Omnilux Light Therapy

Find Cosmetic/Beauty Treatments in London & UK »

Light therapy is a medical treatment that is used to treat a wide range of medical conditions, from skin disorders such as psoriasis to mood disorders such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Light therapy is also used as a cosmetic procedure to improve the general appearance of your skin and decrease the effect of ageing on your skin. The positive effects of Omnilux light therapy on skin complexion has been featured in leading beauty magazines, New Beauty and Elle in 2008.

Light therapy can be divided into 4 groups;

• UV (ultraviolet) light therapy
• UV blood irradiation therapy
• Coloured light therapy (including Omnilux light therapy) is also termed chromatotherapy
• light box (or bright light therapy)

What is Omnilux Light Therapy?

Omnilux light therapy is a coloured light therapy that can be used on any area of skin (except eyelids), any skin type or colour. Treatment with Omnilux light therapy basically involves basking under Omnilux lamps that emit (give off) coloured light. Interestingly light therapy is not only used to treat medical conditions it is also reported to have a rejuvenating effect, reducing or reversing the visible signs of skin ageing that are brought about after general sun exposure (also called photoaging).

How Can Omnilux Light Therapy Use Light As a Treatment?

Light that you see, all around you contains, what is called visible light and this is measured in units called nanometres (nm). Visible light consists of many individual wavelengths of light from low wavelengths, measuring around 380 nm to high wavelengths at around 760 nm. If you were to split visible light into its smaller parts or wavelengths, you would see each part as a beam of light and each beam would be a different colour, red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, indigo or violet. For instance red light measures approximately 635 nm and blue light measures 415 nm approximately. Blue light therapy is used in hospitals to treat jaundice of new born babies because blue light breaks down the bilirubin that causes the yellowing of the skin (jaundice) and this allows the removal of this toxin from the body. Similarly, it is these individual beams of coloured light that are harnessed for use in coloured light therapies such as Omnilux light therapy. However total visible light is only a small proportion of all light present in our universe. Other wavelengths of light that is not grouped into the visible spectrum are UV light, X-rays and infra-red light. UV or ultraviolet light consists of two wavelengths, UVA light that is in the range of 320-400 nm and UVB light is in the range of 280-320 nm. UV light A and B are used to treat skin disorders however it is this UV light that is particularly damaging/aging to your skin. Importantly, Omnilux light therapy safely exposes your skin to completely different wavelengths of light other than UV light which causes damage to your skin.

How Do Omnilux Light Therapy Lamps Work?

Omnilux light therapy can emit light that is just outside the visible spectrum called infra-red (830nm) light or light of the visible spectrum, such as blue light. Omnilux light therapy does not use UV light and is not a laser or intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment. Light is therefore not applied directly to the skin, nor does the treatment generate intense heat. Omnilux light therapy can be performed using different devices that are all in essence lamps which emit different wavelengths (nm) of light. For instance the Omnilux reviveTM lamp and Omnilux PDTTM lamp emits red light at 633nm, Omnilux blue TM emits blue light at 415nm and Omnilux plusTM emits infra-red light at 830nm. These lamps are placed over the areas of skin that need to be treated and light is shone over the skin.

The different wavelengths of light that are emitted from the Omnilux light therapy lamps are produced by light emitting diodes (LED). LEDS are essentially light bulbs producing light from electricity, they have advantages over traditional style light bulbs because they do not get as hot, are tiny in size comparatively, relatively inexpensive and do not burn out because they don’t have a filament that emits the light like traditional bulbs. Omnilux light therapy can also be performed using small hand held lamps. The smaller devices are designed for use at home and the larger lamps within a more clinical setting such as at specialist cosmetic surgery clinics.

---

Can Light Therapy Treat Problem Skin? »