RED LIGHT THERAPY - why a mask is not a bed

🔴 Red Light Therapy — The Bit Nobody Explains Properly

Red light therapy is not one thing.

 

People hear “red light” and assume a face mask, a mat, a sauna, and a $3,000 panel are all just different price points of the same thing.

They’re not.

They are doing different jobs in the body.

And if you don’t understand that, you either overspend… or you buy the wrong tool and feel disappointed.

So here’s what actually matters.

🔬 It’s About Wavelength 

When we talk about red light therapy, we’re really talking about specific wavelengths of light interacting with your mitochondria — your cellular batteries.

That part is the same.

What changes? How deep the light penetrates.

🔴 Red Light (630–660nm)

This stays relatively superficial.

It’s brilliant for:

• ✨ Collagen stimulation

• ✨ Skin texture

• ✨ Wound healing

• ✨ Post-procedure recovery

That’s why face masks work.

They’re not nonsense. They’re just skin-focused.

But red light alone doesn’t reach muscle tissue in any meaningful way.

🔴⚫ Near Infrared (810–880nm)

This goes much deeper.

Now you’re influencing:

• 💪 Muscle recovery

• 🦵 Joint irritation

• 🧠 Nervous system regulation

• 😴 Sleep quality

• 🙂 Mood stability

This is where things become systemic.

If your goal is skin? Red light may be perfect.

If your goal is recovery, inflammation reduction, deeper sleep, better resilience? You need near infrared.

🔥 And What About Infrared Saunas?

Different again.

Saunas use heat.

Heat improves circulation and sweating. That’s thermal stress.

Helpful? Yes. The same as mitochondrial signaling from red/NIR light? No.

Sauna = heat adaptation Red/NIR = cellular signaling

Completely different mechanisms.

📏 Coverage Matters More Than You Think

A small mask treats a small area. A mat treats a local region. A panel or bed treats the whole body.

And mitochondria don’t live just in your face.

If you want:

• Better sleep

• Whole-body recovery

• Nervous system calming

• Systemic inflammation reduction

Surface area exposure matters.

This is why Kevin and I ended up with the larger setup.

What started as scar support turned into something much bigger.

Yes, his healing was remarkable.

But what surprised us most?

The sleep. The depth. The calm. The way training stopped feeling like it drained me and started feeling like it rebuilt me.

That’s not magic.

That’s improved cellular energy and lower inflammatory load.

⚠️ Important Reality Check

Red light therapy is a support tool.

It enhances recovery. It regulates the nervous system. It improves resilience.

But it does not replace intelligent training.

If you’re not:

• Stimulating muscle properly

• Eating adequate protein

• Managing recovery between sessions

No amount of light will create the body you want.

💪 And That’s Why Muscle Month Exists

We start March 29.

This is not random workouts. This is structured hypertrophy training for midlife physiology.

Inside Muscle Month we cover:

• How muscle actually builds in midlife

• How to stimulate it properly

• How to protect your joints

• How to recover intelligently

• How to create a body that gets stronger — without the bulk

Red light can support recovery.

Muscle changes your metabolism.

If you want to build the foundation properly:

👉 www.musclemonth.com

Let’s build the body that doesn’t need constant fixing.

Joanne 💪

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Hi.
I am Joanne Lee Cornish body composition coach and slightly obsessed with being an outlier in midlife and beyond.
I offer one-on-one coaching.
I have seven group coaching programs that I run throughout the year, and I also have a 10 month mentorship program.
You can find out all about those and a lot more at my website.

(00:28):
Joanne lee.com.
Okay, let's get on with this podcast.
Hello.
Hello.
Welcome to Midlife Mayhem Today a topic I was actually asked for by a couple of people, and that's probably because I go on about it quite a lot, and that is red light.

(00:51):
Therapy.
My, my training clients often use my red light bed.
I absolutely swear by it.
Kevin uses it even more than me probably.
Yeah, he probably uses it every day.
To be honest.
I probably use it at least four or five times a week.
So what is the deal with red light? How does it work? And why not? All things are the same? It's one of those things that everybody's heard, it's good for you but when you ask why or how, or which device actually makes sense, people can't really explain it.

(01:22):
And lately I've been getting a lot of questions about, is the face mask as good as the bed? What about the maps? What do those power numbers mean? Why is the, a $99 option on Amazon and you are telling me to buy a $3,000 bed? Is what was the other one? Is bed like the same as infrared? Is it like a sauna? So let's just slow the roll and talk about this.

(01:48):
Lemme tell you how first we got into it.
So Kevin had a crazy emergency surgery, and I'm gonna tell you the story about that, we're pretty close by now, right? Kevin had been sick for a while.
I, let me just say, to be kind, misdiagnosed by a doctor.

(02:08):
I use the term doctor loosely.
Anyway turned out he had colon cancer and he was, so we found out and we were waiting to make an appointment for to, we were waiting for an appointment to get to, to talk to the surgeon and then, we would meet with the surgeon and then obviously he would give us a surgery date.

(02:28):
And, Kevin was in a lot of pain.
He was suffering a lot.
So I wake up one morning.
Get this, I wake up.
So this is a guy that really doesn't do much by himself.
I used to go to the dentist with him and we do everything together and we love it.
But I wake up one morning and Kevin's not in bed, and I get up pretty early and I get outta bed and I'm like, and there's a note saying, sorry, there's a text saying going into surgery.

(02:58):
And I'm like.
It's four 30 at four, four o'clock in the morning.
I'm like, where? Put my glasses.
I'm going into surgery.
I look across the bed, he's not there.
I'm like, where? The typical guy doesn't tell me.
Was there an emergency during that or, which hospital would've been quite a nice, little notes to put on that text.
But anyway.

(03:20):
The joke is that I had to cancel some clients that morning, and that is the I think there's only twice I've lived here eight years, I've only ever canceled any on anybody twice.
And that was one of the reasons because I had to go find my husband anyway, turned out he had, he didn't wanna wait.
Kevin's not the most patient guy.

(03:40):
It's no secret.
He looks all cool and chill and everything, but he's not a really patient guy and.
He was thinking, he's in some pain.
He's thinking he's gonna wait for this doctor's appointment, and then the surgeon's then gonna give him a surgery date and you know what, let me just speed this up a little bit.
So he just went straight to emergency.
I think he ate a bunch of food that he knew was gonna make him ill, and then he went to emergency.

(04:02):
So getting back to the story, but because he went to a emergency and didn't wait for the scheduled surgery, they did emergency surgery on him.
And they sliced him right up the middle, just sliced him right up the middle.
I feel like if he'd have waited, they would've probably done, he'd probably had three little scars.
Instead he had a whopping great scar all the way top to bottom.

(04:26):
And did the trek and everything worked out f fine by the way? Completely clear.
They got the whole thing.
No, no further treatment needed nothing.
Totally.
By the grace of God everything he couldn't have had a more perfect result.
Perfect.
Would've been not in the first place.
Everything was absolutely fine, but he was left with a massive scar, right? Massive scar.

(04:47):
Pretty thick.
And I said red light really helps with scars.
I'm thinking, oh, we're getting a little red light panel.
Oh no, not Kevin.
He goes and spends like three grand on this red light bed.
And I'm mad at him.
You just did what you just, you are always all in.
There's no, you can't just get something little, you had to get the big one, blah, blah, blah.
But I was wrong.

(05:07):
And he was right.
And it's been just about the best in invent invention, best investment we've ever made.
And quite frankly, I'd happily pay a double because I we both swear by this now, he has no scar.
From that, but that's originally why we got the the red light bed.

(05:29):
How does you know, so you'll see different types of red light therapy and so let's talk about how it actually works biologically, why the depth really does matter.
And there are different devices that do different things.
So what can you realistically expect? Because red light therapy works.
We use it for a scar, but it's far more than that.

(05:50):
But you know how well it works.
Depends.
Depends entirely on.
Which device you purchased and what you are hoping it does.
So red light therapy falls under something called a photo Bio modulation Photo.

(06:11):
Bio modulation simply means using specific wavelengths of light to influence biological processes.
So this is not a heat, it's not uv, it's not tanning or anything like that.
It's light in a very specific, in very specific wavelength.
Primarily red, which is about 630 to 660 nanometers, and near infrared, which is around 810 to 880 nanometers.

(06:44):
So the near infrared is deeper.
These wavelengths interact with something extremely important, and that is the mitochondria.
Now, don't even get me started on mitochondria.
I feel like I've done about 17 podcasts on it.
Mitochondria the batteries within yourself, they make energy alright? If you can make the mitochondria work better, you're gonna have more energy cellular energy.

(07:10):
So the energy I'm talking about here is a TP that is the energy system of our bodies.
And that a TP is going to, it's gonna dr.
It's gonna, it's the fuel that drives healing.
It's a repair and of course, function of everything you do from your thoughts to blinking to, your heart, your kidneys, the fuel of your existence and your mitochondria makes that.

(07:38):
So near infrared and red light, interact with an enzyme in the mitochondria called cytochrome C oxidase.
So the light interact with an enzyme in the mitochondria.
Now this is.
Described in literature in, in including the, there was a really larger view by researchers like Michael Lin, if you know who he is.

(08:05):
So when these wavelengths hit the cell, excuse me.
They displace nitric oxide.
That's inhibiting respiration.
The electron transport improves.
So the electron transport system is think about you're taking food and you're making energy out of it.
That's the electron that's simplifying the electron transport a TP.

(08:30):
The energy that of our body increases oxidative stress decreases.
I'm not, go back a few podcasts, if you wanna know what oxidative stresses look for the one on cellular health.
And inflammation is reduced.
So nitric oxide is displaced.
Electron transport improves.

(08:51):
So the conversion food to energy and a TP, the energy of our body increases inflammation it's greatly reduced.
So this isn't like theoretical.
These effects have been demonstrated repeatedly in cellular animals and in human studies.
So this is why this explains why red light therapy affects skin, muscle joints, nerves, brain, sleep.

(09:23):
Oh my gosh.
And mood.
That's an interesting one.
So this is like cellular physiology, red light, near infrared light, and infrared saunas.
A lot of confusion in this.
So remember we've got the red light.
Excuse me.
The red light is 630 to six, or did I say six 60? Red light primarily affects the superficial tissues, so red light for skin.

(09:56):
Awesome.
So it improves collagen synthesis, it en, it enhances wound healing.
It definitely supports skin repair.
And that was our experience with Kevin.
There was studies in dermatology journals have shown increased F fibroblast activity in collagen production with red light exposure.

(10:17):
And this is why the very popular facial masks are great.
They work for the skin.
Things like post procedure healing would improve with the use use of red light, fine lines and texture can definitely change over time with red light, and again, the red light is six 30 to six 60 nanometers.

(10:43):
So then we have the near infrared light, eight 10 to 880 nanometers.
So near infrared is where things get deeper.
Literally.
Deeper.
So the near infrared wavelengths penetrates much farther into the tissues.
Studies measuring light penetration show that longer wavelengths reach muscle, they reach joints, nerves, and they even reach bone.

(11:10):
And this is why the near infrared is associated with reduced muscle pain.
Faster recovery, nervous system effects improvements in sleep and mood.
Super interesting.
A little words, a little tip here.
If you do get the big panels, I think I was about six foot long.

(11:32):
Two panels you can get them to stand up.
And you just stand in front of them.
Let me tell you something.
So they increase melatonin, so you sleep like a rock.
So last thing I would do is get a standing one because I'm just going gonna be in a crumpled heap on the floor.
So there, and I'll put a link to the one that we got.

(11:54):
But the standing ones.
I guess you could.
What we did is we got the panels and it came with a frame, and we have it actually hanging over a massage table so we can, because you sleep like a log, like the deepest drooly sleep and also affecting dopamine.

(12:15):
So I am always in a really good mood when I do red light.
That's why I try to do it most days.
Anyway, so the, say the near infrared light, reduced muscle pain, fast recovery improved sleep and move for sure.
So in there were studies on neuromuscular and pain and near infrared consistency consistently, sorry, outperforms red light alone.

(12:43):
Remember, the right red light is not as deep, and it's not because it's stronger.
It is because it reaches the tissue that actually hurts.
Remember, the red light alone is superficial.
Great for your skin.
Wear those masks all good.
And then you have the infrared sauna.
So this is very different.

(13:04):
So the infrared saunas use far infrared heat, not photo biomodulation.
So they work through thermal stress circulation, sweating, and heat adaptation.
So they're great.
Absolutely great.
I not quite doing the same thing as red or near infrared light on a mitochondrial level.

(13:30):
So you've got near, you've got red light near infrared, you've got cellular signaling, you've got the solidness, which is more heat and stress.
Now I know some of the saunas do combine the lights as well, so that, so there is that.
But the most important concept really to get your head round on this, is the depth determines the outcome.

(13:55):
A face mask can absolutely help your skin because the skin is superficial.
But what it cannot do is, it or even, what it can't do or what an infrared panel can do.
It's, it's not gonna work on muscles, it's not gonna work on joints, it's not gonna work on systemic inflammation or the nervous system.

(14:15):
The light penetration increases with wavelength, which is why the near infrared is required for deeper tissues.
Study studies measuring tissue penetration and pain outcome consistently show better results with deeper wavelengths when the, when they are used.
Now I see people that will use the they'll use a face mask the red light face mask, and they'll put it on the knees.

(14:38):
'cause the knees hurt, it won't work.
It's not, it's red light, it's not infrared.
They'll use their Facebook, oh, I'll just put it on my lower back.
It will probably feel good, but it's not really gonna work.
It's, they're not the same thing at all.
It's not.
So when people say, oh, but it costs so much more, I can pick this one up for, a few hundred bucks and you're asking you're talking thousands.

(14:59):
But this isn't about luxury or being extravagant, it's about being really accurate with the wavelength.
It's about the coverage area and the consistency of output.
So what about the power numbers? 'cause our bed is from platinum.
We did a I say we, the royal we, Kevin did a lot of research into the different brands a lot.

(15:23):
And I must admit, I can't remember why we chose platinum, but I know there was a very good reason for it.
Then you look at, you get on there and there's all these different numbers and different options.
This is where marketing really muddies the water.
You'll see devices advertised as 300 watts or 900 watts, or oil, just say high power, but really the wattage alone really doesn't tell you anything at all.
What matters is the Iranians that the body, the distance from the light, the wavelength accuracy, and the surface area covered.

(15:52):
So a quality bed or panel system delivers consistent irradiance at a safe distance across the whole body without overheating the skin.
So when you're underneath these panels, you're not hot.
There's a bit of heat, but it's not hot.
Now with the beds, the optimal distance we were told is 18 inches away from your body.

(16:17):
So you compare that with a red light mask and it's touching your skin.
You wouldn't do that with the infrared beds, panels.
So yes, the light's gonna be farther away from the ma mask.
I believe it was 18 inches, but the near infrared penetrates deeply, and the distant allows even more exposure.

(16:40):
Does that make sense? And then it being super close so you, you've got even greater exposure when there's a little bit difference and you get these systemic effects.
The people with using the these type of panels are gonna have less muscle tension much deeper sleep.
Whoa, improved mood like I, as I mentioned, and reduce pain.

(17:01):
These are nervous system and mitochondrial effects, not just skin changes.
I really don't hurt at all.
Now, I part, I put part of that down too.
I recover really well because of my five amino one MQ supplement.
Definitely my training recovery is really improved, but I really don't get that sore be, but I always use this red light.

(17:22):
Sorry, I should distinguish in infrared light deeper sleep now.
Sleeping on a night I probably don't sleep as much.
I can, I probably get seven hours, but I don't really mind because I'll say I get up real early.
I'll always be able to find 30 minutes somewhere in the day where I get under the red light.

(17:44):
And that just gives me this super deep sleep.
I am not the type of person that naps, I think napping is for men.
Men seem really good at that, but I get no, I lie.
I used to nap in my car in la but I will fall asleep like a rock under the red light and, get out from underneath that.
And I am, might as well have slept four hours.

(18:09):
I had some notes here.
What, so let's go back a little bit and talk about the different delivery systems here.
Excuse me.
Face masks, skin health, collagen, sport, acne.
If you've brought that if you've had a men surgical procedure that will, the red light will help with that.
The limitations shallow penetration and local effects only.

(18:32):
They're not use useless at all.
They're just face specific.
And don't be using the face masks for things that you know they're not intended for.
Don't put 'em on your shoulder.
'cause your shoulder hurts.
It won't work.
Now the mat.
The mats that you can actually lie on.
So obviously you're close to them 'cause you're lying on them.
They usually combine red and near infrared with a little bit of heat.

(18:56):
So what the mats are useful for are local pain, achy back, achy hips, joints but they don't provide the same systemic exposure as the panels or the beds.
But I do know people.
That I know one of my good friends that she shows horses and she takes a, she takes the bed, the mat, sorry, the mat with her rolls it up and takes it with her.

(19:23):
How perfect is that? You're doing like, I don't know, raining or barrel racing or whatever she does.
Super intense.
Awesome.
Pull that mat out, lie down on that.
Amazing for local pain, achy joints and things like that.
But it's not gonna get to the mitochondrial level.
It's not going to give the same systemic exposure.

(19:47):
When you get the panels and the actual beds.
This is where you're getting full body MIT mitochondrial signaling.
This is where you're getting, nervous system regulation, muscle recovery injury recovery sleep and mood effects.
And it, this is why the athletes, the physical therapy clinics, the recovery centers, they gravitate toward these higher quality panels and bed systems.

(20:13):
Yes, they cost a lot more, but it's a completely different modality.
And yes, you will still get the skin benefits, et cetera.
Now as I started, I said that we used it with Kevin post-surgery, and that was our initial reason for getting one.
And red and near infrared light have been studied for post-surgical wound healing.

(20:38):
Orthopedic recovery, dental surgery, soft tissue repair, and the studies back it up much faster.
Healing, reduced inflammation less pain.
I didn't even mention the pain thing and improved tissue regulation.
So photobiomodulation improves blood flow improves mitochondrial output and inflammatory signaling, all of which are foundational right to recovery after surgery.

(21:06):
So I think you'll find in a lot of recovery centers that this is part of it.
They offer red light therapy and there's a good reason for that.
So what can you expect? What can you expect? Most people will notice better sleep within a week or two and really great sleep while you're under that thing.

(21:27):
Reduce pain and muscle tension.
Quite remarkable.
Like I say, at 58 and I still train really pretty hard.
I can't say ever I ever in pain.
Really, and that didn't used to be the case.
I always felt a little bit beat up, gradual skin improvement.
I will testify to that.
A subtle but a real mood lift.

(21:51):
I didn't know about that.
And, but I noticed, consistently when I got off that thing, I just felt great.
Super good mood.
Now I try to be a happy person anyway, but I love that most definitely improved recovery from training.
So this is athletes, this is nothing new.
New it is standard protocol for high class athletes.

(22:18):
But I should say, consistency matters more than intensity.
Lying under there for four hours is not going to do the same thing as, doing, 15, 20 minutes, four or five days a week.
Would it think of it more mitochondrial, daily mitochondrial hygiene? Like you brush your teeth and you do the red light.
Every day would be fantastic.
In the real world, maybe less, but you do have to be consistent.

(22:43):
So the red light therapy isn't hype.
But the wavelength does matter.
The depth does matter.
The device does matter because your goal matters if you wanna get a facial mass, because for your skin, absolutely.
If you wanna get a $3,000 bed, then you know.
Both are very useful, dependent on your goal.

(23:15):
There's a bunch of studies on the red light and infrared light therapy.
I'm not gonna quote them here, but you know what I, because I know some of you might be interested in them, I will put them in the show notes.
So those of you that are looking for, in some of the studies about this, I'll put that in the show note.
But the one that I use that we have is, one second, sorry for the pause.

(23:41):
I just had to pull up a text with the name of ours.
I literally sent the link for hours.
I'm gonna guess five times a month.
We, people ask me all the time.
So this podcast is long overdue.
So again, the the company is platinum.
I'll put the link in the show notes.
And there's a lot of choices.
If you first go onto that website, you'll be like, what the heck do I get? So what we have got, we've got the bio max and we've got the Bio max multi like combination, and we have got the 900 by 900.

(24:13):
So it's two panels.
It is going for it's price on this thing.
Yeah, $2,500.
And then the stand is separate.
And I think that was about 400 bucks.
But you'll find all sorts on this website on platinum.

(24:36):
Again, I can't remember why we chose this.
I can't remember why we chose this company, but I know we did a lot of research, a lot.
And I'm looking here and they've got much smaller models for about 500 bucks which would maybe, cover a third of your body or something like that.
I would stress if you can, the coverage does matter.

(24:58):
But so does the price tag appreciated.
Anyway, that's it for red light.
All right, so I was told today that a little confusion I had mentioned that I had pushed, I had to push Muscle Month out because I've gotta do some traveling, so I won't be here with the gym.
But then I guess some scheduled posts went out saying that Muscle Month is starting this week.

(25:19):
So sorry about that.
Muscle Month is definitely starting on.
Yeah, the end of March, and I'm gonna say I haven't put this on the website yet, but I'm gonna say it's gonna be, because I get back on the 26th, I'm gonna say it's gonna be on Sunday, March 29th, and will be the first Zoom, and then we will start on March the 30th and 1, 2, 3, 4, and run through till April the 25th.

(25:51):
So Muscle Month, the webs the link is live.
You can purchase it whenever you want, but that's what we're looking at.
We're looking at the end of March because I just simply have to be here for the whole month when I'm coaching it because I have to have my gym.
So hopefully that delay didn't mess anybody up, but it is coming up pretty soon.

(26:11):
I do hope you enjoyed this podcast.
You can find me all over social.
Just search my name, Joanne Lee Cornish, and of course my website, joanne lee.com.
Be sure to check out what program I have got right now, I'm sure to be running something.
And remember, you can always contact me, [e-mail].

(26:31):
Until next time.