With the evolution of the digital age and people spending more time than ever in front of screens, particularly in the past couple of months as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown, now more than ever is a good time to consider the effect of blue light on our patients’ skin. This article will explore the research behind blue light and its relevance to aesthetic practice.
Electromagnetic energy spans a broad spectrum from very long radio waves to very short gamma rays.1 Light is made up of electromagnetic particles that travel in waves.2 The human eye can only detect a small portion of this spectrum, which is called visible light.1 Blue light is a colour in the ‘visible light spectrum’ that can be seen by the human eye.2 It has a very short wavelength, and so produces a higher amount of energy than those of longer wavelengths.2
Blue light is everywhere. Sunlight is the main source of blue light,2 however there are now also many artificial sources of blue light, such as fluorescent lights, LED lights, flat screen LED TVs…
