Can LED light therapy help upgrade your hair routine?

Your hair grows in cycles. The process is made up of four stages:

• Anagen: the growth phase. During this period, your hair might grow for between 2 and 8 years. Roughly 85% of the hair on your head is in its anagen phase.
• Catagen: the transitional phase. Your hair growth slows down as your hair follicles begin to shrink. This lasts for about 2 weeks.
• Telogen: the rest phase. Your hair no longer grows during this period, but it doesn’t fall out either. This usually lasts 2 to 3 months. At any given time, about 15% of the hair on your head is at this stage.
• Exogen: the shedding phase. Your hair begins to shed. This can last for a few months as you produce new hair.^1,2

Factors like ageing, hormonal imbalances and medication use can all affect the length of each of these phases and, potentially, cause hair loss.

It’s normal to lose a small amount of hair each day. On average, people lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day. It’s known as shedding.³

If you regularly lose more hair than this and notice changes to your hair’s density or even balding, then you are experiencing hair loss.

Hair loss can happen for lots of different reasons, including stress, health conditions like cancer, weight loss or iron deficiency anaemia.³

There’s no single reason why hair loss happens. Speaking to your GP can be a great place to start when trying to identify a cause.

You might be prescribed a treatment like minoxidil or finasteride to help address the signs of thinning and excessive hair shedding. But medication might not be an option for everyone. You might not be able to or want to take a medicine.

There are non-medical hair loss treatments like shampoos and serums that may help.

But LED light treatments have emerged as an effective alternative to prescription medication. Low-level light therapy has become popular for its non-invasive, yet effective ability to stimulate hair growth. Clinical evidence suggests that they can trigger hair to re-enter its anagen (growth) phase, preventing hair loss over time. ⁴

LED light treatments rely on red light to stimulate hair follicles and slow down hair shedding. Devices that use red light at a wavelength of 650nm are thought to be the most effective at helping to reduce hair fall.⁴

This is the light that can safely penetrate your skin and stimulate blood flow to your scalp. It also allows nutrients to reach your hair follicles, which, can help to prevent hair thinning with long-term use.⁴

It can also help slow down the ageing of hair follicles in people who have androgenic alopecia (hair loss caused by hormonal changes).⁴

Both at-home and professional treatments rely on clinically proven wavelengths to reduce hair loss and to improve your hair’s density and appearance.

Professional treatment can be a great way of getting the support and advice of an expert as you work towards regrowing your hair. But at-home treatments can be affordable alternatives that are suitable for everyday use.

At-home devices can also be cost-effective if you’re not able to splurge on pricier procedures.

There are lots of LED light therapy treatments available for at-home use and to fit every budget.

Brushes and other small hand-held devices can help you target areas of concern and can be used with other hair loss treatments like serums and oil.