Red Light Therapy for Skin Over 50

Start with what red light will not do, because past 50 that is usually the deciding question. It will not lift. Sagging, jowls and a softening jawline are a matter of structure, and light does not change structure. What it does do is the same thing it does at 35, on skin that has less collagen to begin with. The largest trial to measure collagen and fine lines included people up to 79, and the treated groups improved against untreated controls. So expect texture and fine lines to improve over two to three months, keep wearing sunscreen, and go in knowing which of your concerns a mask can reach and which it cannot.

What happens to skin after 50?

Collagen falls, and after the menopause it falls faster, by about one to two percent a year in the study that measured it. Thinner skin shows lines more readily and loses its bounce.

In 1987, researchers measured skin collagen and skin thickness in postmenopausal women and found both declining by between one and two percent for every year since the menopause. Study summary. That is the background any device works against. The face has not stopped making collagen; it is losing it a little faster than it can replace it. Layer years of sun on top of that and you arrive at the concerns people over 50 tend to raise with us: fine lines and crepey texture, dullness and uneven tone, and a loss of firmness.

Does red light therapy work on skin over 50?

Yes, for texture, fine lines and collagen. The largest of the skin trials we cite enrolled people from 27 to 79 and measured improvement across the whole group.

The 2014 controlled trial in Photomedicine and Laser Surgery gave 113 volunteers aged between 27 and 79 a course of 30 sessions of red or near-infrared light, twice a week. Compared with the untreated controls, the treated groups ended up with smoother skin, softer fine lines and higher collagen density on ultrasound. Full paper. The 2007 split-face study of 76 people, treated twice a week for four weeks, found wrinkles on the treated side still improving weeks after the last session. Study summary. What neither trial did was split its results by age. So we will not tell you that skin over 50 responds better, or faster, only that people over 50 were among those measured when the results came in.

What can you expect it to change?

Texture first, at around three to four weeks. Fine lines around the eyes and mouth by six to eight. The biggest difference shows between month one and month three.

• Crepey texture and rough patches. Usually the first thing to shift.
• Fine lines. Softer in a same-light photo at week six to eight.
• Firmness. The trials measured higher collagen density on ultrasound. That is a denser skin layer, and it is not a lift.

The full timeline is in how long red light therapy takes to work.

What can't it change?

Sagging, jowls, deep folds and volume loss. Those come from the fat, bone and muscle under the skin rather than from the skin itself.

If the shape of your face concerns you more than its surface, a red light mask is the wrong purchase, and we would sooner tell you that than take the order. Contour is what microcurrent is designed for, with caveats of its own, and anything beyond that is a conversation for a dermatologist or a surgeon. Red light works on the surface, on how the skin looks and feels, and has no say in where it sits.

Is there anything to check first?

Yes. Two items on our precautions list should be checked against any regular medication: thyroid conditions, and medicines that make skin sensitive to light.

Our precautions say not to use the mask if you have a thyroid condition or take thyroid medication, or if you take photosensitising medication. Some blood pressure tablets, some diuretics and some antibiotics fall into that second group. If you are on any regular medication and unsure, ask the pharmacist or the doctor who prescribed it. None of this is a judgement about you. They are the manufacturer's rules, and because an opened mask is refunded less a 20% restocking fee, the check belongs before the purchase.

How should you run it after 50?

On the same schedule as anyone else, with a little more patience and a same-light photo before you start.

1. Cleanse, pat dry, nothing on the skin.
2. The red mode (red and near-infrared). 10 minutes up to four times a week at high brightness, or 15 minutes up to three times a week, and never more than 20 minutes a day.
3. If your skin is dry or reactive, begin at 50 percent brightness for the first week.
4. Moisturiser after the session, and be generous with it. Retinol goes on after as well, never underneath.
5. Sunscreen every morning. Sun damage is what you are trying to outrun.
6. Photo at week zero, four, eight and twelve. Same room, same light, no makeup.

What does the Kivorla mask offer someone over 50?

A hands-free ten minutes with the wavelengths the trials used, a near-infrared channel that reaches deeper, and settings that let you begin gently.

The red mode combines 665 nm red with 850 nm and 1064 nm near-infrared. Red paired with near-infrared is the combination the collagen trials used, and the 1064 nm channel reaches deeper still; what that means in practice is covered in the 1064 nm article. There are three brightness levels starting at 50 percent, so drier, thinner skin can begin low and step up over the weeks. The timer runs 5, 10 or 15 minutes and switches the mask off by itself. It is cordless, weighs 408 g with the remote, and has an open eye cutout, so you can read, watch television or sit in the garden while it works. The light at the skin is published, 50 to 103 mW/cm², so you can compare it with the trials instead of taking a promise on trust.

For the surface of the skin, then, the evidence is there and includes people your age. For the shape of the face, it is not, and no mask will change that. The 4-Wavelength Red Light Therapy Mask page lists its wavelengths, irradiance and session times. Please check the precautions before you order, because a return is accepted within 30 days, less a 10% restocking fee if the mask is unopened with its seals intact, or 20% if it is opened but undamaged and complete. Standard shipping is free to the US, UK and Germany. And if you are still weighing up whether a mask makes sense for you at all, are red light therapy masks worth it is the place to begin.

Kivorla devices are general wellness devices, not medical devices.