How Effective is Red Light Therapy?

November 10, 2025 6 min read

How Effective is Red Light Therapy?

Learning about new types of health treatments can be both exciting and overwhelming. Especially with the amount of varying information that can be found online. We often find ourselves turning to Dr Google to answer our questions about making our stubborn symptoms disappear.

Our mission here at Infraredi is to make this a whole lot easier! We believe in educating people on the power of red light and how it can be used to improve our health. How we can all break free from the quick fix western based drugs that contribute to ill-health and ongoing side-effects.

Over the last few posts, we’ve taught you two of the most common questions we get asked on a daily basis… What is Red Light Therapy and What does Red Light Therapy do?

While these are essential questions to ask to understand red light therapy, the million dollar question that everyone wants the answer to is - How effective is Red Light Therapy?

How Effective is Red Light Therapy?

Our customers ask us frequently about how effective this type of treatment is at improving their specific symptoms. From arthritis and joint pain through to acne and skin health, there are many symptoms that can be treated using the power of red and infrared light.

So what proves that something is effective? Science based clinical trials and results! So thats exactly what we'll dive into in this blog. We’re giving you the facts and compiling a list of clinical trials that prove the effectiveness of >Red Light Therapy to give you confirmation of this incredible natural yet powerful treatment.

💆‍♀️ "The treated subjects experienced significantly improved skin complexion and skin feeling profilometrically assessed skin roughness, and ultrasonographically measured collagen density."

How it helps improve your skin health:

In 2014, there was a controlled trial to determine the efficacy of red and near-infrared light treatment in patient satisfaction, reduction of fine lines, wrinkles, skin roughness, and intradermal collagen density increase.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of two novel light sources for large area and full body application, providing polychromatic, non-thermal photobiomodulation (PBM) for improving skin feeling and appearance.

TThe patients treated with red light experienced significantly improved skin complexion and skin feeling and ultrasonographically measured collagen density. The clinical evaluation of photographs confirmed significant improvement in the intervention groups compared with the control.

You can view the clinical study here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24286286

In 2004, a study was conducted to see how effective red light therapy was with reducing scars. During the study, it was discovered that 17 out of the 19 patients who had been under red light therapy had less visible scars than those who weren’t. There were no side effects following treatment

You can view the clinical study here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15145195

In 2016, studies conducted showed that red light quickened the healing process of burns by decreasing inflammation levels and increasing the forming of new tissues. The results suggest that 660 nm and LED 850 nm appear reduced in the inflammatory response and oxidative stress parameters, thus decreasing dermal necrosis and increasing granulation tissue formation, in fact accelerating the repair of burn wounds.

You can view the clinical study here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27206919

🏋️‍♂️ "The combination of exercise and red light therapy was more effective in reducing fat mass whilst increasing muscle mass."

How it helps aid in fat loss:

In 2015 a group of Brazilian researchers conducted an clinical trial on 64 obese women within the ages of 20-40. The participants were divided into one exercise-only group and the other group used red light therapy treatments alongside their exercise program. The outcome of the study showed that the combination of exercise and red light therapy was more effective in reducing fat mass whilst increasing muscle mass.

The researchers said:

“Our results demonstrated for the first time that light therapy enhances the physical exercise effects in obese women undergoing weight loss treatment promoting significant changes in inflexibility metabolic profile.”

The exact same study was trialled again in 2018, this time with younger obese women. Results from the research showed the women who combined red light therapy with exercise witnessed reductions in insulin and fat mass than those that only exercised.

The researchers of this study made the following submissions:

“It was demonstrated that exercise training associated with light therapy promotes an improvement in body composition and inflammatory processes. The light therapy group especially presented positive modifications of WNT5 signaling, FGF-21, and ANP, possible biomarkers associated with browning adiposity processes. This suggests light therapy is applicable in clinical practice to control obesity.”

You can view the clinical studies here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29473115 & https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26220050

💪🏼 "Patients with rheumatoid arthritis were found to have a 70% decrease in pain when red light therapy was applied compared to the instances where placebo therapy was used."

How it helps reduce joint pain & inflammation:

A 2018 study demonstrates that red light therapy targets cellular function with respect to the joints. Hence, it focuses on the root cause of arthritis.

Brazilian researchers in the field of photomedicine published a study which indicated that cytokine levels were reduced and immune function boosted on the application of red light therapy. They inferred that light therapy alters the pathway for inflammation caused by arthritis, and increases the rate at which inflammation is resolved via immune cells photobiostimulation.

You can view the clinical studies here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30203577

The Journal of Rheumatology published a meta-analysis where they examined 13 different studies carried out prior to the year 2000. These studies have important findings associated with the effectiveness of red light therapy in treating arthritis.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis were found to have a 70% decrease in pain when red light therapy was applied compared to the instances where placebo therapy was used.

Researchers concluded that "LLLT should be considered for short term relief of pain and morning stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis"

You can view the clinical studies here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10955339

Over 4,000 clinical studies to date:

Apart from these amazing health benefits, there has been over 4,000 clinical studies to date trialling how this therapy can improve a variety of health symptoms & diseases. If you have a certain type of symptom and you'd like to see whether red light therapy will help to improve this for you, I highly recommend searching the database and reviewing the studies that have been completed to date.

You can visit the database here: www.bitly.com/PBM-database

Using the power of this therapy in your home

After reading through these amazing health benefits, i'm sure you're starting to see just how effective red light therapy really is!

There has never been a better time to invest in your own device and start benefiting from everything this therapy has to offer. Here at Infraredi, we provide high quality devices that are just as powerful as clinical grade devices. This means you can get all the benefits without having to pay per session at a health studio or clinic.

To learn more about our devices, head over to our Shop and checkout the range of affordable devices on offer. Of course, if you have any questions or concerns you can chat to us via Live Chat or email us and we will reply within a few hours.