While aesthetic professionals may understand how light therapy can impact skin health, many don't know that it can also positively impact a business' bottom line. The old saying that time is money has never been truer, so making sure you give your clients the biggest bang for their buck is a key to not only maintaining your current clientele but also to building your practice and increasing your income.
Offering results-driven LED light therapy treatments can improve other treatment outcomes, increase revenue through new services and provide you with rental and retail opportunities. But, what makes an LED light therapy device truly effective? Understanding a few basic facts and looking at the science can make the selection process much less intimidating. The following guidelines are the primary parameters based on scientific principles that apply to all LED light therapy brands.
Seek Evidence-Based Wavelengths
Choose a device emitting evidence-based wavelengths: blue, red and near-infrared. These wavelengths have been widely shown to increase ATP production in cells, which can be compromised due to aging, illness, disease or poor lifestyle habits.
Blue light addresses acne issues, while red and near-infrared wavelengths decrease inflammation and increase microcirculation to bring more oxygen and nutrients to the treatment area.
In aesthetics, red and near-infrared are particularly desirable for their ability to stimulate fibroblast activity and boost collagen and elastin production. No other wavelengths are more broadly supported in credible scientific research.
Look for an FDA-cleared device, as this guarantees that it has been reviewed for efficacy and safety. In addition, a multi-functional device should be able to meet all skin care and pain management needs anywhere on the body.
Energy Absorption and Duration Are Key
The efficacy of a light therapy session depends on the amount of energy available for absorption by the cells. It makes sense, then, to choose a shape-taking LED system that can contour to the treatment area for optimal and consistent energy delivery.
Laws of optical physics have established that the closer the light device is positioned to the skin, the more energy is absorbed. The amount of energy emitted at the surface of an LED device is not relevant. It is about how much is available for absorption at the skin’s surface, and it needs to be in the range of 2 to 10 Joules/cm².
A shape-taking device with a large treatment area has an advantage over rigid light delivery systems, where the distance between the light source and skin is difficult to keep constant and can lead to inconsistent light absorption.
Pulsing adds a higher level of sophistication and effectiveness to an LED device, and its importance is often overlooked. Delivering light energy in a pulsed manner has been shown in clinical literature to enhance cells’ ability to absorb more energy over the treatment period.
It also takes cells a certain amount of time to absorb enough energy to effect a change at the cellular level. The duration of the LED session should take this fact into account. High quality LED devices call for 20- to 30-minute treatment times to deliver a full therapeutic dose of energy, upregulating cellular activity for up to 48 hours post-treatment. This is how LED treatments can achieve observable changes in skin, pain and wound conditions.
Satisfied Clients = More Income
LED light therapy is so versatile that you can help your clients address a variety of skin and health conditions, including hair loss; the aches, pains and wrinkles that come with advancing age; and even acne-prone skin. Light therapy is a natural method to improve cellular performance so you can help your clients heal from the inside out.
You can build more value into your existing treatments by including effective add-on services with LED light therapy. These additional services help increase your revenue while offering clients viable options to meet their goals.
For example, integrating a 30-minute light therapy session into your spa’s signature facial provides guests with an anti-aging or acne treatment boost, improving skin tone and texture while reducing redness, fine lines and wrinkles.
LED therapy also allows you to add new revenue generating treatment options, such as an LED hand treatment, while you are conducting a facial.
Increase Your Referrals
When you add services that address more than one condition, you open your spa to increased referrals. For example, in addition to acne and anti-aging treatments, light therapy has been cleared by the FDA for the treatment of male and female pattern hair loss.
Light therapy is also the perfect complement to a number of common modalities to enhance results. It can be combined safely and effectively with laser, microdermabrasion, microneedling, peels, injections, waxing and much more. In most cases, LED light therapy can be used prior to any of these treatments to prepare the tissue or after treatment to reduce inflammation, redness and discomfort levels.
Increasing your menu of services with just a single light therapy device can add to your bottom line almost immediately as you attract new customers looking to address multiple issues at the same time.
Rental & Retail Opportunities
When your clients see their amazing results, they may ask you about at-home devices. You can educate your clients and let them know they can enjoy the same treatments at home with an FDA-cleared light therapy device.
If you don’t have a lot of space for retail, look into an affiliate or rental opportunity to help your guests maintain results in between their appointments with you. For example, you might rent out a device to someone who wants to help their teenager improve their acne. Or, consider renting out a device to a client looking to address their thinning hair, as these treatment protocols can last for several weeks or months.
It isn’t unusual for these rental opportunities to shift to retail, as clients often don’t want to give up their devices once they experience the positive results of light therapy!
Maybe you already own a light therapy device, but have you considered purchasing a second or even third device to offer additional light therapy treatments to multiple clients at the same time? For example, if you have a couple come to you for treatments, you might have one person using one device for an anti-aging treatment while the other uses light therapy for pain relief.
LED light therapy is scientifically proven to be an effective and safe treatment option that is also noninvasive and painless. Now that you know the basics of choosing the right device and how to implement it for treatments, you can add services, target new clientele and boost your bottom line.
Denise Ryan, global VP of brand management at Celluma, has more than 30 years’ sales, marketing and product management experience in medical devices. She writes and speaks internationally about the science and benefits of low-level light therapy.