Red Light Therapy Benefits for those 50+

Perimenopause, menopause, post-menopause…Hormonal changes and natural aging can come with some unwelcome changes to how you look and feel – men included! From sleepless nights to thinning hair, dry skin, declining muscle strength, and even changes in bone health, you could start to feel like your body is no longer your own. But what if an effortless, non-invasive treatment could help you start feeling like yourself again?

Enter red light therapy. Backed by research, this drug-free, largely hands-off practice has shown promise in improving some of the most unnerving symptoms of hormone changes and aging, potentially improving sleep, reducing inflammation, supporting hair growth, promoting bone health, and even rejuvenating skin.

Whether you’re already familiar with red light or just curious about how it works, I’ll take you through why I recommend red light to all of our OsteoStrong members and anyone else in their late thirties and beyond.

Collagen Loss & Wrinkles

We all know skin aging tends to speed up during perimenopause and menopause, and a big reason is the drop in estrogen. Lower estrogen levels can take a toll on the skin’s extracellular matrix—the part that keeps your skin hydrated and maintains elasticity—making changes like sagging and wrinkles more noticeable.[*]

Over time, your skin often produces less collagen and has increased levels of enzymes called matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which break down the collagen you do have.[*] Researchers investigated whether red light therapy could counteract these changes. Here’s what they found:

Lab testing

Researchers examined biochemical and structural changes in a lab-grown human skin model after 11 sessions of either LED or treatments without active light wavelengths.

• They found that collagen production (type-1 procollagen) increased by 31% in LED-treated skin compared to untreated skin, and MMP-1 levels, which break down collagen, decreased by 18%. No structural damage was observed in the treated skin.

Human testing

Aged and photo-aged individuals participated in a split-face, single-blinded study, where one side of the face received 12 LED treatments, and the other side was left untreated for comparison.

• The results? Over 90% of participants showed reduced wrinkle depth and skin roughness. Clinical evaluations found 87% of individuals had a noticeable improvement in wrinkle severity scores. No adverse effects or recovery time were reported.

That’s pretty compelling evidence that red light therapy can boost collagen production while reducing collagen breakdown, helping to counteract signs of skin aging. The best part? In this study, the treatment was safe, effective, and well-tolerated across the board. [*]

Sleep

Perimenopause and menopause and declining hormones across the board can cause trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and feeling rested and ready in the morning. Pile on night sweats and anxious brain churning on top of it, and you’ve got long, fitful nights ahead of you.

One of the most impactful effects of red light that I notice is that I sleep, and I mean sleep after I spend time in front of my panel in the evening. But do other people experience the same thing?

Emerging science says yes. A study of female athletes showed that 30 minutes of red light therapy before bed increased melatonin production and improved sleep quality. [*]

Another study showed that red light shortened sleep inertia, the time spent in the groggy stage between first cracking your eyes open and feeling fully awake and alert. Shorter sleep inertia means you feel awake and ready soon after waking up.[*]

More research is needed before we can call it a sure thing, but when a practice is non-invasive, drug-free, completely passive, and working for me, I’m here for it.

Inflammation

Since estrogen and progesterone work together to regulate your body’s inflammation response [*], the menopausal years are often in lockstep with elevated inflammation.[*]

Regular red light exposure has been shown to reduce reactive oxygen species, which are rogue oxygen atoms that damage cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines — both hallmarks of inflammation.[*]

Research shows that red light reduces measures of inflammation and increases ATP — which are thought of as energy packets in your cells — in aging fruit flies.[*]

How can light do that? Red wavelengths of light are longer and penetrate deeper than the skin’s surface.[*] Because these longer wavelengths can reach the cell, they can act on the cellular level.

Many of the most common discomforts of the perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause years are rooted in inflammation. Stacking activities that help reduce inflammation—like regular movement, eating nutrient-dense foods, prioritizing sleep, and spending some time soaking in red light—can make a big difference in how you feel every day.

Bone Health

Declines in estrogen during perimenopause and menopause can lead to mineral loss in bones, which weakens them and leaves you prone to soreness and injury.[*] Red light shows promise for improving bone health by enhancing the growth and activity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which play a significant role in bone formation.

Research found that during the bone-forming process, cells exposed to red light produced higher levels of key markers like alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin, both critical for healthy bone density.[*] This particular study used rat models and exposed bone cells, but findings open the possibility that red light could help promote bone strength and regeneration.

Your bones might not be at the top of your mind in the early stages of perimenopause and menopause (but they should be!), but small efforts now will pay off big time in the future. And bone health typically becomes top of mind in the post-menopausal years. It’s so much easier to support healthy bones than to rebuild deteriorating ones, and you’ll prevent a lot of aches, pains, and injuries down the road.

Things to keep in mind while using red light

As with any bioactive treatment, there are ways red light can go wrong. Here are some things to keep in mind.

• Avoid overexposure. Follow your product guidelines and the advice of a qualified professional.
• Allow contact. Thick clothing and sunscreens can block the goodness from reaching your skin and deeper cells.
• Medication interactions. Certain medications make you more photosensitive, so talk to your doctor or pharmacist about using red light while on prescription medication.
• Reduce or discontinue use with side effects. If you experience headaches, eye strain, skin rashes, insomnia, or feel “off” in any way, take a break from red light.