From beds to LED masks, is the red light craze giving us more than just a warm glow?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. From beds to LED masks, is the red light craze giving us more than just a warm glow? 8 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Ruth Clegg Health and wellbeing reporter Getty Images LED masks are just one of many different devices currently on the market At first glance, it reminds me of a tanning bed I used to cook myself on as a naive teenager (which I heartily do not recommend). But I'm reassured I won't be turning a crisp brown.

"It's red light," Dr Cal Shields explains. "This is going to repair cells - not fry them. "Just 15 minutes," he says, as he closes the lid of the red light therapy bed and leaves the room in Thriyv, a wellness suite in Manchester.

The Details

There's a distant whirr, the bed glows and I'm left alone with my thoughts - and supposedly some hastily repairing skin and muscle cells. Over the past few months, the wellbeing industry has been turning red. Whether you want to look younger, live longer, feel happier, or recover more quickly, it's being claimed red light therapy is the way to go.

Ruth Clegg/ But what is red light therapy, and can the warm scarlet hues beaming out of red therapy mats, LED masks and sauna sleeping bags really boost our health? Red light therapy impacts the body using different wavelengths. Red light is what we can see with the naked eye, with wavelengths measuring between 630–660 nanometres - that's millionths of a millimetre.

As the wavelengths get longer, the light starts to become invisible. The longer the wavelength, the deeper it reaches in the body. While shorter wavelengths target the top layers of the skin, longer ones are aimed at muscle tissues and are said to help with recovery.

What Experts Say

Depending on wavelength and intensity, these little red light particles can speed up energy production in cells and help damaged cells repair and reproduce. Back at Thriyv, one of Dr Shields's regular clients, Kate McLelland, jumps off a red light therapy bed. She's been using red light since fracturing her neck two years ago, when a barbell landed on her while CrossFit training.

"I had intense physiotherapy for my injury," McLelland says, "but I combined it with red light therapy. " The 32-year-old - who believes this has helped her muscle tissues heal more quickly - is back training and she's just competed at a Hyrox fitness event. Red light is still a part of her recovery routine.

"It used to take me a week to recover from Hyrox," she says. "Now it's just a few days. " McLelland is such a fan, she also has an LED face mask.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.