What Is RED/NIR Light Therapy?

• Promotes wound healing and tissue repair

• Improves hair growth in people with androgenic alopecia

• Help for the short-term treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

• Stimulates healing of slow-healing wounds, like diabetic foot ulcers

• Reduces psoriasis lesions

• Rebuild your collagen levels and amplify skin regeneration: which means reduced fine lines, wrinkles and age spots

• Relieves aches and pain from arthritis, improves joint health and strengthens bones

• Helps retain muscle mass and speed injury recovery

• Reduces inflammation and pain

• Repairs Sun Damage and diminishes scarring​

• Increases cell energy production

• Anti-aging effects on skin

• Increases antioxidant defenses

• Increases brain health and performance

• Boosts fat loss

• Supports muscle strength/growth

• Improves hormonal health

• Boosts immune function and builds resiliency ​

• Treats skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis

• Stimulates healing for slow healing wounds

• Regulates your sleep and wake cycles, aides in insomnia

• Reduces symptoms from chemotherapy

• Reduces symptoms from depression, anxiety, S.A.D. and PTSD

• More energy, clearer more focused mind, less brain fog​​

• Aids with short-term relief of pain and morning stiffness in people with rheumatoid arthritis

• Reduces some of the side effects of cancer treatments, including oral mucositisTrusted Source

• Improves skin complexion and builds collagen to diminish wrinkles

• Helps to repair sun damage

• Prevents recurring cold sores from herpes simplex virus infections

• Improves the health of joints in people with degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee

• Helps diminish scars

• Relieves pain and inflammation in people with pain in the Achilles tendons

The Quality of the Light is Essential!

With so many Red Light devices hitting the market now it makes it even more difficult to decide what you want and need. Not all lights are created equal and there are more false claims and misrepresented goods out there to sift through. For the light itself to be effective it needs the correct wavelength( as mentioned above) of both Red and Near Infrared, and enough irradiance or power density to push the light photons into the skin. The gold standard of irradiance for a quality light device is at least 100mw/cm2 at at a a fixed distance to which the light is to be used by a person. A light intensity weaker than that will require longer treatment times, especially if the beam angle of the LED is wider than 30 degrees. it may not be able to even reach the penetration depth to be effective at all.

ORB Red Lights are some of the most powerful lights on the market!

4 main things to check for when comparing lights:
1) The power density at a determined distance
2) The wavelengths
3) The beam angle of the LEDs
4) Value = Joules per dollar invested in the light (see next section on Dose)
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We mentioned power density and wavelength, so let’s touch base on beam angles.
LEDs come with different angles of how the light is emitted and will 30 degree beam angles are considered stronger as they are more like lasers and keep intensity at greater distances away. Wider beam angles are commonly used but the more the light spreads the more it will diminish by the time it reaches the target area, if at all. Regardless of the beam that is used, you need this information to determine how to best use your light. ORB Light Panels have a 30 degree beam angle and have a recommended distance of 8-10 inches away, while the ORB Facial Light has 120 degree beam angle because its designed to be on the skin or up to an inch away.
Here is a great blog post by GembaRed that explains the significance of the beam angles very well.

What is The Dose?

The dose of light is measured in Joules/cm2, which is the amount of energy delivered to an area for a specific amount of time.
DOSE (joules/cm2) = Power Density(mw/cm2) X Time(seconds)
example: 100mw/cm2 for 1 minute = 6 joules.

Dose is simply telling you how long that power density was applied for. Higher light intensity means less application time is required.
To put this in perspective— the ORB LIGHT 1500 is 140 mw/cm2 at 8 inches away and covers a surface area of 33 x 16 inches(1341 square centimeters).
Let’s say you use it for 10 minutes.
140 x .06= 8.4 joules/cm2 per minute x 10 minutes = 84 Joules/cm2 is the dose of Joules received in 10 min. Now to figure the value of the light, multiply the 84 x 1341 = 112,644 joules to the treatment area per 10 minutes for a total amount of joules the light produces in that treatment time. The light costs $1200, that is 94 joules per dollar invested in the light.

That does not really answer the question of, How much light do I need? What is the dose of the light for xxx condition? Out of the 50,000 articles out there, not one can tell you the exact dose that is optimal for any given condition. Too little won’t produce an affect and too much won’t yield better results either.

For general use and maintenance, between 10J/cm² and 100J/cm² may be appropriate.

 *We do know that the deeper you want to penetrate an area, the longer time is needed. The more superficial an area you are treating, the shorter the treatment time should be. For example: You may use the Orb Facial Light for 10-12 minutes on Red/NIR for anti-aging, use the Blue/NIR for 6-10 minutes for cystic acne or psoriasis, and a full 20 minutes of Red/NIR on the knee for arthritis.