Five hundred years ago Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon is fabled to have carried out expeditions through Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth. The Fountain of Youth was to possess waters that could return your youth and prevent aging.
For your face, sunlight possesses ultraviolet light which will accelerate aging and can make you appear older than you actually are. While ultraviolet light from the sun creates damaging effects on skin including aging, sun spots, loose skin, and even skin cancer, the medical community has used visible light therapy for the past 20 years to reverse the effects of sun damage. The technology and treatment protocols have improved greatly over the past two decades.
Light is present in a variety of wavelengths which can be categorized as ultraviolet, not seen by the human eye and visible light seen by the human eye. It is the ultraviolet light from the sun which causes many damaging effects, including increased pigmentation from melanin production, redness to the skin, small blood vessels formation, loss of collagen, and even skin cancer.
BroadBand Light uses specific wavelengths of visible light to invoke changes within the skin. By using specific wavelengths of visible light BBL therapy can target pigmented spots, generalized redness of skin, hyperpigmentation, small blood vessels, and even target hair follicles to achieve permanent hair loss. Other beneficial effects can be reduction of acne and treatment of rosacea.
BroadBand Light therapy also increases collagen formation within the deep structures of skin to create a firming effect within the dermis. Many practitioners now believe that routinely therapy will prevent advanced forms of facial aging preventing the need for more aggressive facial rejuvenation procedures such as the face-lift or blepharoplasty. The belief is that regular broadband light therapy initiated at a younger age will prevent facial jowls, nasolabial fold progression, and generalized loose skin of the face.
Such treatment would be an actual Fountain of Youth for the face and with regular therapy could maintain skin with the appearance of 30 years old while in your 60s.
I believe that more data is needed to substantiate such claims but there are still many benefits to BroadBand Light therapy. I currently recommend photo facials one to three times yearly to maintain skin tone, reduce pigmented lesions, and general effects of sun damage to the skin. If in fact BroadBand Light therapy is the Fountain of Youth for facial aging, that would be an added bonus, time will tell.
