Tools
Red Light Therapy Dosing Calculator
Dose is power over time. Enter the irradiance your device delivers at your actual treatment distance, then set the session length to estimate joules per square centimeter.
Estimated dose
Formula: 50 mW/cm2 x 600 seconds / 1000 = 30.0 J/cm2.
Skin range
3-15 J/cm2
Deeper tissue range
10-60 J/cm2
How to read the result
The skin range is a conservative starting band for surface goals such as collagen, texture, or mild inflammation. Deeper targets such as joints and muscles often use higher surface doses because tissue absorbs and scatters light before it reaches the treatment site.
Distance matters
A panel measured at 6 inches may deliver far less at 12 inches. Use measured irradiance at the distance you actually use, not total wattage or LED count.
Frequently Asked Questions
What dose range should I target for skin?
A practical WALT-style target for skin and surface tissues is roughly 3-15 J/cm2 per session, adjusted for comfort, device output, and treatment frequency.
What dose range should I target for joints or deeper tissue?
Deeper tissue protocols commonly land around 10-60 J/cm2 per treatment site because less light reaches the target tissue after passing through skin and subcutaneous tissue.
Should I trust the irradiance number on a device listing?
Use third-party spectrometer measurements when available. Many panel claims are measured with solar meters, which can read much higher than spectrometer-based measurements.