Light: Love It or Leave It?
By: Aly Gerdes
When thinking of sun damage, sunlight and UV rays are often the first culprits that come to mind. In reality, though, the entire electromagnetic spectrum — including microwaves from the kitchen and blue light from the screen — can impact skin health in both harmful and beneficial ways.
Types of Light in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
Invisible Light
- Low Energy Waves: include radio, infrared, and microwaves, which are all mostly harmless, sans certain microwaves that have thermal effects on epidermal tissue.
- High Energy Waves: include X-rays and gamma rays that deeply penetrate the skin and cause cellular mutations. Thankfully, these are not typically part of daily exposure.
Visible Light
- Red Light: generally considered beneficial and used in red light therapy
- Orange, Yellow, Green Lights: also used in therapeutic settings, but can be found in neons and fluorescents
- Blue Light: emitted by phones, TVs, and tablets; has both negative and positive effects
Negative Effects of Light on the Skin
UV Light from Sunlight
- (Hyper)Pigmentation: happens when UV rays, particularly UVB, overstimulate melanin producing, causing dark spots, sunburns, and increased risk of melanoma.
- Erythema: the “hot” and “tight” feelings of the skin after prolonged sun exposure, a sign of inflammation even if no visible burn occurs.
- Rapid Photoaging: the result of chronic UV exposure form the sun or tanning beds that causes collagen breakdown, fine lines, and wrinkles.
Blue Light (HEV Light from Screens)
- Oxidative Stress: blue light penetrates the skin more deeply than UVB and can therefore generate reactive oxygen species, or ROS, which also leads to damaged skin cells.
- Accelerated Aging: the stress from ROS causes breakdown of collagen and elastin, thus contributing to to premature wrinkles and loss of firmness.
Neon and Fluorescent Light
- Polymorphic Light Eruption (PLE): a rash or patch of itchy skin that is essentially an allergic reaction triggered by exposure to certain lights
- Solar Urticaria: severe cases of certain light sensitivities that may result in welt or hives
The Positive Effects of Light on the Skin
Get Skin Anarchy’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Blue Light Therapy
- Controls acne by killing bacteria
- Reduces oil production
- Increase skin smoothness by improving plumpness, clarity, tone
Green Light
- Helps to balance melanin production to treat hyperpigmentation
- Soothes inflammation
- Improves microcirculation, which can help ease the appearance of varicose veins
Yellow Light
- Helps with redness, flushing, and rosacea
- Calms sunburns, Erythema, and irritation
Red Light Therapy:
- Boosts collagen
- Reduces inflammation
- Improves skin plumpness and elasticity
- May help counteract blue light damage
Ultraviolet Light (In Moderation)
Skin is the body’s biggest organ. When light is absorbed or heat is felt by the skin, the experience triggers a series of cellular responses that:
- Is essential for Vitamin D synthesis
- Supports melatonin and serotonin regulation, which can improve sleep and mood quality
- Kills surface bacteria, which can potentially aide acne-prone skin
So, Should You Avoid Light or Embrace It?
“Light” is a double-edged sword. While some wavelengths can accelerate aging or cause pigmentation and other harmful effects, others can heal, balance and stimulate skin cell regeneration.
FOLLOW OUR SOCIALS:
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/skincare-anarchy/id1522162686
Spotify Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/298oIu74qjd3pXaaBMDr19
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skincareanarchy/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skincareanarchhy/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkincareAnarchy
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Skincare_Anarchy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skincareanarchy/
Pinterest: https://cz.pinterest.com/skincareanarchy/_created/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skincareanarchy
Medium Blog: https://skincareanarchy.medium.com
Don’t forget to subscribe to Skincare Anarchy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform. Reach out to us through email with any questions.
Shop through our ShopMy Shelf!
