Purple Light LED Therapy: The Full Scoop

Let's dive into the fascinating world of Purple Light LED Therapy. Purple light, just another hue in the visible light spectrum, holds more significance than merely being a pleasing colour to the eye. Its effects penetrate far beyond the psychological aspect, reaching the very core of our biological system.

Today's discussion forms part of our enlightening series on chromotherapy, where we delve into the health benefits of all visible colours of light, applied via LED Light Therapy devices. Below is a quick overview of the other colours we've previously discussed:

• Green Light LED Therapy: Helps build muscles and burn fat, provides pain relief like red light therapy, and improves skin appearance.
• Yellow Light LED Therapy: Improves skin health, and texture, and has a rejuvenating effect. Moreover, it enhances hydration and collagen production.
• Orange Light LED Therapy: Boost cognitive function and motivation, potentially reduce pain, and strengthen the immune system while improving skin health.
• Cyan Light LED Therapy: Bone healing, improving acne cases scars, boosting motivation, and may even accelerate wound healing.
• Blue LED light therapy: Alertness and improves skin problems, and may even uplift your mood, among other benefits.
• Red LED Light: Reduces inflammation, boosts energy, improves mood, enhances workout recovery and performance, relieves pain, and enhances cognition, among other benefits.

We’ll first explore the nature of purple light, followed by an examination of the potential health benefits one could reap from Purple Light LED therapy. Finally, we'll guide you on how to utilise this therapy most effectively.

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Purple Light Meaning. How Purple Light Differs From Red And Blue Light

The world of physics presents us with a vast spectrum of light. This spectrum can be categorised into three main divisions:

1. Ultraviolet
2. Visible
3. And infrared light.

Each type of light carries its own unique properties and effects.

For example, ultraviolet light might be the culprit behind your summer sunburn, while it's the infrared light that brings the warmth you feel on a sunny beach day.

Visible light, on the other hand, encompasses all the colours of the rainbow, ranging from purple to red.

Each of these different types of light has distinct biological impacts. Take red light, for instance; it has therapeutic properties that can enhance your energy levels, improve skin health, boost cognitive function, optimise sports performance, and even improve sleep quality.

On the flip side, blue light is invigorating, and known to enhance alertness.

Interestingly, the classification of light can vary depending on the source.

For example, some might categorise purple as part of the blue light spectrum. Standardly, blue light spans the 400 - 500 nanometre range. However, the initial part of this spectrum is technically purple, so for the purpose of this discussion, let's consider the 400 - 420nm light as purple light—although, visually, it may appear blue to many.

From a colour psychological perspective, purple light often symbolises royalty. A throwback to ancient Rome reveals that only emperors were permitted to don purple attire.

However, modern science reveals a different story about purple light. When it interacts with our skin, it induces numerous biological effects.

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Purple Light Health Effects With Purple Light LED Therapy

So let’s say you use purple light LED therapy. And you’re getting purple light exposure in your eyes and on your skin. What purple light health effects can you expect in that case? 

Let’s explore these benefits. We’ve not included all studies on purple light LED therapy but just the important ones, as there are many publications on the topic.

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1. May Boosts Bone Formation

In laboratory cell studies, blue light at 405nm can improve bone formation (1). An increase is found in so-called “osteoblasts” - stimulating these osteoblasts help calcification processes.

2. May Improve Wound Healing And Blood Flow

Similarly, purple light LED therapy may improve wound healing (2). In one more laboratory study, fibroblast activity was increased by using 420nm purple light.

At very high doses, though, the purple light at 420nm may be counterproductive and harmful (3). Our chromotherapy only offers a very low dose of this light.

Nevertheless, purple light at 410nm may also improve blood flow (4). Red light therapy has a more substantial effect on blood flow. However, purple still works.

3. Combining Red And Purple Light Counters Acne

Purple light alone can counter acne vulgaris, a prevalent skin problem, especially among young people (5). But, when red and purple light at 415nm were used together, there was an even better benefit.

Purple light alone led to improvements of about 50%. But, the combination of purple and red led to a whopping 70% improvement.

Many other studies confirm these effects (6; 8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15). All these studies were carried out in humans, not animals. So, contrary to much of the evidence, the effects of purple light on acne are scientifically tremendously solid and very promising. There are many more human studies on purple light and acne than I refer to above, and I estimate that there are around 15 of them, all with positive outcomes.

One proposed mechanism is that purple light inhibits fat production in the skin (7). That fat, in combination with bacteria, lays the foundation of acne.

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4. May Counter Other Skin Conditions And Improve Overall Skin Health

In animal studies, purple light counters other skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis (16).

Human evidence also exists for psoriasis at 420nm (17). So, given the fact that purple light has overwhelming benefits for acne, as well as some benefits for other skin conditions, it’s very likely that the 400 to 420nm wavelength spectrum improves overall skin health.

5. Promote Hair Regrowth

Red light is famous for its ability to promote hair regrowth, even after years of hair loss. But, now, it seems that purple lights at 420nm have similar effects (18).

Hair density improved in 90% of the study participants. Photographic improvement was seen in 80% of study participants. And, while this study did consider humans, it’s only a preliminary study. So more research is needed.

There are additional benefits of purple light that we won't delve into. However, we have presented a compelling argument for the health benefits of purple light that we hope you will consider during your next Clearlight Sauna session!

However, using purple light late at night is not recommended. This light is highly stimulating and can hinder the rise of melatonin levels in your brain once it enters your eyes.

Therefore, it is advisable to use purple light primarily in the morning and afternoon for optimal results.

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Lastly, let’s consider the following question:

Can You Use A Purple Porch Light For Purple Light LED Therapy?

Indeed, using your purple porch light for purple light LED therapy isn't feasible due to insufficient light output.

Optimal results require a more powerful and targeted LED setup. This is where the concept of chromotherapy comes into play, a feature that we proudly incorporate into our infrared saunas.

Our infrared saunas are equipped with a sophisticated chromotherapy array. This system emits light at 405nm, which, despite often being referred to as "blue", is technically purple. Furthermore, it also emits red light at 660nm and green light at 540nm.

A unique feature of this setup is the ability to combine colours. For instance, adding red to blue results in an even deeper shade of purple. Yellow can be created by merging red and green, while orange is produced by combining green and blue.

If you're interested in leveraging the benefits of purple or blue light therapy, simply select the blue function on our chromotherapy. Remember, it's not just about the colour, but also the intensity and wavelength of the light that matter when it comes to effective light therapy.

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Purple Light LED Therapy Has A Promising Future

As you can see, purple light LED therapy has many different benefits for skin health and wound healing. The science of purple light is also in its very early stages, meaning that in the coming years and decades, tons of studies will be published now that the first very positive studies are out. 

For you, that means we’ll probably keep finding purple light positive effects that are currently undiscovered. Red light was similar during the last century, and now thousands of studies show a vast array of health benefits. Take a look at our previous posts about the different chromotherapy colours and their health benefits!

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