Our Red Lights vs. Other Types of Light Therapy

Every visible and invisible wavelength of light has different effects on the body. Depending on your treatment goals, you may be tempted to use a combination of light therapies. But you do not need to do that, and here is why. Red and near-infrared wavelengths are more easily absorbed by the parts of cells that respond to light energy, especially deeper in the body. Longer wavelengths are important. If light can’t absorb into the tissue to reach the cells, it won’t have any benefits.

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Ultraviolet (UV) Light Therapy 

UV light is seen as “bad” wavelengths that are a leading cause of skin aging and contributor to skin cancer.

• When applied by a medical professional, UV rays can be useful for treating a variety of chronic skin conditions. But …

• Along with being much safer than UV wavelengths, red and NIR light have successfully reduced flare-ups of psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea.

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Blue Light Therapy

Blue light is commonly used to kill acne-causing bacteria.

A popular approach among acne sufferers is to use blue and red light together to support collagen production and reduce inflammation.

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Green and Yellow Light Therapy

Green and yellow (amber) light is often used to tone down redness in the skin and reduce skin roughness. This is another use for low-level light therapy (using these two wavelengths).

• While green and amber light can have some effect, the benefits are unfortunately limited because of their short wavelengths, with a very shallow absorption depth. 

• Red light absorbs deeper than green and yellow light because its wavelengths are much longer; thus, it can stimulate chromophores, which are light-absorbing molecules within cells. 

Because of red light’s cell-stimulating and anti-inflammatory effects, it can help reduce redness. NIR light absorbs into the layers beneath the skin where it can address the inflammation that could be contributing to facial redness.

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Red and Near-Infrared Light Therapy

The term “red light therapy” can mean using red wavelengths from 620 to 660 nm or NIR wavelengths from 810 to 850 nm, or both.

• Red wavelengths absorb into the outer layers of the skin, while NIR wavelengths can penetrate deeper into the body, including joints and bones. 

• “Infrared light therapy” typically refers to near-infrared wavelengths in the low 800 nm range.

• Longer infrared wavelengths, such as those found in infrared saunas, should be used with caution, since overuse can potentially cause thermal damage to sensitive cells in the eye and testicles. Shorter NIR wavelengths delivered by a non-thermal LED light do not have a significant heating effect on the cells, which makes near-infrared light treatment much safer.

• Combining a red and near-infrared light treatment can address various skin-deep and deep-tissue relief at different depths.

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Do Red Light Therapy Wraps Really Work?

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Red Light Therapy Wrap Technology

Wraps shine light from extremely short-range, which makes it impossible for them to expose the skin to multi-wavelength treatment, while also creating hotspots that could lead to discomfort.

Red light therapy needs to be exposed to the skin at a distance for the treatment to be most effective.

This allows the space for multiple wavelengths coming from different angles to mix together before they're exposed to the skin.

Wraps are so close that they cannot have crossed wavelength exposure. The super 'close range' doesn't make them more effective. It's more an inherent product flaw than it is a feature.

The fundamental design of wraps prevents them from having enough physical space for the types of bulbs needed to emit intense near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, which absorb deep into the body.

Panels also house bulbs that are far stronger than those found in any lightweight wearable device.

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Proximity to the Device

If you want to increase the irradiance, you can always get closer to an infrared therapy device. But with the powerful light energy delivered by a panel, you can be farther away and still receive more light than you would from most wraps.

And, a panel delivers the third key ingredient: near-infrared light.

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Red Light Wavelengths

The word “wavelength” refers to the length of a beam of light. This varies by color, with near-infrared wavelengths the longest, followed by red. Thus, red light photons absorb “skin-deep,” whereas NIR light absorbs much deeper into tissue, penetrating cartilage and even bone.

Hundreds of studies have shown that the greatest amount of positive biological benefits on the human body are achieved with a combination of red light between 630 and 660 nanometers (nm), and near-infrared light between 810 and 850 nm. In order to keep this short, red light wraps of any kind simply do not compare to the leading edge PlatinumLED Biomax Panels and wraps do not provide the added benefits of NIR that penetrates 2" below the surface of your skin. See the bottom graph showing the Red Light wavelength spectrum our PlatinumLED Biomax Red Light Panels use.

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Red Light Therapy Beds

Red light therapy beds usually use red wavelengths ranging from 630 to 850 nm, indicating a limited wavelength range compared to panels.

Red light therapy panels are considered better than red light therapy beds in terms of wavelength flexibility because most offer a broader range of wavelengths (660nm Red and 850nm Near Infrared). Our panels are 7 wavelengths. 

The specific range of wavelengths offered by red light therapy panels can vary depending on the manufacturer and model. So, there are lots of options out there to suit everyone’s needs. Common wavelengths used in red light therapy panels include:

• Red Light: Around 630-700 nm

• Near-Infrared Light: Around 700-1100 nm

• A combination of both red lights

These longer wavelengths of near-infrared light can penetrate cells and tissues deeper. This 3x deeper penetration of near-infrared light is one of the reasons it is often used in red light therapy for applications like promoting tissue repair, reducing inflammation, and supporting cellular functions within your body.

For more targeted treatments, panels allow users to personalize and alter the specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light.

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Pulsed Red Light

While using pulsed led light has become something of a trend, don’t fall for this flashy new application method. It was created for the world of laser therapy, and that’s where it should stay. If you’re using an LED panel, continuous, steady usage will yield the best results. Pulsing benefits are said to allow you to use higher power densities, which give higher penetration depths because tissues are less prone to overheat during this process. Almost all of the pulsing studies use lasers, not LEDs and even though it's known that LEDs work very well for red light therapy, some research is necessary to establish that pulsing also has an effect with LEDs instead of just with lasers. If you use pulsing, make sure to use protective eyewear. Pulsing can create fatigue, brain fog, and even epileptic attacks in some people so it's not without risk. Only use pulsing frequencies on your body, and never emit the pulsed light into your eyes.

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Red or Green Laser Treatments

​LED vs Laser in Comparison:

 

Laser typically red or green and called Low-level laser therapy for weight loss and body contouring. 

Characteristics of laser light include:

• Monochromatic: Laser light that consists of a narrow range of wavelengths.

• Coherence: An aspect of laser light that is more focused and allows for penetration capabilities of light.

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Laser diodes emit laser light in a line pattern of about 2" to 3" maximum and spins so it creates a circular pattern as above in green. Notice in the illustration below the placement of lasers and their diodes, you'll see the white strip between the green laser placements. This white area gets missed and there is no coverage of that area. These six middle diodes are fixed and cannot move closer for more complete coverage. The outside pairs on each side can move in or out but even if you try to point them to the middle white area they would be too far away to provide any real effect. Imagine now you still have a separation of coverage on the areas and the space between each laser diode since they spin in a circle, so what happens to that area in between? You end up with uncovered areas of skin that the laser doesn't touch which can leave you with lumps and bulges in those areas. This ends up costing you the client more laser sessions to cover those missed areas and at a laser industry average of $300 per session it ends up costing you more money and more time without the best results and no real assurance that you'll get full coverage of that area. The choice is easy if you go with our Industry Leading Advanced Red Light IR+NIR Panels. Our red lights go deeper (upto 2') into the fatty tissue and muscle areas than lasers can and cover more evenly, in fact our panels cover your entire body at once in one session. Panels are combined to cover 6' tall x 2' wide so your whole body can get the benefit, not just a targeted area.

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Are Lasers More Effective Than LEDs?

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Before our new red Lights, LEDs emitted red light of low intensity and only two wavelengths. With modern innovations PlatinumLEDs are now available in a vastly improved selection of seven wavelengths which includes NIR (Near InfraRed) and penetrate into deep tissue upto 10cm or 2" under the layers of skin. LEDs are considered a non-coherent and divergent light source, meaning the light radiates in all directions which when compared to more coherent focus on laser light, the new generation red light panels provide a more even and larger area of penetration than lasers can provide. Laser diodes are adjustable to focus on a particular area but if you compare the increased depth of the newer multi wave red light coverage to the laser coverage you'll see the lasers are less effective. Don't believe the laser hype about the best systems in the market and how inferior the red lights are to them, the lasers are effective for targeting certain areas but the way they are designed creates too many questions as to how even the coverage is and results are simply not as advertised. The laser advertising is comparing to the older red light 2 wavelength systems or systems that don't have the penetration of the new red light systems.

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