Muscle Recovery & Performance

After, or later the same evening. There is no compelling case for running a session immediately before exercise, and the 10 to 20 minute timers on these devices make it an awkward addition to a warm up. Most people find it easier to keep the habit by attaching it to something fixed, like sitting down after dinner, rather than trying to fit it around a gym schedule that already moves around.

People commonly use these devices for exactly that, and it is the most frequent reason customers give for buying one. We are not going to claim it treats soreness, because these are general wellness devices and that would be a medical claim. What we can tell you is what the device does physically, which is deliver 660nm and 850nm light into tissue. Whether that helps you is something you will judge over a few weeks.

For both legs at once, yes, because a panel covers the area in one session while a wrap treats one leg at a time. For a single stubborn hamstring, the wrap delivers more light to that muscle, since it sits in contact and loses nothing to distance. Runners and cyclists treating both legs regularly get more out of a panel. Everyone else usually does not.

Daily is within what these devices are built for, at the session lengths their timers set. More than one session per area per day adds nothing useful, because the response flattens out rather than scaling with exposure. Four or five days a week sustained over months does more than a fortnight of daily sessions followed by giving up.

Get the injury assessed first. Light therapy devices are general wellness products and are not a treatment for a strain, tear or fracture, and using one instead of seeing someone can delay a diagnosis that matters. If a clinician has already looked at it and is happy for you to use light therapy alongside their plan, that is a different situation. Do not use one on an undiagnosed injury that is getting worse.