.Feeling the Light

I wasn’t looking for a new way to spend time and money, but then this link crossed my laptop: “Discover the benefits of red light therapy in helping to preserve youthfulness.”

They had me at youthfulness, and since the email came from a trusted source, I clicked.

The article described a laundry list of conditions said to improve through red light exposure, ranging from mending torn muscles and wrinkled skin to reducing depression and inflammation.

It sounded too good to be true, yet the news was compelling. In July of last year, a study published by the National Library of Medicine was headlined “Reverse skin aging signs by red light photobiomodulation”—aka red light therapy.

So I did a local search for red light therapy in Santa Cruz, and up came the only result: Santa Cruz Light Therapy, with a special for new clients. I signed up for three sessions.

I arrived at an inconspicuous building across from the Shopper’s Corner parking lot. One of the co-owners, Julie Bettencourt, asked what I knew about red light therapy. She was eager to fill me in, sharing her personal story of healing. She says it started with a trip to the vet when her dog tore an Achilles tendon—which, thanks to the use of red light therapy, healed quickly.

Bettencourt remembered the therapy when she tore her meniscus, prompting her to invest in a hand-held device. In a string of coincidences, she learned her friend Donna Cherie was dealing with a similar tear. Cherie, a licensed aesthetician, had recently seen LightStim red light therapy beds on display at a trade show. After they compared notes, they formed a partnership and set up shop.

And now here I was ready to lie face down on the clear acrylic panel resembling a red-hued tanning bed with a massage-style face cradle extending from the top.

Forty very warm minutes later, I sat up and noticed right away that my right mousing arm no longer hurt. It was a pleasant surprise.

The next day another shopper at New Leaf remarked on my healthy glow, nodding at the bunch of kale I was holding.

Duly encouraged, I wondered whether other people were on to the red light approach. I began asking around, and eventually I connected with Adora Deva, the former partner of Mellen Thomas Benedict, whom she calls the inventor of red light therapy.

Adora first met Mellen in Los Gatos in 2006, when she agreed to participate in a research trial on wrinkle reduction. The technology wasn’t all she was interested in, and the two began dating in 2007. For the next ten years Deva worked closely with Mellen, assisting him as he traveled the world sharing the findings, lecturing on the mechanics and developing more prototypes.

Eventually a larger company bought the prototype, now named Dreamspa, and added two features to the original design: a sound option for brain balance, and gamma wave. And the research continues.

This same machine was just tested by Dr. Peter Newsom’s team at Stanford to study the healing effects of gamma waves on brain fog and long Covid. Meanwhile one prominent LA aesthetician, Dr. Michael Galitzer, relies on it for celebrity wrinkle reduction.

Since Mellen’s passing in 2019,  Adora has stayed true to the work. Today she uses several of the machines in her business, Life Spirit Healing. Along with the original light chair, Deva combines treatments using near infrared technology and red and blue light therapy. Depending on the client’s needs, she uses different lights to treat a range of issues from anxiety and depression to acne and joint pain.

Deva explains that light “bathes our connective tissue. It’s fiber optic so it carries the light to the mitochondrial level, producing ATP, the life source. Mellen was 20 to 25 years ahead of his time.”

Although the technology is now gaining traction for not only anti-aging but also a whole host of inflammation-related issues, it has decades-old roots in Santa Cruz.

The light therapy practitioners I spoke with are more than proponents of the technology. It’s not a stretch to use the word enamored. And with good reason: They and their clients find it works. How often, for how long? Those questions seem based on the individual, but for now, I’m looking forward to my next session.