Red Light Therapy for Psoriasis at Home

Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease that can make your skin cells die rapidly. In extreme cases, you will experience rough silvery patches and painful irritation on several parts of your body.

While there is no cure for this disease, there are several treatments available to help you manage the condition. Red light therapy is one of the exceptional therapies which helps your skin heal rapidly and prevents your skin from getting inflamed.

Here, we will discuss how you can benefit from red light therapy for psoriasis at home.

Why Consider Red Light Therapy for Psoriasis at Home

Light has healing properties crucial for our overall well-being. However, natural sunlight consists of a wide range of light wavelengths, and some of them can affect our skins negatively. For example, UV rays can impact the skin to increase skin cell turnover.

Thus, you may experience additional skin irritation if you want to get your daily dose of light from sunlight, especially if you are suffering from psoriasis.

In red light therapy, specific wavelengths of red light and near-infrared light are used to deliver healing and repairing benefits. Research shows that 630 – 670 nm red light wavelengths and 810 – 870 near-infrared wavelengths are the most efficient in delivering therapeutic effects to the skin.

These light wavelengths have almost no side effects on the skin. Due to having bigger wavelengths than other visible lights, it can travel deeper into the skin and start healing your skin from the deepest layers.

When these wavelengths fall on your skin, your skin cells collect energy from those light wavelengths. As the mitochondria of your cell are energized, your skin cells will see a rise in the metabolic rate.

Increased metabolism allows blood to flow all over the body and deliver oxygen and other necessary nutrients in the necessary places. Therefore, the damaged cells can start to repair themselves and replicate healthy growth.

As the skin cells achieve healthy growth, the psoriasis condition is reduced, and the user can achieve healthy skin. Additionally, red light therapy helps with collagen production in the skin.

Collagen makes the majority of our skin and keeps it looking good. With age, collagen production can be reduced. However, red light therapy influences the skin to generate more collagen and keeps it looking younger and wrinkle-free.

Red light therapy also helps reduce cellulite, scars, fine lines, and acne. Therefore, your psoriasis condition will have fewer elements to get inflamed. Also, due to increased circulation, your skin will receive enough antioxidants to reduce inflammation exceptionally. Therefore, your skin will feel less irritated due to psoriasis, and you can keep this condition under control.

Additionally, red light therapy technology has advanced a lot in the past decade. Now, you can easily get a light therapy device for taking this therapy at home.

Other Conventional Psoriasis Treatments

As mentioned earlier, there is still no definitive cure for psoriasis. All the available treatments revolve around getting rid of the rough skin patches and helping to manage skin irritation.

Several prescription and over-the-counter products include oral, topical, and injected medication. Like:

● OTC and prescription ointments and topical creams constitution corticosteroids, various antioxidants, mild acids, and moisturizers.

● Injected or oral medication consists of retinoids, immune-altering biologics, and other helpful chemicals.

● Vitamin E oil, fish oil, aloe vera, and Oregon grape are home remedies for more natural treatment.

However, these treatment options have their own share of disadvantages. First, any of the treatments can work for some patients and be completely ineffective for others. The results of these treatments are inconsistent and, in some cases, may not offer any result.

Secondly, topical treatments may bring out allergic reactions and other side effects. In the case of severe psoriasis, some of these treatments may not work at all.

Is Red Light Therapy Good for Psoriasis?

In red light therapy, your skin is getting exposed to the bigger wavelengths of visible light and specific near-infrared wavelengths. These wavelengths can travel deeper into the skin and address the problem at its root.

With natural light, your skin receives UV rays as well as therapy light rays. Therefore, your skin can have drastic side effects and can experience a rapid skin cell turnover. However, with red light therapy, there is no harmful effect like that.

Also, injected, oral, or topical medication, can have drastic side effects depending on the unique texture of the user’s skin. With red light therapy, there are no drastic side effects. Some patients may suffer from temporary redness on their skin due to red light therapy. However, it can be cured within days.

As for home remedies, they can be useful for reducing psoriasis. However, they can show these benefits slower. For red light therapy, users get to have therapeutic benefits as soon as the light hits their skin. One can immediately feel the therapeutic benefits of red light from their first therapy.

So, if you are suffering from psoriasis and looking for an alternate therapy for your skin condition, you can choose red light therapy with ease. However, getting a doctor’s opinion is recommended before getting this exceptional therapy.

Conclusion

Red light therapy may be a good option for people with psoriasis who are unable to travel to a clinic for treatment. It is not clear yet whether red light therapy is better than other conventional treatments, but it may be an affordable and convenient option for some people. However, it is important to speak with a dermatologist about any potential benefits and risks before making a decision.