LED Phototherapy: Let’s Clear up Some Confusion

This comment appeared on last Wednesday’s blog regarding the Baby Quasar and Marvel Mini home phototherapy appliances.



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The nanometer of light does not measure the power output on led devices. The nanometer of light judges the depth of penetration the skin as well as the indication of use. For instance, 630nm only penetrates several mm into the skin and stimulates collagen and fibroblast. Higher nanometers of light such as infrared penetrate up to several inches into the skin and stimulate blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. The Baby Quasar uses 4 wavelengths of light ranging from red/amber to infrared. From what I've concluded by reading the essential day spa message boards, the Baby Quasar is the highest ranked LED home device.



Anonymous



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Here’s my response.



I happen to agree with you on the efficacy of the Baby Quasar, but for very different reasons.



You need to be careful of “facts” you read on the Internet, especially message boards where there is no way to know a writer’s qualifications.



Namometer is a measurement of length (one-billionth of a meter). Light travels in waves. When applied to the measurement of light, nanometer is the distance between two peaks of the light’s waves. We call this the light’s wavelength. To quote NASA at http://science.hq.nasa.gov:



“Visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves we can see. We see these waves as the colors of the rainbow. Each color has a different wavelength. Red has the longest wavelength and violet has the shortest wavelength. When all the waves are seen together, they make white light.”



Visible light ranges from 400 to 700 nm: from violet to blue to green, yellow, orange and finally red. The Baby Quasar delivers light in three wavelengths from 680 to 950, in the orange/red to infra-red range.



You are correct that these wavelengths penetrate the skin; but the nm measurement does not tell how far they penetrate. NASA research indicates that optimal LED wavelengths for tissue penetration are 680, 730 and 880.



Regardless, I still love my Baby Quasar.



Tags: Quasar Baby, Marvel Mini, photodynamic therapy, phototherapy, anti-aging appliances, anti-aging research, LED treatment