2 panel vs 3 panel vs 4 panel vs 5 panel LED
Note: just having more LEDs on a panel doesn’t mean it will deliver more joules per cm2. There are many companies trying to compete with Lightwave and POLY LED that are changing their 2-panel models to 4 panels. When I see a really cheap 4 or 5 panel LED light I check to see if their diodes are plastic or glass, what the peak and constant power is, the true wavelength measured by a spectrometer. Just having more panels with early generation LEDs doesn’t convince me it is better.
Also, some companies have an acceptable amount of LED diodes but when the unit is turned on, only 50% of them are on at one time. If there is a LED device and it has 300 diodes and they say it delivers 40mw/cm2, I can totally prove this wrong. So if only 100 blue diodes are operating on the blue setting, this can bring that level down to 11mw/cm2 which can be proven on a spectrometer that anyone can buy or rent. This is not enough to destroy acne as far as I’m concerned. What a company is probably telling you is that their LED phototherapy device is 30 mw when all the diodes are turned on but in reality, that unit never has blue, red, and infrared all on at the same time.
Another complaint is when they claim their LED light therapy panel is FDA cleared. It might have the clearance for the RED diodes at the FDA cleared wavelength but not the infrared and blue which the non FDA cleared diodes can be really cheap to produce.
Note: A very low powered LED company a far as the one’s I have reviewed have never said wait 48 hours between sessions. A brand that has 10mw/cm2 can probably be used every day or even more than that but a brand that has a 40mw/cm2 blue diode can kill a lot of bacteria and needs a day or two for the lymph system to carry it out. It bothers me when I hear a hand held model that is very weak make these 48 hour claims that the professional 80mw and 120mw LED devices claim on their instructions. It is so not fair to the consumer to listen to instructions that really don’t apply to that LED strength level.
NOTICE: Some LED phototherapy light devices are curved. Note that the light from a LED diode must aim directly into the skin to absorb into the skin. The light from the LED that scatters is a byproduct of the LED ray. It is the rays that need to be hit the body linearly, not just the light that is reflected everywhere. Curved models have the least direct contact and low intensity while 4 and 5 panels have the highest. The more panels a LED device has the more it costs to make. POLY was the first company that I reviewed that has 5 panels. A plastic curving model that can bend will not have a metal frame and fans as diodes that get too hot should never be plastic LED panel it can melt the plastic. Many aestheticians are buying these and having their patients leave the session before they get enough treatment time. They are being fooled by peak mw/cm2 ratings and often the wavelengths are not continuous like other LED devices that stay within the FDA cleared wavelength the entire time the LED is turned on.
I compare diodes from Lightstim, Celluma, Lightwave, POLY, InLIght, OMNILUX and many other lesser known brands that people still buy because they are advertised on Google and people don’t know one brand from another.
So many people go to the trade shows and mostly aestheticians that I talk to usually buy the first LED they tried when they had a full session at the show. I asked if they had sessions with any other brands and usually the answer is no. I believe this is why they try so hard to get people laying down on the table so they can let them have their free session and when they are relaxed they give them the sales pitch.