Jul. 28, 2025
By Teresa Carr
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Using a wand or scary-looking mask to bathe your face in red light is all the rage for helping to make skin look and feel better. But another use for red light therapy is also gaining traction: treating pain.
The therapy involves using devices with laser lights or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to deliver specific wavelengths of light that penetrate the skin surface into deeper tissues to affect cellular function—a process known as photobiomodulation. While scientists aren’t sure exactly how light relieves pain, research suggests that it may stimulate cell regeneration, reduce pain signals, and calm inflammation.
Devices for home use ranging from wraps to wands—some of them costing thousands of dollars—claim to alleviate pain for everything from an arthritic knee to an aching back. But there’s reason to be dubious.
Physician and researcher Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, who directs the Chronic Pain Management Clinic at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in Tucson, Arizona, has researched different forms of light therapy for pain. As a scientist, he maintains some skepticism. “Researchers still do not have a full understanding of the biological mechanisms for how red light therapy works,” he said. “Or even who is a good candidate.”
But as a clinician, Ibrahim acknowledges that people in pain often have limited options. “Here is a therapy that is low risk, relatively affordable, and has the potential to work,” he said. When patients ask about red light therapy, he encourages them to give it a go.
Unfortunately, like all the pain experts I consulted, Ibrahim wasn’t able to recommend specific devices for home use. There are no evidence-based guidelines for what type of device and settings may work best against different forms of pain, he pointed out. And neither the US Food and Drug Administration nor any independent testing organization has reviewed red light therapy devices to ensure that they’re effective at relieving pain.
That leaves us without solid grounds for judging the best red light devices. So instead, we’ll give you the lowdown on the evidence and what medical experts say. And if you’re still interested in trying a red light device, we’ll provide some general advice on what to look for—and what to avoid.
Despite thousands of studies, research still lacks definitive answers on whether red light therapy alleviates pain. Some studies show a benefit; others do not.
To truly show that red light therapy works, we would need evidence from large clinical trials comparing the treatment with a placebo (a fake device, for example), said Dr. Praveen Arany, an associate professor of oral biology at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine and former president of the World Association for Photobiomodulation Therapy (WALT), a nonprofit organization supporting research, education, and clinical applications for light therapy.
Unfortunately, Arany said, researchers haven’t yet found funding for those expensive large-scale studies.
One major problem with the research available, said Ibrahim, is that the study methods vary widely—for example, by the wavelength and intensity of the light, whether it’s pulsed or steady, and how long it’s applied. Another issue is that many studies use professional devices with laser lights rather than LEDs, which give off less focused light and are the mainstay of home products because they are safer and often cheaper than lasers.
Timothy Demchak, a professor in the department of applied medicine and rehabilitation at Indiana State University, is convinced that red light therapy is a safe, effective way to alleviate pain. He said that many of his physical therapy patients have benefited from treatment with the laser devices that he uses in his practice.
In a review of red light research published in the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Demchak and colleagues reported evidence to suggest that therapy using LEDs or lasers helped against some types of muscle and joint pain, such as neck pain, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia.
But the group didn’t find strong evidence that red light therapy worked against some other common aches, such as lower back pain. The field desperately needs more rigorous research, Demchak said. Many of the existing studies are lower quality—they may involve too few patients, for example, or lack a comparison group that didn’t receive the red light treatment.
Nonetheless, under the right circumstances, he contends that red light therapy can be “very, very effective.” It comes down to figuring out the optimum treatment protocol for each type of pain, he said.
Those protocols don’t yet exist. WALT has developed guidelines for using red light to prevent oral mucositis (mouth ulcers that can be a side effect of cancer treatment). But the organization has had a harder time reaching a consensus for how to treat common afflictions such as back and neck pain, said Arany.
While different researchers may claim that specific devices and settings are effective, he said, as of yet they haven’t been able to provide a satisfying scientific explanation for how and why the device may work in those conditions. Without that information, he says, it’s hard to generalize results to all types of products and patients.
“There are so many devices,” said Arany. “People are just not agreeing on universal guidelines.”
Due to the lack of consistent evidence supporting red light therapy, as well as the tremendous variation in how it’s implemented, most health insurers don’t cover treatments performed in a doctor’s office. And major medical organizations haven’t issued guidelines for using red light therapy to treat pain.
Although some providers such as Demchak use red light therapy in their practices, the American Physical Therapy Association doesn’t recognize it as an effective form of therapy. And a spokesperson for the Arthritis Foundation told me that they “were unaware of any clinicians or researchers the Arthritis Foundation works with who give red light therapy much regard.”
If you’re in pain, check with your doctor before trying to treat yourself at home. “Pain is a warning sign,” said pain expert Mohab Ibrahim. “There might be something benign or it might be something serious that needs to be addressed.”
Even if the source of your pain has been diagnosed, you should still check with your doctor before trying red light therapy. In particular, Ibrahim cautions against using red light on areas where there is a wound, rash, or other skin condition without first getting your doctor’s okay.
If, after all those caveats, you are still interested in trying out a red light device at home, the experts we consulted offered some general advice. We link to top-selling devices on Amazon as examples of the different styles and configurations we mention, but we have not tested any of these devices and are not recommending them.
With red light therapy, more isn’t better, so never exceed the manufacturer’s instructions for how long or how often to use the device, advises Arany. The treatment isn’t supposed to heat the tissues, so if the area you’re treating starts to feel warm, stop immediately, he said.
Many devices come with safety goggles or dark glasses. Although the intensity and wavelength of light used in home devices is likely not harmful to the eyes, Demchak advises using eye protection out of an abundance of caution, especially if you’re using the device near your eyes.
This article was edited by Claire Perlman and Kalee Thompson.
Teresa Carr
What I CoverTeresa Carr is an award-winning science journalist based in Golden, Colorado. She is a contributing editor at Undark magazine and a former senior editor at Consumer Reports. With degrees in both physics and English literature, Teresa is curious about how the world works and eager to tell you about it.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe history of red light therapy can be traced back to the early 20th century, when the Danish physician Niels Finsen developed a method to treat skin tuberculosis using concentrated light radiation.
Today, red light therapy is recognized as a promising and versatile therapeutic approach with numerous potential health benefits, and there’s a growing body of evidence supporting its efficacy and safety across various medical disciplines.
Unfortunately, as a result of this growing popularity, the market has become flooded with medicore (or downright useless) red light devices. My goal with this article is to give you the necessary information to choose a high-quality red light device that has the ability to deliver the specific health benefit you’re after.
In general, you should look for a red light device that emits light in the proper wavelengths, strength and dosage.
For example, if you’re trying to treat issues associated with your joints or deep muscle tissue, you need a red light device with high-emissivity lasers or LEDs that emit a fairly narrow light cone to ensure deep tissue penetration. On the other hand, if you’re trying to treat skin issues, a high-quality red light panel or a skincare wand might be your best bet.
I’ve been using a wide variety of red light devices over the past few years to treat stubborn joint injuries, speed up muscle recovery after intense workouts, positively influence my circadian rhythm, and improve my skin health. As a result, much of what I share in this article is based on both scientific evidence as well as several years of hands-on experience.
When assessing the factors associated with choosing a red light device, I encourage you to ask yourself the following questions:
Based on my hands-on experience with a variety of red light devices, including those my wife and I use regularly, here are the top factors you should take into account before pulling the trigger.
Most of the red light devices I own actually use a combination of red light and near-infrared light for optimal performance.
That’s because each wavelength transports a certain amount of energy into the target tissue at varying depths. For example, red light has a shorter wavelength than near-infrared light, thus transporting more energy but offering less penetration. Combining red and near-infrared light ensures that the cells at various tissue depths receive enough energy from photons to cause downstream effects, such as improved mitochondria function and increased blood flow.
The notable exception is skincare devices (i.e., those aimed at reducing fine lines and wrinkles), which often only emit red light. For example, my wife has been using Solawave, a skincare wand that uses red light-emitting LEDs, to improve the appearance of her skin.
But if your goal is to speed up the healing process after an injury, to treat an inflammatory condition such as arthritis, or to support the regrowth of cartilage tissue, you need a device that emits red and near-infrared light in the appropriate wavelengths and the proper intensity.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that most of the red light devices on the market leverage light-emitting diodes (LEDs) because they’re fairly cheap to manufacture and provide enough power (wattage) to be effective. The potential issue with LEDs is that they also emit a fairly wide cone of light, which can reduce their effectiveness when treating tissue several centimeters below the skin (e.g., larger muscle groups or joints).
That’s why many devices used in the medical field, and a few consumer-grade devices (such as the Kineon Move+ Pro), use a combination of lasers and LEDs.
Lasers emit a relatively narrow light cone, which helps with sending light (photons) at the proper dosage deeper into the target tissue. That’s why I exclusively rely on the Move+ Pro for treating exercise-induced injuries that require deep tissue penetration to speed up the healing process.
However, I might use LED-based devices for general wellness applications, including skin care or sleep optimization.
For example, I use a high-quality red light panel from Mito in the morning to support my circadian rhythm and to make my skin more resilient to UV light. In the evening, I might use a red light mask from Sun Home Saunas to support optimal skin health. And when I have a tight lower back from lifting heavy weights or shoveling dirt in the backyard, I might use a red light therapy belt from Mito.
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Each wavelength of both the visible and invisible light spectrum carries a certain amount of energy, which determines how the cells in your body react to it.
As a rule of thumb, shorter wavelengths carry more energy but penetrate tissue less deeply, while longer wavelengths carry less energy but better penetrate tissue at greater depths.
That’s why it’s important to pick a device that emits the proper wavelengths based on the desired health benefits and the type of tissue you’re trying to treat.
For example, using a device that emits only wavelengths in the red light spectrum won’t be effective for treating joints or deep muscle issues because it doesn’t penetrate deep enough.
The other factor to consider is that not all cells in the body have the same photoreceptors. In other words, the cells in your skin may respond differently to certain wavelengths than those in your muscle or joint tissue.
Fortunately, scientists have been experimenting with red and near-infrared light for decades, resulting in a comprehensive database of how specific wavelengths benefit certain use cases.
The only problem is that there doesn’t appear to be a single wavelength that works best for all use cases, which is why most manufacturers of red light devices use LEDs that emit a combination of wavelengths.
For reference, these are the most effective wavelengths for common treatment areas:
I recommend looking for red light devices that emit light in some of the wavelengths listed above.
One of the most important factors that determines the effectiveness of any red light device is how much of the emitted light (in the form of photons) reaches the target tissue.
In the realm of infrared light, the term “emissivity” is often used to describe how effectively the device’s LEDs can emit thermal radiation. In the realm of red light, the term “irradiance” is typically used to describe how much of the emitted energy is received by the surface of the skin.
Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with your red light device (i.e., what tissue you want to treat), your device must feature an appropriate irradiance expressed in milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm²). This is also known as optical power density.
Note that most manufacturers (except infrared sauna brands) only publish irradiance statistics, because that’s what ultimately matters. If you can guarantee that a certain amount of light is hitting the target skin, it doesn’t matter how good the heaters are at emitting light; the latter influences the former, but there is no need to keep track of both since only the end result is important. Hence, you won’t typically see an emissivity figure on a red light device’s documentation.
Here are some examples of effective devices we use at the Kummer household and their optical power density (irradiance) ratings (the links below point to my review of each device):
As you can see, you don’t need high irradiance to improve the health and appearance of your skin. However, the deeper you need the red and infrared light to penetrate your tissue, the more light intensity is required.
Another important factor when talking about light intensity is the difference between pulsed light versus continuous light.
High-end devices, such as the Move+ Pro, use pulsed light to output higher energy levels without causing tissue damage. Devices that leverage continuous light have to operate at lower energy levels. And while that’s fine for treating skin issues, that lower-intensity light isn’t strong enough to penetrate joints or muscle tissue at effective depths.
Conversely, pulsed light devices are also effective for treating skin issues. So, if you have multiple use cases, I recommend getting a pulsed light device, such as the Move+ Pro.
And yes, the number of LEDs a device has plays a role in the total wattage. However, it doesn’t impact the milliwattage per square centimeter, which is the metric that matters most when determining optical power density.
Distance is a crucial factor for determining effective light dosing because it influences how much energy the target tissue receives. For example, a red light device that delivers light in an effective dosage when in close contact with the skin (the target tissue) might be 100% ineffective when held five inches away from the skin.
Because of this, you want to look for red light devices that emit the right wavelengths at the right light intensity to achieve the desired results while making it feasible to maintain a consistent distance between the light source and the target tissue.
That’s why I prefer wearable devices over red light panels when treating injuries or pain. Using a wearable, I can maintain the appropriate distance between the light source and the target tissue (e.g., my lower back).
In fact, red light devices are typically most effective when they’re in direct contact with your skin. For example, placing the Kineon Move+ Pro a few inches away from an injured joint would render the device ineffective.
That’s one of the reasons why it’s difficult to get the dosing right with red light therapy panels, unless you lie down and leverage a horizontal stand to position the panel right above your skin.
Some of the devices listed above — including the Kineon Move+ Pro, the Radiant Face Mask from Sun Home Saunas, and the Solawave — meet all those requirements. In contrast, Mito’s red light panels put the burden of maintaining a consistent distance to its LEDs on you, especially if you want to use the panels for treating tissue below the surface of the skin.
In addition to the effectiveness of a particular device for treating a specific area, you also need to consider the practicality.
For example, you wouldn’t want to use Solawave for whole-body skincare treatments despite the device’s effectiveness in treating skin issues, because each whole-body session would take you several hours. In other words, the surface area emitting the red light is simply too small for treating larger areas.
As a rule of thumb, the larger the treatment area is, the more I lean towards using red light devices with a large emission area. For example, if my whole body aches after an intense workout, I jump into our full-spectrum infrared sauna with red light instead of using wearables.
For back pain, I might use a red light belt or a red light panel (while maintaining a close distance to the light source). If I’m suffering from knee pain or a strained muscle, I use a specialized wearable such as the Kineon Move+ Pro.
Of course, I always aim to use a device that has been proven to be effective for treating a certain area. In other words, I don’t recommend relying on a regular red light panel to treat worn-out cartilage tissue in your knee joints, because the light won’t be able to penetrate your knee capsule. Instead, you have to work with a high-quality wearable with the right dosing protocol for such cases.
Here are some examples of devices I use for a variety of use cases:
As you can see, no device works great for every use case, but some devices can handle multiple treatment areas.
Red light therapy is most effective when leveraged consistently over the course of several weeks or months, depending on the underlying condition you’re treating. That’s why it’s important to choose a device that’s easy to use and that doesn’t get in your way or disrupt your daily routine.
If using a red light device feels inconvenient, you will probably stop using it before you can reap its benefits.
That’s why I prefer devices that I can use passively (like a wearable I can use while working on my computer or watching TV), or which require minimal time investment.
For example, when I get into my office in the morning, I take off my shirt and expose my upper body to red light using a red light panel from Mito without having to stop or disrupt my work.
The same principle applies to the Kineon Move+ Pro that my wife and I use for treating injuries and bee stings (we’re beekeepers and get stung several times a year), and speeding up muscle recovery after intense workouts. Thanks to its flexible straps, we can wear the Move+ Pro while having dinner, watching TV or working on the computer.
Conversely, there are some red light devices on the market that require a more proactive treatment approach. For example, the Solio Alfa+ is incredibly effective for treating muscle pain, but it requires you or someone else to rub the device in circles over the affected area for up to 20 minutes. While that’s not a big deal if you suffer from a severe injury, it’s an inconvenience that might lead some users to abandon the treatment after a couple of days.
The bottom line is that the easier a red light device is to use, the more likely you’ll be to stick with the recommended treatment protocol. That’s especially true for complex injuries that may take several months to treat.
While I recommend spending your money on devices that emit high-quality light in the proper wavelengths and intensity, some offer additional features that are nice to have.
For example, the Kineon Move+ Pro has a travel pouch that doubles as a charging station. In other words, you can charge the individual light modules of the Move+ Pro without having to take the device out of its case.
That’s not only convenient when you take the Move+ Pro on the road with you, but it also reduces countertop clutter when you charge the device at home.
Another example of a nice-to-have feature is the ability of the Sun Home Saunas Radiant Face Mask to emit blue light to treat blemishes and fight against acne-causing bacteria. I’m a proponent of fixing inflammatory skin conditions with the proper dietary changes, but having blue light to support the healing process is a plus.
I recommend spending extra money on additional features only if you think they’ll help you use the red light device more consistently. Otherwise, don’t get too hung up on them.
Before I commit to spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a new gadget, I always research the brand I’ll be buying from. Many manufacturers of red light devices (especially those sold on Amazon) have no expertise with red light therapy. Instead, they simply resell or white-label devices manufactured in China, because they’ve realized how big the red light device market is.
I prefer purchasing from brands that focus on red light therapy and have the necessary expertise and desire to manufacture effective products (that they use themselves).
For example, I know the owners of most of the brands I work with, and I have a reasonable understanding of how they operate. We’re good friends with Forrest Smith, who co-founded Kineon, and I know how much passion and resources go into making the Move+ Pro one of the most effective red light devices on the market.
While you might not be able to befriend the creators of your chosen red light device, I encourage you to investigate their story, reach out to ask questions, and read reviews from other customers.
If I don’t know the brand I’d like to purchase from, I often google for terms like “[brand] scam” to see if there have been any reports of other customers who got scammed or taken advantage of.
Unfortunately, the market is flooded with ineffective red light devices. Here are some of the red flags you should look out for before pulling the trigger:
Additionally, make sure your device comes with a limited money-back guarantee so you can test its effectiveness. While some treatments may take several weeks or months (longer than the return window most manufacturers offer), you should be able to get a good feel for whether the device is right for you within the first 30 days.
Red light therapy has become a ubiquitous treatment modality for various health concerns ranging from improving mental health, facilitating hair growth, treating joint pain, speeding up recovery after intense workouts and treating cosmetic skin issues. It’s even been shown to positively influence athletic performance.
As a result, the market for red light devices has exploded over the past few years. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many cheap and ineffective devices being promoted online. That’s why it’s important to understand what factors influence the effectiveness of red light devices for various use cases, including dosing, wavelengths and light intensity.
I hope by reading this article, you’ve equipped yourself with the necessary knowledge to make the right purchasing decision. However, if you have any questions about a device you’re interested in or would like to get my take on it, leave me a comment below.
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