:23Rejuvenation in this video I'll walk you
15. 0:25through the evidence that we have and
16. 0:27what you need to know before spending
17. 0:28hundreds or even thousands thousand of
18. 0:30dollars on one of these masks and then
19. 0:32I'll explain my personal approach to
20. 0:34this emerging technology and if you want
21. 0:35weekly health research summaries and
22. 0:37health strategies that I share with my
23. 0:39patients sign up using the link in the
24. 0:40pinned comment the first use of light
25. 0:43therapy for skin was to treat an
26. 0:44infection called lupus a Danish doctor
27. 0:47won a Nobel Prize in 1903 for his
28. 0:49pioneering work in the area he found
29. 0:51that using ultraviolet and red light
30. 0:53significantly improved healing in the
31. 0:56middle of the 20th century lasers
32. 0:58started to be used for skin treatments
33. 1:00the powerful concentrated light from
34. 1:01lasers can have a dramatic impact on
35. 1:03fine lines and wrinkles but the
36. 1:05aggressive action comes with an extended
37. 1:07recovery time and potential side effects
38. 1:09that Danish doctor's early work
39. 1:11suggested that there might be a way to
40. 1:12harness the healing power of light in a
41. 1:14gentler form here's the challenge though
42. 1:17it's been known for a long time that
43. 1:18certain specific wavelengths of light
44. 1:20can have greater effect on the cells in
45. 1:22our skin than others that's one of the
46. 1:24key benefits of lasers and you probably
47. 1:26already know that ordinary light
48. 1:27contains the whole spectrum of
49. 1:29wavelengths you can see them in a
50. 1:30rainbow for instance lasers are
51. 1:32different they emit light in a specific
52. 1:34narrow band they can give us pure blue
53. 1:37or pure red light for instance but
54. 1:39they're relatively expensive complex and
55. 1:41often more powerful than we need a
56. 1:43solution came in the form of new light
57. 1:45technology NASA was at the Forefront of
58. 1:47creating novel light sources that like
59. 1:49lasers could produce light in a
60. 1:51relatively narrow Spectrum but they
61. 1:53ended up being much simpler cheaper and
62. 1:55gentler we now use this technology LEDs
63. 1:58everywhere LEDs can produce red light
64. 2:00and near infrared light these
65. 2:02wavelengths are particularly significant
66. 2:04when it comes to therapies for the skin
67. 2:06but why is this what does red light
68. 2:08actually do well research has shown that
69. 2:10it's capable of several powerful effects
70. 2:12for one thing red light is absorbed by
71. 2:14the mitochondria which are the
72. 2:15powerhouses of our cells it stimulates
73. 2:18more energy production and enhanced
74. 2:19cellular activity red light also combats
75. 2:22inflammation and moreover it stimulates
76. 2:24fiber blasts these are specialized cells
77. 2:27in the skin responsible for making
78. 2:29collagen and
79. 2:30two crucial components that give the
80. 2:32skin structure as we age collagen and
81. 2:34Altin they decrease and this is one of
82. 2:36the primary drivers of wrinkles and
83. 2:38sagging skin red light can boost the
84. 2:41production of both and we do have
85. 2:42clinical evidence that red light therapy
86. 2:44stimulates important changes in the skin
87. 2:46related to healing and Rejuvenation red
88. 2:49light therapy using LEDs also has some
89. 2:51big advantages over laser therapy
90. 2:53there's no downtime no damage to the
91. 2:55skin and the equipment needed is much
92. 2:57less expensive for these reasons it
93. 2:59makes sense that there'd be a lot of
94. 3:01interest in red light therapy for
95. 3:02treating various skin problems including
96. 3:04the effects of Aging so what evidence do
97. 3:06we presently have for its Effectiveness
98. 3:08in these areas well let's take a look
99. 3:11one of the early areas of interest for
100. 3:13red light therapy was wound healing it's
101. 3:15been widely studied and red light
102. 3:16therapy has been found to be effective
103. 3:18as we noted above the mechanisms have to
104. 3:21do with stimulating enhanced cellular
105. 3:23activity and suppressing inflammation
106. 3:25this led to the application of red light
107. 3:27therapy for treating acne and there are
108. 3:29some initial promising results for
109. 3:31instance one clinical trial looked at
110. 3:33the effects of 15minute treatments of
111. 3:35red light therapy over the course of 8
112. 3:37weeks it was a split phase trial where
113. 3:39the treatment was applied to just one
114. 3:41side of the face at the end of the 8
115. 3:43weeks the treatment resulted in about a
116. 3:4550% reduction in acne lesions but this
117. 3:48area is still relatively new there's
118. 3:50still a lot of uncertainty about which
119. 3:51wavelengths of light are most helpful
120. 3:54many Studies have also looked at blue
121. 3:55light for instance at this point it
122. 3:57seems that the effects are real but
123. 3:59moderate
124. 4:00but what about the use of red light for
125. 4:02countering the effects of Aging well an
126. 4:04early study came out in 2005 and at that
127. 4:06time using Leeds was quite a novel
128. 4:08approach it allowed researchers to
129. 4:10examine the impact using a narrow
130. 4:12wavelength of light without heat and the
131. 4:14associated damage caused by the lasers
132. 4:17they looked at 90 patients who received
133. 4:19eight treatments of amberite over 4
134. 4:21weeks the results were encouraging 90%
135. 4:24of those studied had a reduction in the
136. 4:25signs of photoaging this included
137. 4:28smoother skin textures a red eduction
138. 4:29and wrinkles around the eyes and a more
139. 4:31even skin coloration and the researchers
140. 4:34also examined skin samples from these
141. 4:36patients it showed significant increases
142. 4:38in collagen production but this raised
143. 4:40an important question was the Amber the
144. 4:42right color of light or would there be
145. 4:44something even more effective another
146. 4:46study set out to test two other
147. 4:48wavelengths red and near infrared it was
148. 4:51a randomized control trial and double
149. 4:52blinded the 76 patients with facial
150. 4:55wrinkles were treated on one side of the
151. 4:57face two times for a week over a 4 we
152. 4:59period the result showed significant
153. 5:01reductions in wrinkles with both
154. 5:03wavelengths up to 36% and increases in
155. 5:06skin elasticity of
156. 5:0819% as with the previous study treatment
157. 5:11produced a marked increase in collagen
158. 5:13and elastin so there's evidence that
159. 5:14Amber red and near infrared light can
160. 5:17reduce the signs of photoaging but is
161. 5:19there a clear winner let's look at one
162. 5:22additional study that compared amber
163. 5:23light to red light for wrinkles around
164. 5:25the eyes it was published in 2023 and it
165. 5:28was again a split face trial that
166. 5:30included 137 women they got 10 sessions
167. 5:33of Amber and red light for 4 weeks and
168. 5:36they used one color on the right side of
169. 5:37the face and the other color on the left
170. 5:39wrinkle reduction with red light was
171. 5:4231.6% and with Amber it was
172. 5:4529.9% in other words the effects were
173. 5:47roughly the same and we don't have a
174. 5:49huge number of Trials testing red light
175. 5:51therapy for aging at this point but the
176. 5:53results from the small trials that we
177. 5:54have so far are positive and importantly
178. 5:57the approach is safe one meta analysis
179. 5:59of existing trials found that there's
180. 6:01been no reported side effects and it's
181. 6:03the safety profile of LED red light
182. 6:05therapy that's a key reason for why we
183. 6:07now see so many of these devices on the
184. 6:09market if you look on Amazon you'll find
185. 6:12a ton of red light masks that claim to
186. 6:14dramatically improve your skin but red
187. 6:16light therapy using highquality
188. 6:17equipment in clinical trials is one
189. 6:19thing can we get similar results for an
190. 6:21at home device well let's take a look
191. 6:23and then I'll tell you about how I'm
192. 6:25approaching it one recent study looked
193. 6:27at an LED mask that had red light and
194. 6:29near infrared light the study is a bit
195. 6:31unusual since it included only men their
196. 6:34skin was examined using digital
197. 6:36photography and computer analysis after
198. 6:386 weeks of treatment the researchers
199. 6:40concluded that there were improvements
200. 6:42in skin wrinkles and skin tone another
201. 6:44study published just last year
202. 6:46investigated the effects of a consumer
203. 6:48grade LED mask they again found
204. 6:50significant improvements in elasticity
205. 6:52sagging and wrinkles across all six
206. 6:54areas of the face these studies are
207. 6:56intriguing but there are some issues
208. 6:58that we need to consider
209. 7:00first at this point we don't have much
210. 7:02data these devices are relatively new
211. 7:04and few Studies have been done so far
212. 7:06second these two studies that we've
213. 7:08looked at both involve researchers who
214. 7:10are connected to the companies selling
215. 7:11these types of devices so this doesn't
216. 7:14necessarily mean that the results are
217. 7:15bias but there is a clear risk of this
218. 7:18third we're nowhere near to a consensus
219. 7:20about treatment specifics there are so
220. 7:22many moving Parts here so for example
221. 7:24which wavelengths should we use how long
222. 7:26should a treatment session last how
223. 7:28often should we do them how how strong
224. 7:29do the lights need to be Etc we don't
225. 7:32have clear answers to any of these
226. 7:33questions devices from different
227. 7:35manufacturers differ in a lot of ways
228. 7:37and right now we don't have solid
229. 7:39evidence for a best way to choose
230. 7:41between them so with all of this
231. 7:43uncertainty it's worth asking how does
232. 7:45red light therapy to treat skin aging
233. 7:47compared to other available therapies
234. 7:49and then I'll go through my approach to
235. 7:50Red Light masks well there's one
236. 7:52approach to maintaining and recovering
237. 7:54youthful healthy skin that's both
238. 7:56powerful and cheap it's got two elements
239. 7:58the first is sunscreen this is
240. 8:00fundamental damage due to the Sun's UV
241. 8:03rays is the number one contributor to
242. 8:05aging to our skin and I tell my patients
243. 8:07to always use a sunscreen with spf50 or
244. 8:10higher and personally I use sunscreen
245. 8:12daily and I minimize sun exposure in the
246. 8:14middle of the day this ensures that I'm
247. 8:16not damaging my skin and not
248. 8:18accelerating the aging process the
249. 8:20second element I have in mind here is
250. 8:22using topical retinoids so think of
251. 8:24retinoids like personal trainers for
252. 8:26your skin cells just like a trainer
253. 8:27helps you get stronger retinoids push
254. 8:29your skin cells to work harder helping
255. 8:31them renew and make more collagen
256. 8:34retinoids also help strengthen the
257. 8:35Skin's protective barrier reducing water
258. 8:38loss and stopping enzymes that break
259. 8:39down the skin support structures one of
260. 8:42the most widely studied is tranan plenty
261. 8:44of research has shown its Effectiveness
262. 8:46one massive metaanalysis for example
263. 8:49looked at 180 individual studies on
264. 8:51tranan it found that topical use helped
265. 8:53improve the science of photoaging in
266. 8:55terms of wrinkles uneven coloration and
267. 8:58age spots in as little as one month of
268. 9:00use but how significant can the
269. 9:02improvements be well one case study
270. 9:04involved these two images of a
271. 9:0666-year-old woman the first showing the
272. 9:08appearance of her skin before treatment
273. 9:10and the second showing how it looked
274. 9:11after 3 months of using tranan and the
275. 9:14difference is striking there's another
276. 9:16approach that we can use to add to the
277. 9:18effects that we get from sunscreen and
278. 9:19topical retinoids so we've already
279. 9:21talked about the importance of collagen
280. 9:23and supplementing with collagen peptides
281. 9:25which are a form of broken down collagen
282. 9:27helps to stimulate our body's own
283. 9:28collagen production in our skin and this
284. 9:30in turn helps with wrinkles several
285. 9:33studies have backed up the impact for
286. 9:35instance this study published in
287. 9:36February 2024 looked at wrinkles
288. 9:38elasticity and hydration they measured
289. 9:41participants at the 4 8 and 12 week Mark
290. 9:44those taking collagen peptides
291. 9:45experience significant improvements in
292. 9:47wrinkle size elasticity and hydration
293. 9:50personally I incorporate collagen
294. 9:52peptides into my supplement deack and
295. 9:54I've recently released a new form of
296. 9:55microvi called microv Vitamin Plus
297. 9:57Powder it contains 12 and half gr of
298. 10:00collagen peptides but just because I
299. 10:01take a supplement does in no way mean
300. 10:03that you should as well finally there
301. 10:05are also more traditional light-based
302. 10:07approaches to skin Rejuvenation these
303. 10:09include a variety of laser Technologies
304. 10:11and as we've discussed above these can
305. 10:13produce significant changes but they are
306. 10:15expensive and require a period of
307. 10:17recovery so let's compare these
308. 10:19strategies for treating the signs of
309. 10:20skin aging we have wellestablished
310. 10:22approaches like sunscreen plus topical
311. 10:24retinoids that are effective safe and
312. 10:27cheap then there are supplements like
313. 10:28collagen peptides that give modest
314. 10:30benefits but also inexpensive and safe
315. 10:33traditional laser-based therapies are
316. 10:35regarded as the gold standard for skin
317. 10:36Rejuvenation it has the strongest
318. 10:38effects but it is quite expensive and
319. 10:41that brings us onto red light therapy
320. 10:42masks where did they fit well they've
321. 10:44got a strong safety profile which is a
322. 10:46huge plus and as far as pricing they're
323. 10:48a lot cheaper than lasers but more
324. 10:50expensive than other strategies that
325. 10:52we've discussed in terms of
326. 10:53Effectiveness we've got some promising
327. 10:55data but we need more studies so here's
328. 10:57the approach I'm personally taking I'm
329. 10:59intrigued by the ability to use
330. 11:01treatment at home for relatively small
331. 11:03costs and the safety profile unlike some
332. 11:06treatments there's really no risk here
333. 11:08so I've decided to buy a few models and
334. 11:10test them over the coming months and
335. 11:11I'll be keeping an eye out for any key
336. 11:13changes that I see in my skin and I'll
337. 11:15also be paying attention to how easy
338. 11:17they are to use and I'll share my
339. 11:18experiences in an upcoming video so if
340. 11:21you're not already a channel subscriber
341. 11:22consider subscribing so that you don't
342. 11:24miss it we've been talking about
343. 11:26countering the signs of aging for our
344. 11:27skin but what if we could slow on aging
345. 11:29from the inside for our whole body and
346. 11:31potentially add years to our life well
347. 11:33that's the promise of a mysterious blue
348. 11:35supplement that RFK Jr was spotted
349. 11:37adding to his drink but does it actually
350. 11:39work so make sure to check out the six
351. 11:41video here to get the full story