Is red & near infrared light therapy really safe?
This question was answered for me definitively at the LLLT Symposium, held on August 7 & 8, 2009, sponsored by the American Society for Photobiology.
Most of the parts during this symposium were pretty dry. However, some of the scientists had a sense of humor. This was my favorite line of the weekend:
“The only way a (low level) laser is going to hurt somebody is if they drop it on their foot.”
There was a chuckle through the audience, indicating agreement on the part of all.
It was mentioned over and over that there are zero adverse side effects to low level light therapy, be it low level laser or LED light therapy.
It was said that light only effects cells “under stress” and has no effect on healthy cells.
The last part of the weekend was specifically devoted to “Human Safety Evaluation of Light-based Devices for Home Use”, and he was talking about things like the resistors inside the devices getting hot, so that if you took the thing apart and touched one of them, you might burn your fingers. If there were any reported negative side effects of LED or low level laser light therapy, we would have heard about them then. Therefore, there are none.
