Shedding New Light on Wrinkles
How to attack signs of aging with light.
Everyone is used to treating wrinkles, age spots, and other signs of aging from the outside in, with a seemingly endless variety of topically applied products formulated to give a more youthful appearance. But now several new products are going the other way, working from the inside out to smooth wrinkles and to tone the skin for a more vital look.
The secret is in light and energy treatments, where lasers, LEDs, special fluorescents, or ultrabright lights are directed at the skin. For years such lights and have been used to attack acne and help with seasonal affective disorder. Now they’re being used for rejuvenation as well, the idea being that such treatments can stimulate collagen production, which improves facial tone and erases fine wrinkles.
An interesting recent Time magazine article (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1666284,00.html) talked about the potentially huge size of this market and highlighted a handful of such products, and odd though it may sound, other articles extol the virtues of light therapy to repair sun damage, even though applying more light to sun-damaged skin might seem like a counterproductive concept.
At the doctor’s office, Gentle Waves
Light Bioscience, the maker of the Gentle Waves Skin Fitness System, says its treatments are like exercise for the skin. It’s the first FDA-cleared Light Emitting Diode system for eye-area wrinkles. You sit in front of the special light, and it stimulates the growth of new layers of collagen while helping to reverse brown spots and other effects of sun damage. Signs of improvement are usually visible after eight twice-a-week sessions of under one minute each.
Gentle Waves: http://www.lightbioscience.com/consumer/consumer.html
At home, the Marvel-Mini rejuvenating facial light
You can try a similar treatment at home for a lot less money with the Marvel-Mini light, available at Nordstrom and online for $225. The Marvel-Mini is a handheld device that employs light therapy technology. There are actually three models, each with a different color of light: blue for acne, green for age spots and discoloration, and red for fine line and wrinkles. You shine the light for 15 minutes, twice a day, for 30 days.
Marvel-Mini: http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2935853/0~2377897~2383938~6009645?P=1
More at-home options
To read up on even more options, check out Light Therapy Products (http://www.lighttherapyproducts.com/), which sells a variety of rejuvenating light therapy devices and has good information about the science behind them.
