While red light therapy for anti-aging sounds like the wave of the future, it’s anything but science fiction. “The benefits of red light therapy for hair and skin are an interesting area of study right now and in the recent past,” says board-certified dermatologist and LovelySkin CEO Dr. Joel Schlessinger. “It’s an exciting time because there’s a great deal of innovation going on in this category, and new devices are being introduced often. And because these treatments are non-invasive and fairly easy to perform yourself at home, they’re becoming very popular.” Are you ready to learn more? We’ll cover some key questions about light therapy, including:

• What is red light therapy?

• What are the skin benefits of red light therapy?

• Does red light therapy help hair growth?

• Can red light therapy cause hair loss?

• What about green light and blue light therapy?

What is red light therapy?

Red light therapy is a type of phototherapy that exposes the skin or hair to red light at a low wavelength of 620 to 750 nanometers. Though much of the buzz in the beauty community these days is about using red light therapy for anti-aging benefits, scientists at NASA first studied red light during plant growth experiments in space.

What are the skin benefits of red light therapy?

One of the benefits of red light therapy is that it helps rebuild collagen. As we age, the collagen that makes skin firm, smooth and supple begins to break down, leading to a complexion that’s prone to wrinkles, sagging and other signs of aging. Applying red light stimulates your body to produce more collagen naturally, which can result in firmer, smoother skin.

Another benefit of red light therapy is that it also helps repair sun-damaged skin. Dark spots, rough and uneven skin texture, dull skin tone—all telltale signs of spending too much time in the sun. Red light triggers repair responses in your skin which produces new cells and helps them metabolize nutrients more effectively. This leads to fading dark spots, a more even skin tone and an overall brighter, healthier complexion.

If you’re curious about red light therapy for your face and want to start small, take a look at the Trophy Skin BrightenMD. This handheld device with an accessible price point provides red light therapy as well as heat therapy and microcurrents to help stimulate muscle contraction to help improve facial tone. Iluminage Youth Activator Infrared LED & Radio Frequency Anti-Aging Device is another device to consider if you’re interested in the benefits of red light therapy for your face. In a six-week study of twenty women, 79% of users reported they noticed a reduction in wrinkles after using the device for thirty treatments.

Does red light therapy help hair growth?

There are many benefits of red light therapy for your face and body, but the advantages don’t end there. If you’re concerned about hair loss and thinning hair, you might be interested in the red light therapy benefits for hair. “Red light on the scalp helps stimulate microcirculation that delivers more nutrients to your hair follicles,” Dr. Schlessinger says. “More nutrients in the follicles can help promote new hair growth as well as stronger and thicker strands of hair.”

One FDA-cleared red light device to promote hair growth and prevent future hair loss is HairMax LaserBand 82 ComfortFlex Hair Growth Device. This device is headband-shaped and lined with tiny comb-like teeth that help part your hair so that it can shine red light from 82 low-level, medical-grade lasers directly onto your scalp. Each treatment lasts about ninety seconds. “My patients who have used this device have started to see results after about three to four months of daily use.”

Can red light therapy cause hair loss?

No, red light therapy is not known to cause hair loss. “Quite the opposite, the clinical research showing that red light promotes hair growth is quite strong,” Dr. Schlessinger says. “Hair loss can be devastating, and red light therapy for hair growth is a treatment that can be done at home fairly easily with the help of devices such as the HairMax.”

What are the benefits of green light and blue light?

Though the benefits of red light therapy have earned a lot of attention, there are other colors of light that can also be beneficial to skin. While your top skin care concern might be anti-aging, many of us also have other skin issues that light therapy can help with.

Blue light therapy can help improve and reduce acne breakouts. How does this work, exactly? Well, blue light kills the bacteria deep within pores that leads to breakouts, which helps reduce the appearance of acne.

The Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare SpotLite Acne Treatment Device is a small hand-held device that combines red light therapy with blue light to reduce acne-causing bacteria and also calm inflammation and redness. You can use it on clean, dry skin and a treatment takes about three minutes.

PMD Clean Acne is a silicone facial cleansing device with blue light therapy built in, so you can wash your face and treat acne with blue light in one step.

For red and blue light options in one device, consider MZ Skin LED 2.0 LightMAX Supercharged LED Mask. This face mask has two modes: an anti-aging mode with red light and an acne mode with blue and red light.

You may have also heard about green light therapy, which might pique your interest if you have issues with hyperpigmentation. Green light devices help control skin pigment by targeting cells called melanocytes and slowing the rate they produce melanin in your skin. Green light therapy also works to break up clusters of melanin that cause dark spots.

A number of devices actually feature more than one type of light therapy. FOREO UFO 2 is a multitasking facial device that offers blue, red and green light therapy as well as cooling Cryo-Therapy to reduce puffiness and warming Thermo-Therapy to help loosen sebum from your pores to help reduce breakouts. The Skin Inc Supplement Bar Tri-Light Body Sculpt Fit is a blue, red and green light therapy device that you can use on your entire body to help boost collagen production, reduce body acne and uneven skin tone. It also has a warming mode that simulates a hot stone massage.

One light therapy device that goes beyond red, blue and green light is the ORA LED Light Energy Mask, which has several other color modes. In addition to red, blue and green, it also has options for yellow light (which reportedly reduces redness and inflammation), white light (to help firm sagging skin) and purple light (a combination of blue and red lights for scar repair).

Looking to give fine or thinning hair a boost? You can read more about some of Dr. Schlessinger’s favorite products to help improve the appearance of thinning hair.