“I have extensively studied red (and infrared) light therapy in the last two years and have provided hundreds of treatments. There are different recommendations regarding treatment duration, both online and taught at schools, but the truth is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ rule. Treatment duration depends on treated tissue depth, wavelength, light power density, treatment frequency and desirable therapeutic outcomes. Here is a concise guide below.”
Red light therapy: is a 10-minute treatment enough?
Red light therapy benefits: it all depends on light strength
High-power red/infrared LED therapy
Medium-power infrared/red LED therapy
Low-power red/infrared LED therapy
Wavelength matters too
Treatment depth is a factor as well
There’s reciprocity between treatment time and light strength, but extremes will not work
Excessive intensity treatment is counterproductive
Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia
Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment with London’s cellulite experts
Red light therapy benefits: it all depends on light strength
Red and infrared LED light therapy (What does red light therapy do?) is effective and safe for both cosmetic purposes and health conditions (back pain, musculoskeletal injuries, seasonal affective disorder, wound healing, burn healing etc.).
High-power LED therapy
With a high-power LED unit, 10 minutes will suffice, though 20 minutes would suit specific applications.
A high-power device is one delivering approximately 60-200mW/cm².
Anything exceeding 200mW/cm² for the body or 120mW/cm² for the face is unwise unless conducted in a professional environment with meticulously crafted protocols and for a briefer duration.
At the clinic, we generally use 10-20 minutes at 60-120mW/cm² on the face (less for surface-level work, more for deeper work), though this naturally is adjusted for each unique case. For the body, we typically operate at 160mW/cm², again for 10-20 minutes.
Medium-power LED therapy
With a medium-power LED device, 20 minutes are more logical, with 30 minutes being an option, especially for deeper tissues.
A medium-power LED is one offering around 30mW/cm².
Low-power LED therapy
With lower-power LED devices (e.g., 10mW/cm²), 30-minute sessions twice a day might be required and could still fall short of delivering a strong result.
Regardless, even 10 minutes of low-intensity LED treatment is better than none at all.
Yet, for optimal and/or swift results, relatively greater light strengths are essential.
Wavelength matters too
Low-wavelength treatment mustn’t be overly strong, as it could aggravate the very delicate epidermal layer.
As near-infrared light reaches deeper, it can afford to be slightly stronger, being absorbed by the thicker dermal and hypodermal layers, as opposed to being absorbed by epidermis.
Blue light LED therapy, in particular, should follow precisely tailored protocols and avoid excesses in terms of total energy delivered.
I’m not addressing yellow or green light therapy here, as there’s scant research on their efficacy, unlike the wealth of studies on blue, red, and near-infrared light therapy.
Treatment depth is a factor as well
Treatment duration also depends on whether the aim is superficial (less time required, sometimes very brief, e.g., for skin burns) or deep (far longer sessions may be necessary, e.g., for deep musculoskeletal issues).
There’s reciprocity between treatment time and light strength, but extremes will not work
Lastly, both time and intensity must stay within specific boundaries:
For instance, we can’t apply 4 minutes of 500mW/cm² treatment to equate it to 20 minutes at 100mW/cm². It simply doesn’t work like that.
Nor can we expect 10mW/cm² for 200 minutes to match 20 minutes at 100mW/cm². It doesn’t work like that either.
Excessive intensity treatment is counterproductive
In all scenarios, if too much energy is applied - whether from excessive power, overly long sessions, or both - it’s counterproductive, as LED treatment efficacy drops and, in extreme cases, may even become unsafe.
Naturally, if too little energy is used, little to nothing occurs.
Thus, a balance approach based on proper training is vital for effective and safe treatment.
Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia
At LipoTherapeia we are passionate about phototherapy (also known as photobiomodulation/PBM, red light therapy, infrared light therapy, blue light therapy, LED light therapy etc) and we use the most powerful equipment available today (up to 200mW/cm2), for best results and treatment of large body areas.
We use specialised therapy protocols for skin rejuvenation / anti-ageing, pigmentation / post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), moderate/severe acne, skin redness, sensitive/inflamed/irritated skin, wound healing, sports injuries / musculoskeletal pain and overall wellness / well-being.
Our LED phototherapy sessions are comfortable, deeply relaxing and super-safe and are great to enhance our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments for skin tightening / cellulite reduction.
On our booking page you can book stand-alone phototherapy sessions or combine them with our other treatments, as an add-on.
Learn more or check prices and book an expert LED phototherapy treatment at our London clinic.
Have a treatment in London with the cellulite experts
At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.
This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.
As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.
And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.
Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
Our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.
We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.