New York Magazine - 02.03.2020

Here is a partial list of what one company promises
sitting under a small panel of red lights will improve:
athletic performance and recovery (owing to faster
muscle recovery and joint repair), sleep (thanks to in-
creased melatonin production and a “healthy circa-
dian rhythm”), and skin quality (because of reduced
inflammation and increased collagen production).
These red lights, in this case made by Joovv, are one
of dozens of at-home versions of what’s known as light
the e, o i n,
a t ide g ge
us on a cellular level. This past summer, the journal
Frontiers in Medicinepublished an issue dedicated to

photomedicine, and its 12 articles have an over-

whelming effect similar to Joovv’s marketing copy,

covering dermatological concerns like aging, skin

cancer, and psoriasis as well as autoimmune diseases

like type 1 diabetes. I like the way a 2016 journal

article phrases it with a bad joke that gives away the

researcher’s quiet exuberance: After a brief overview

of peer-reviewed light-therapy treatments (for

arthritis, hearing loss, and chemotherapy side

effects), the conclusion states that “after decades

confined to the ‘scientific wasteland,’ [photobiomod-

ulation] may be finally emerging into the light of day

(pun intended).”

BY

Melissa

Dahl

PHOTOGRAPH

BY

Elizaveta

Porodina

64 THE CUT | MARCH 2–15, 2020

The actually convincing

science of light therapy.

ABOUT

BEING A

Plant

WHAT I