LED Light Therapy vs. Body Brushing: Two Ways to Help Your Skin Heal
At first glance, LED light therapy and body brushing might seem like an odd comparison. One uses advanced technology, the other is simple and physical. But both support something very important: your skin's ability to heal itself.
LED Light Therapy: Healing at the Cellular Level
LED light therapy works on a cellular level. Different wavelengths of light penetrate the skin and send signals to your cells to calm inflammation, repair damage, and boost collagen production. It's non-invasive, painless, and backed by decades of research originally developed by NASA for wound healing!
Red light supports anti-aging and healing. It penetrates deeper into the skin to stimulate fibroblasts—the cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin. This means fewer fine lines, improved skin texture, and faster healing from breakouts or irritation.
Blue light helps fight acne-causing bacteria. It targets the bacteria that live in your pores and cause inflammation, making it incredibly effective for active breakouts without the dryness or irritation that comes with traditional acne treatments.
Amber/yellow light reduces redness and supports circulation, making it great for sensitive or rosacea-prone skin.
The result is skin that feels calmer, stronger, and more balanced over time. LED therapy doesn't force change—it encourages your skin to function the way it's supposed to.
What LED light therapy is best for:
Reducing fine lines and wrinkles
Calming redness and inflammation
Fighting active acne without harsh chemicals
Speeding up healing after other treatments
Evening out skin tone
Supporting overall skin health and resilience
Most people feel relaxed during an LED session. You're lying under a warm, glowing panel for about 20 minutes while your skin soaks in the light. No downtime, no discomfort-just a gentle, restorative treatment that works beneath the surface.
Body Brushing: Detox Through Movement
Body brushing works in a completely different way, but with a similar goal. By gently brushing the skin in upward strokes using a natural bristle brush, you stimulate the lymphatic system-the network of vessels and nodes responsible for removing toxins, waste, and excess fluid from the body.
Unlike your circulatory system, which has the heart to pump blood, your lymphatic system relies on movement to keep things flowing. When the lymphatic system moves properly, swelling decreases, skin looks brighter, puffiness fades, and the body detoxes more efficiently.
What body brushing is best for:
Reducing puffiness and water retention
Improving circulation and skin tone
Supporting natural detoxification
Smoothing rough, bumpy skin texture (like keratosis pilaris)
Energizing the body and mind
Prepping skin to better absorb serums and lotions
Body brushing also provides gentle exfoliation, sloughing off dead skin cells and leaving your skin soft and smooth. It's invigorating in a way that feels grounding, because you're physically doing something for your body, and you can feel the difference immediately.
The best time to dry brush is right before a shower. Start at your feet and brush upward toward your heart using long, sweeping strokes. Focus on areas that tend to hold fluid; ankles, thighs, stomach, arms. The pressure should be firm but not painful. After brushing, shower and follow up with a nourishing body oil or lotion to lock in hydration.
One Works Through Light, the Other Through Movement
LED light therapy works through light and energy, sending healing signals deep into your cells.
Body brushing works through movement and circulation, waking up your lymphatic system and helping your body clear what it doesn't need.
Both help your skin breathe better. Both support healing. And neither one requires harsh chemicals or invasive procedures.
Why We Love Pairing These Two
At The One Beauty Bar, we love pairing LED light therapy and body brushing because they support both sides of skin health, the cellular side and the detox side.
LED therapy is soothing and reparative. It's perfect after a long week, after a more intense treatment like microneedling, or when your skin just needs some extra support.
Body brushing is invigorating and grounding. It's ideal when you're feeling sluggish, bloated, or disconnected from your body. It's also a beautiful ritual you can bring home and do for yourself.
Together, they create a deeper, more balanced kind of glow-one that comes from the inside out and the outside in.
How to Use Them in Your Routine
You don't have to choose one or the other. In fact, they work beautifully together when used strategically.
For a full reset: Start with body brushing at home in the morning to wake up your lymphatic system and boost circulation. Then, later in the week, come in for an LED light therapy session to calm inflammation and support cellular repair. This combo is especially helpful if you're dealing with puffiness, dull skin, or sluggish energy.
After other treatments: If you've had microneedling, a chemical peel, or any treatment that causes mild inflammation, LED light therapy can speed up healing and reduce redness. Hold off on body brushing until your skin has fully recovered, then reintroduce it to keep circulation strong.
As regular maintenance: LED therapy once or twice a week keeps your skin calm and supported. Body brushing 3-4 times a week keeps your lymphatic system moving and your skin glowing.
At-Home vs. In-Office
Body brushing is something you can easily do at home with a quality natural-bristle brush. It only takes five minutes and costs next to nothing once you have the brush.
LED light therapy works best in a professional setting. At home LED devices are available but they lack the intensity and full range of wavelengths used in our professional panels at The One Beauty Bar. For real results especially if you are dealing with acne aging or inflammation professional LED treatments make a noticeable difference.
Your Skin Deserves Both Kinds of Care
Your skin is an organ. It detoxes, it repairs, it protects you every single day. Giving it support from multiple angles—through light, through movement, through circulation—helps it do its job better.
LED light therapy and body brushing might seem worlds apart, but they're both rooted in the same idea: your body knows how to heal itself. Sometimes it just needs a little encouragement.
Want to experience LED light therapy for yourself?
Come see us at The One Beauty Bar in San Antonio.
We'll create a treatment plan that fits your skin, your goals, and your lifestyle-whether that's LED alone, paired with other treatments, or part of a larger wellness routine. Your glow is waiting.
