Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Red Light Therapy - TPR's In Focus - Oct. 22, 2026

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Red Light Therapy - TPR's In Focus - Oct. 22, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Janice Hawkins Cultural Arts Park on
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  the main campus of Troy University, featuring the International
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  Arts Center, the Fred Noll Hollis Museum,
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  and the Hua Bao Zhu Gallery. More information at troy.edu/artspark.
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  From Troy Public Radio,
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  this is In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  Can red light therapy grow hair and slow down the the
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  signs of aging as well as help acne?
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  These are the questions we asked dermatologist Dr.
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  Lauren Kole, who joins us with her advice from
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  her office at UAB.
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  Dr. Lauren Kole, thank you so much for
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  joining us from UAB. It's my pleasure. Dr.
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  Kole, as a dermatologist, and you wear many hats
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  at UAB, what information can you tell us
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  about red light therapy? Therapy? We're hearing that term.
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  Yes, red light therapy has been very popular in
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  recent months to years. There's devices
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  that are available in physicians' offices, as well as at-home
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  devices. It works by a process called photobiomodulation.
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  So, it targets signs of aging, such as age
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  spots, sagging skin, redness,
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  as well as it treats medical conditions such as acne and
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  hair loss. So what does the research show
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  as far as effectiveness? So the research shows that it works by
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  stimulating cells to increase their collagen production,
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  reduce inflammation, and kind of speed along the wound healing
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  process. And it's been shown mostly with the in-office
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  devices that we have that it can really help
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  improve patients' signs of aging,
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  as well as, like I mentioned, treating acne or hair loss. So are you
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  talking about red light therapy actually regrowing
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  hair? Yeah. So they showed that red light
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  therapy, in this instance it's called low-level light therapy,
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  stimulates hair growth in patients with androgenetic
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  or kind of age-related hair loss, both men and
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  women. And they show it's about the equivalent
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  of topical minoxidil, which is the ingredient
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  that's found in over-the-counter Rogaine. So could it be even safer
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  than the chemical? Potentially. There are some limitations
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  on patients where it might not be appropriate for them, but yes.
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  Dr. Cole, what is the safety profile of
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  red light therapy? There are devices that are meant to be
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  used by a medical professional and those that are designed to
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  be used at home. Most of the at-home devices
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  have LED light, and in the short term,
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  they do appear to be safe. They have not been shown to
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  increase risk for skin cancer. And there are devices
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  on the market that have been FDA cleared for safety.
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  If there are listeners who have these devices at home,
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  should they be wearing protective eyewear? And should this
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  be confined to people of a certain age?
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  It's really not indicated maybe for mostly of our younger
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  population unless they're treating something such as acne. But really most
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  of the research, like I mentioned, is more in treating kind of signs of aging
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  and hair loss, which wouldn't necessarily be applicable to our younger population.
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  Patients. In terms of eye protection,
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  yes, eye protection is generally recommended,
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  but I would just follow whatever the instructions are included with
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  their at-home device. But when we do do the treatments in office,
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  eye protection is worn. In the cases
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  of acne or rosacea, these are
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  pesky conditions. How can red light therapy help?
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  It really should be more as adjunct or complementary
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  therapy to a well-established medical
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  treatment plan that's decided upon between the patient and their dermatologist.
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  So I wouldn't rely on it alone to treat acne
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  or rosacea, but it could complement the response we see
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  from medical therapy. And are these 2
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  conditions curable? I would say they're manageable,
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  not necessarily curable. What advice can you
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  give us about preventing skin cancer? Yeah, so we
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  always want to make sure that we're being very careful with our sun protection.
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  The use of sunscreen, we want to look for one that's
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  labeled broad spectrum, so that means it covers UVA and
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  UVB wavelengths. And you also want to
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  look for a sunscreen that's SPF 30 or higher to make
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  sure you're getting the most of your sun protection. And since
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  we live in what could be called the Sun Belt, these southern
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  states, do people of all ages,
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  including young children, need to protect against skin cancer
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  with this SPF 30? Yes,
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  especially young children really need to practice their good
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  sun protection because it's that repetitive exposure
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  to these harmful rays that can start at a young age that may
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  lead to skin cancers down the road. Dr. Cole, you are also
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  an expert on psoriasis. What can you tell us about
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  that, and can it be cured or simply managed? Yeah,
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  psoriasis is also a chronic disease that we can't necessarily
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  cure, but we can manage it. And nowadays we have
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  very, very good drugs that can essentially
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  clear a lot of patients' skin with them that
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  are very safe and well tolerated. So if anybody is struggling
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  with managing psoriasis, definitely recommend them seeing a dermatologist
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  to discuss those options. And back to the red light therapy,
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  if any of your listeners have a home device,
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  how often should they safely use it, or can they
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  safely use it? Really, you should follow
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  what instructions come with the device because there is quite a
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  variability of what's available on the market. Just like with the
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  eye protection recommendations, just follow what directions it
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  says on the device. There are some devices that are designed
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  for hair loss or a device that's designed for aging or a device
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  that's designed for acne. So, making sure that you're choosing a device
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  that's properly designed for what you wish to treat.
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  I have a few precautions that I would say with patients self-treating at
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  home. Patients may be on medications that
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  make them more sensitive to light exposure. So, just making sure that
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  they're not taking anything that may interfere with the light therapy.
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  Some patients may have skin conditions that are sensitive to light,
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  such as lupus, so making sure they clear that with their doctor
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  before they use a device like this. And then lastly,
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  some patients of darker skin tones,
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  sometimes pigmentation can worsen with light exposure. So,
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  just making sure that those patients are using
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  these with caution. When should people see a dermatologist?
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  Anytime they have any concern, like those conditions
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  we already mentioned, lesions that they're concerned about and would like evaluated,
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  they always are very welcome to reach out to a dermatologist
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  to make an appointment and have those things evaluated.
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  Generally, we do recommend annual skin exams in
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  patients, you know, in their 30s and 40s and older, just because the rates
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  of skin cancer are quite high in the United States. And then, if you have
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  any concerns, we're always happy to evaluate the patient or provide
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  reassurance. As a dermatologist, what do you wish
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  your listeners would do or know more about?
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  Practice as much preventative care as they can.
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  We always preach good sun protection and sun protective
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  clothing, and if we really followed it, we would
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  prevent a lot of these skin cancers and other age-related changes
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  down the road. For melanoma, we like to counsel the ABCDEs.
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  So when you're looking at a mole or a pigmented lesion, you're looking
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  for warning signs such as asymmetry,
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  irregular borders, multiple colors or unusual colors,
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  diameter, so a large lesion, and then one that's
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  changing. So those are kind of key things to look for when we're looking for
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  maybe melanoma risk. And then other types of skin cancers
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  may not have color on them like a melanoma can.
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  And so, you're looking for new kind of red growths, ones that
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  are painful or itchy or bleeding or just
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  not healing or not resolving. It's always good
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  to come in and have your dermatologist evaluate it. Dr. Kole, I want
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  to thank you for your words of advice today, and I want to thank you
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  for your visit here at Troy Public Radio from UAB.
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  Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Joining us
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  from her office at UAB was dermatologist
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  Dr. Lauren Kole. Thanks for joining us today for In Focus,
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  which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  And feel free to get in touch at infocus@troy.edu.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy
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  Public Radio.