LED Light therapy: what is best, 10, 20 or 30 minute treatment?
Red light therapy benefits: it all hinges on light strength
High-power LED therapy
Medium-power LED therapy
Low-power 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
Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts
Advanced, infrared / blue / red light therapy treatments in London at LipoTherapeia
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Red light therapy benefits: it all hinges on light strength
Red and infrared LED light therapy (What does red light therapy do?) is highly effective and extremely safe for both cosmetic purposes and health conditions (back pain, musculoskeletal injuries, seasonal affective disorder, etc.).
High-power LED therapy
With a high-power LED unit, 10 minutes may suffice, though 20 minutes (and occasionally 30 minutes) would be preferable.
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 20 minutes at 60-120mW/cm² on the face (less for surface-level work, more for deeper effects), though this naturally adjusts to each unique case. For the body, we typically operate at 160mW/cm², occasionally reaching up to 200mW/cm².
Medium-power LED therapy
With a medium-power LED device, 20-30 minutes are more logical, sometimes applied twice daily, to achieve solid outcomes.
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.
Blue light LED therapy, in particular, should follow precisely tailored protocols and avoid excess 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 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 to 20 minutes at 100mW/cm². It simply doesn’t function like that.
Nor can we expect 10mW/cm² for 200 minutes to match 20 minutes at 100mW/cm². That doesn’t work 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, balance - and proper training - are 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 skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the 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.
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, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
And 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.
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Do you want to deeply understand radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, LED phototherapy, cellulite and skin tightening?
Attend a half-day, 1-day, 2-day or 3-day one-to-one masterclass and confidently offer your clients the safest, strongest and most effective treatment possible.
Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.
Learn more or check prices and book training at our London clinic or via Zoom.
