Should You Try Red-Light Therapy?

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The anti-aging product market was worth roughly 53 BILLION dollars in 2024. One of the latest big trends: red light therapy. Social media is rampant with claims about all sorts of purported health benefits to using directed red light regularly … but does the research really live up to all the hype?

For answers, we turn to cosmetic chemist and science communicator Michelle Wong. Together, she and host Regina G. Barber sift through the thin (albeit growing) research on red light therapy to find out which claims are clearly backed by the literature – and which still need a bit more experimental data.

Interested in more science behind skincare products? Email us your question at [email protected].

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0:42.5	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:48.0	If you've ever bought a product to prevent aging, you're not alone.
0:52.8	The anti-aging product market was roughly worth $53 billion in 2024.
0:58.5	There's moisturizers, chemical creams, jade rollers, and of course, something that's gotten
1:03.8	popular in the last few years.
1:06.2	Red Light Therapy masks.
1:10.9	And, I have to admit, I'm susceptible to.
1:14.8	Aging is something I think about a lot.
1:17.7	Like, every single day for the last three decades as I applied my moisturizer and sunscreen.
1:25.3	Which is why I was intrigued by the claims that red light, literally light at the wavelength
1:30.7	of visible red light and some near-infred red light, could actually reduce signs of aging.
1:37.1	And as I scoured the scientific literature for this episode, I also became obsessed with
1:42.5	any real-time anecdot, and validation in the meantime.
	...

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