Timing your Red Light Therapy

How to Maximise Your Red Light Therapy Routine

Tired of testing TikTok health hacks? Tuning out of influencers’ extravagant skincare routines? How about trying something a little more tailored to you. 

Our goal is not only to help supply your wellness and recovery routine, but to stay with you as you develop and evolve it. So while you may already know that medical-grade Red Light Therapy has a number of benefits on your skin, energy, muscles, and more, you may not even realise that you can reap different benefits throughout different points in the day. 

Whichever panel you’re using, it’s important to know when to use it to ensure you’re getting the results you want. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY IN THE MORNING: 

Win the morning, win the day, right? So what happens when you add a bit of red light? Exposing yourself to infrared light in the morning can help your body more quickly begin the process of regulating its circadian rhythms, and doing so at a higher level. Getting in this habit first thing in the morning will start reinforcing your body’s natural wake cycle, which means you’ll get a boost in both your energy and your mood.

If you’re (literally) tired of feeling sluggish all day, or struggling to wake up from a night of sleep, your circadian rhythm may be disrupted. And that’s almost impossible to avoid with our modern way of living — using devices before bed, eating late dinners or going to bed stressed can interrupt your sleeping patterns and prevent you from slipping into full recharge mode. 

And as we now know, sleep isn’t just about what you do overnight. Health and wellness experts such as Andrew Huberman have found that what you do when you wake up is almost equally important for resetting your daily rhythm. 

Want to really pack a Red Light Therapy punch? Combine it with time outside! Taking a brisk morning walk after using your red light panel can help optimise the light’s exposure and align your body clock with your town or city’s natural daylight cycles.

And if you feel extra “meh” during winter or extended periods of rain, wake-up Red Light Therapy can also benefit people who struggle with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Sneaking in a session right after you wake up is known to boost serotonin and dopamine levels, which will help sustain your energy throughout the day. 

So if you’re used to falling asleep to blue light — AKA your phone — waking up to red light may help reset your sleeping habits for success. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY IN THE AFTERNOON:

Maybe you’re someone who experiences the lull in energy later in the day. Like so many people, 2 pm can be a critical time for energy to “dip” — whether you’re fatigued from the busyness of the morning, have just eaten a heavy lunch, or coming off a caffeine high from one too many coffees — afternoon drowsiness seems to strike around the same time every day. 

But instead of reaching for a sugary soft drink or yet another cup of coffee, why not try adding a little red light into your arvo routine? This can help give you a natural energy boost sans caffeine, which means it won’t disrupt your sleep later and you can start fresher the next day. 

Red Light Therapy in the afternoon may also be the optimal time to let it “sink in” to your skin. As it’s been shown to increase the production of collagen, users report that red light reduces inflammation and leaves them with a healthier glow and improved skin texture when used over extended periods. Since your skin cells regenerate themselves all day long, they can also benefit from a little afternoon pick-me-up! A bit of late-day red light can complement the natural regeneration cycle. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY IN THE EVENING:

Perhaps one of the best ways to combat bad sleep is using your Red Light Therapy panel before bed. While it may seem counterintuitive, since you’ve just read the ways in which it also helps wake you up, having a session close to bedtime is actually shown to increase melatonin production. Unlike blue light, which is actually shown to suppress melatonin, red light signals the brain to produce more of the sleep hormone. In fact, that’s actually why sunsets are reddish in colour — the red light from the setting sun acts as a signal to your brain to kick off melatonin production closer to sleep, and the lack of blue light at sunset helps stop the suppression of melatonin. Isn’t Mother Nature amazing? 

Melatonin aside, Red Light Therapy at night time can help reduce inflammation before your body goes into recharge mode overnight, potentially helping alleviate chronic pain symptoms. It can also help prepare your nervous system for rest by reducing stress hormones such as cortisol. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY AND FITNESS

Similar to tailoring your Red Light Therapy session to a specific time of day, using Red Light Therapy before a workout will address different needs than a post-workout panel session. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY BEFORE A WORKOUT: 

Using red light before a workout may help reduce fatigue and increase blood flow to your muscles, which is beneficial before you train them. Some studies show that ATP production (the primary “energy currency” of our cells) spikes somewhere between 3-6 hours after a red light session, meaning if you can fit your workout into that window, you may see the strongest results of it in your performance. 

RED LIGHT THERAPY AFTER A WORKOUT: 

As it’s known to reduce inflammation, a red light session after a training session also has benefits. Studies also show it aids in tissue repair, meaning muscles can heal faster.

So really, there’s no ‘wrong’ time to use Red Light Therapy. As with any health and wellness advice or device, it just depends on your individual needs and goals. Whether you’re overcoming an injury, improving your energy levels or trying to up your skincare game (or all of the above!), our Mini or Pro panels may fit perfectly into your daily routine.

• Written by Michele Danno