Amazon Red Light Therapy: Just the Good Stuff
Are you tired of experiencing that agonizing, burning sensation in your muscles a few days after an intense workout? If you’re anything like me, you get rid of pain when you can. I use red light therapy after working out to reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Get a red light therapy panel if you’re ready to eliminate muscle soreness and recharge your workouts. A red light therapy wrap also helps with pain, but it takes longer to feel results than a panel.
What are the Best Red Light Therapy Devices on Amazon?
These are the best red light therapy products on Amazon.
1. Best Red Light Therapy Panel on Amazon
Hooga HG1500
Overview
The HG1500 is a full-body, medical-grade red and near-infrared light therapy device that offers high-powered, effective light therapy in the comfort of your own home. It is part of a family of panels that includes the 300, 500, and 1500 models.
I’ve talked to several people who picked up Hooga lights from Amazon, and everyone was more than happy with their device. The HG1500 is 36 inches tall, meaning you can cover the whole front or back of your body in just a few minutes. You should expect faster exercise recovery, reduced delayed onset muscle soreness, better skin, and pain relief. The HG1500 is modular, meaning you can daisy chain with more Hooga lights to make a therapy array. It comes with a stand that holds it in place on the floor. You can also purchase an optional mobile stand to hang the light over a mat or bed while lying underneath.
If you have read my blogs, you might know that solar meters overstate red light therapy power. Everyone uses them to compare relative strength from the claims, but you can’t figure your dose with these values. Hooga says that this light outputs 189 mW/cm^2 when you are standing 6 inches away. Given how solar meters work, assume a 90 mW/cm^2 value. You do NOT want a device that outputs 189 mW/cm^2 at 6 inches.
That much power will cause your skin to heat, which is damaging. Fortunately, you’re reading this article, so you know that, in all likelihood, the real irradiance is about 90 at 6 inches. I won’t bore you with the math, but I will tell you just that this means that every minute you are in front of your Hooga (6 inches away), you are getting 5.4 joules of light. For exercise recovery and pain relief, you want between 20 and 60 joules (you’ll have to play with the therapy to find the minimal amount of time that creates maximum benefit; for many people, that’s 20 joules).
That means you want to spend just four minutes in front of this light to get your 20 joules of photon energy.
Key Benefits
- A large panel of lights gives you a complete body treatment in one session
- It has the correct red and infrared wavelengths for pain relief, inflammation reduction, and reducing delayed onset muscle soreness.
- It’s also perfect for wrinkle reduction (wrinkles, lines, and age spots)
- Fast four-minute treatment time
- Allows you to turn off the red light to get a comfortable infrared-only session (more accessible on the eyes, will enable you to read while bathing in light)
How to Use the HG1500
- Use at any time of day (but use in the morning if you have insomnia to avoid the light bothering your circadian rhythm)
- Use before adding lotions and makeup
- Position the light 6 inches from you
- Use for 4 minutes as often as 1x per day, which is a 20-joule dose
- Use up to 12 minutes for a maximum 60 joules dose
Overview
If you’ve read my site, you might know that I am a massive fan of the Nushape Therapy Wrap, but I think I finally found a much less expensive fat loss and pain therapy wrap in this Comfytemp belt. The Comfytemp red light therapy belt is as luxurious and feature-rich as the Nushape but costs 88% less!
I compared the Nushape’s $499 Therapy Belt to the Comfytemp at $57 and could not believe it, but it was right before me. Both have luxurious, high-quality material on the outside and a huge array of pain-killing LEDs inside.
The Therapy Wrap does have more lights (600 to Comfytemp’s 378).
Comfytemp uses 630 nm, 660 nm, and 850 nm wavelengths, which makes it a fat reduction and pain relief wrap. Therapy Wrap has 660 nm red and 850 nm infrared wavelengths, precisely what you want for pain and inflammation reduction.
(The Nushape Lipo Wrap for fat loss has the same wavelengths as the Comfytemp. Both are good for fat loss and pain relief.)
Comfytemp allows you to run the red and infrared separately, which you want to do if you have a pigment reaction to infrared light.
This is when a small area darkens under infrared light. It’s rare, but it does happen, so it helps to be able to turn the infrared off. You cannot turn off the infrared on the Therapy Wrap. Comfytemp has a pulsed mode of 10 Hz, which Therapy Wrap does not have. The 10 Hz means the lights pulse on and off ten times per second. I know many practitioners who believe this makes red light therapy work better.
Science hasn’t partially proven this, and we need more studies. Neither wrap comes standard with a USB battery. You can buy one from the vendors or use a spare battery. The Comfytemp has a 22 x 5 in. treatment area, while the Therapy Wrap’s is 20 x 5. Point to Comfytemp.
Key Benefits
You should know that red light therapy wraps are not heating pads! The therapeutic results come from the light, not from the heat. You are not buying a heating pad but a light therapy pad.
Here’s what you should know about this device:
- It is unbelievably cheap, especially considering it stands up to the Nushape Therapy Wrap, the highest-quality wrap I’ve ever used
- 20 x 5 in. treatment area gets your whole back or other treatment areas at once, saving time on multiple sessions
- You can switch between red and near-infrared light to customize treatments according to individual needs.
- 60-day return period.
- The wrap does not include a battery, so it’s not portable. You can get any USB cell phone with a portable battery to power it. 20-minute treatment time, which is standard but not as fast as a high-power panel
- Expect pain relief from day 1 to a few weeks out. For some people, it can take as long as a few weeks.
- Expect fat loss right away. You must follow the protocol to expect results (fast 4 hours prior, and use a vibration plate for 10 minutes after)
How to Use the Comfytemp
- Use any time of the day
- Wrap the Comfytemp around your back, tummy, leg, knee, or arm (anywhere!)
- Use for 20 minutes as often as 1x per day
3. Best Aging/Acne/Eczema Red Light Therapy on Amazon
Hydraskincare PDT (Best Skincare)
Overview
The Hydraskincare PDT is a spa-quality skincare red light therapy device. Its heavy base allows you to balance the light over your face, back, leg, or abdomen. Its wavelengths are designed to tackle acne, wrinkles, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
Hydraskincare also sells Photons, a bendable face device meant for home use. The PDT is more flexible and has a more extensive treatment area.
Key Benefits
- The treatment area
- The wavelengths
- Use this for
- material
More Amazon Red Light Therapy I Love
Best Consumer-Level for Pain: Photizo Pain Relief
Best Medical-Level for Pain: Terraquant TQ Solo
Laser Power Meter (up to 40 mW): Sper Scientific 840011