Light as Medicine

DESIGNING FOR RED LIGHT WELLNESS

Some wellness trends arrive with a lot of noise and very little substance. Red light therapy is doing something rarer: it’s getting quieter as it gets more credible.

Previously, I wrote about Healing on Spring (A red light wellness studio we designed in Bondi) and the design challenge of working with a modality that is, quite literally, saturated. Red light isn’t just a colour; it’s a full sensory environment. It changes how you see, how you feel, and how you re-enter the street afterwards.

This is the other side of that story: what the science is actually saying now, where the most interesting developments are happening, and what it means for designers and clients who care about wellness that’s both beautiful and evidence-led.

Red light therapy is often used as shorthand for photobiomodulation (PBM): the use of specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared light to influence biological processes. The simplest way to think about it is this: light is information. Certain wavelengths can be absorbed by parts of our cells, and that absorption can influence downstream effects—often discussed in relation to mitochondrial function, inflammation pathways, circulation, and tissue repair.

Here’s the geeky part, because it matters. “Red light” isn’t one wavelength—it’s a band, and different points on that band behave differently in tissue. Visible red is often discussed around ~630–670 nm, while near-infrared (NIR) commonly sits around ~800–850 nm (you’ll often see 810 nm or 830 nm referenced). In simple terms: red tends to be absorbed more superficially (skin-level targets), while NIR is often described as penetrating deeper (muscle and joint-level targets). But penetration isn’t the whole story; absorption depends on chromophores (like cytochrome c oxidase), tissue composition, melanin, hydration, and even what’s happening physiologically that day. Dose matters too: PBM is frequently described as biphasic—too little may do nothing, too much can blunt the response—so irradiance, exposure time, distance, and total energy delivered are not “details,” they’re the treatment.

A key detail that gets lost in the hype is that PBM is not one thing. Outcomes depend on wavelength, dose, timing, and the condition being treated. In other words, it’s not “red light = good.” It’s precision.

“Even with great research, the experience can fail at the level of environment.. Red light isn’t a trend—it’s a protocol, and the space has to honour that."

If you strip away the marketing, the most consistent conversations in the research still cluster around a few themes: skin and tissue support, pain and recovery, and brain and mood.

Dermatology is where PBM tends to stay most grounded—reviews cover LED/PBM across skin concerns and mechanisms like inflammation and collagen pathways (see: “Unlocking the Power of Light on the Skin”, PMC). There’s also growing interest in mood: a 2023 Frontiers in Psychiatry paper found PBM reduced depression symptoms, while noting limited studies and the need for more research. And perhaps the strongest signal it’s moving beyond trend territory is its role in clinical conversations around brain injury and rehabilitation, including traumatic brain injury recovery (see: “Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery with Photobiomodulation”, PMC). Practitioners like Dr Kyle Daigle (NeuroSolution) sit in that same lane—using PBM as part of structured rehab protocols, not a lifestyle add-on.

Longevity is the word of the moment, and it’s easy for PBM to get swept into that wave. The clean, responsible framing is that PBM is often discussed in relation to mechanisms that are longevity-adjacent—mitochondrial function, inflammation modulation, and cellular stress responses. Those mechanisms are relevant to how we age and how we recover. What we can’t responsibly claim yet is that red light therapy is a proven “longevity treatment” in the simplistic sense people sometimes mean.

Even with great research, the experience can fail at the level of environment.

A red light studio is a sensory container. It’s not just a room with a device. And because PBM sessions are often short, the space has to do a lot of work quickly: it has to help the body downshift.

After Healing on Spring, I keep coming back to a few design truths.

The transition is part of the treatment. Red light saturation can create an aftershock effect: you step out and the world feels too bright, too sharp, too fast. Designing the sequence—red to warm white, warm white to daylight or nightscape—turns that moment from jarring to grounding.

Visual comfort is non-negotiable. Glare, harsh contrast, and overly bright ambient light keep the nervous system alert. Diffusion, layering, and restraint are not aesthetic preferences here—they’re functional design decisions.

Sound is its own energy. You can build the most beautiful red light room in the world and still lose the feeling if the space echoes, clatters, or never truly quietens. That’s why acoustic intention matters as much as lighting—whether it’s considered material choices, spatial planning, or working with specialists like Reson8 to tune the room so the nervous system can actually downshift.

And the space should feel precise, not performative. PBM is a technology-led modality. The environment should reflect that: clean detailing, considered materials, and a sense of quiet competence.

My sense is that the next chapter of red light won’t be about more studios, more devices, more buzzwords. It will be about better protocols, better education, and better spaces—environments that respect the science and respect the nervous system.

Because the real luxury in wellness isn’t the colour of the light.

It’s the feeling you leave with.

References (selected)
Healing on Spring (CuriousLabs): https://curiouslabs.com.au/healing-on-spring/

Photobiomodulation improves depression symptoms (Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023): https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1267415/full

Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery with Photobiomodulation (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10931349/

Near-Infrared Stimulation in Psychiatry Disorders (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11945382/

Unlocking the Power of Light on the Skin (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11049838/

Dr. Kyle Daigle (NeuroSolution): https://www.neurosolutionlc.com/dr-kyle-daigle

NeuroSolution Center of Lake Charles: https://www.neurosolutionlc.com/

DESIGNING FOR RED LIGHT WELLNESS

“Even with great research, the experience can fail at the level of environment.. Red light isn’t a trend—it’s a protocol, and the space has to honour that."

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Light as Medicine

DESIGNING FOR RED LIGHT WELLNESS

“Even with great research, the experience can fail at the level of environment.. Red light isn’t a trend—it’s a protocol, and the space has to honour that."

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