What is Red Light Therapy for Hair Loss?

Red light therapy, also known as cold laser, soft laser, and low-level laser therapy, is a safe form of light treatment that’s being used more and more to treat the genetic forms of hair loss (androgenetic alopecia or pattern balding) common in men and women over 35.

Red light therapy has been found to increase blood flow (microcirculation) in the scalp and stimulate the metabolism in catagen or telogen effluvium follicles.The result is an accelerated production of anagen hair – new hair (stimulation of epidermal stem cells in the hair follicle bulge and shifting the follicles into anagen phase).

Both red light therapy and near infrared light therapy have been known to stop hair loss and to promote regrowth of fuller, thicker hair.
Sometimes light therapies are called by other names such as soft laser, low-level light therapy or photo bio-modulation (or PBM for short).

Whatever they are called, red light therapy is a safe light-based treatment becoming popular as a method to stop hair loss, including genetic forms, which are a very common problem for men and women over age 35.

Red light therapy for hair loss typically uses LED lights, which emit a red light in a specific range of wavelengths (630-670 nm), that have been established as effective at causing hair to grow.

For men, the most common balding pattern involves a receding hairline and hair loss at the crown of the head, while for women hair loss more often involves thinning of the hair all over the head. Either way, red light therapy can help.