How to Choose Between LED Therapy Panel Sizes for Your Clinic
Panel Size Categories
Most LED therapy panels fall into three categories:
Small panels (50-100W): Handheld or desktop units. Good for targeted treatment (face, small joints). Common in home-use devices or small clinic settings.
Medium panels (150-300W): Standalone units with stands. Good for treating larger areas (shoulders, hips, knees). Most popular for professional clinics.
Large panels (400W+): Full-body or near-full-body panels. Good for treating multiple body parts or whole-body treatment. Common in wellness centers and high-end physiotherapy clinics.
Treatment Area vs Panel Size
The key question: how big is the area you need to treat?
| Body Part | Treatment Area (approx) | Recommended Panel |
|———–|———————-|——————|
| Face | 15cm x 20cm | Small (50-100W) |
| Neck/Shoulder | 25cm x 30cm | Medium (150-200W) |
| Lower Back | 30cm x 40cm | Medium-Large (200-300W) |
| Full Back | 40cm x 60cm | Large (300-400W) |
| Legs (both) | 30cm x 80cm | Large (400W+) |
For our physiotherapy clinic, we treat a lot of lower backs and shoulders. A 300W panel covers a lower back nicely. For full backs, we’d need two panels or a 400W+ panel.
Power Density Considerations
Panel size affects power density (mW/cm²). Larger panels at the same wattage produce similar power density but cover more area. So a 300W panel doesn’t necessarily deliver more light per square centimeter than a 200W panel — it just covers more area.
What matters: treatment time. If you have a lower power density, you need longer treatment time to get the same dose.
| Power Density | Treatment Time (for 10 J/cm²) |
|—————|——————————-|
| 50 mW/cm² | 200 seconds (3.3 min) |
| 100 mW/cm² | 100 seconds (1.7 min) |
| 150 mW/cm² | 67 seconds (1.1 min) |
Budget vs Coverage
Budget is often the deciding factor.
| Budget Tier | Recommendation |
|————-|—————-|
| Under $500 | Small panels (50-100W) for home use or starter clinics |
| $500-1,500 | Medium panels (150-300W) for professional clinics |
| $1,500-3,000 | Large panels (300-400W) or multiple medium panels |
| $3,000+ | Multiple large panels for full-body coverage |
We spent $1,200 on our first two 300W panels. For our clinic size, that was the sweet spot. The 100-watt panels we bought earlier ($200 each) barely got used.
What We Learned
1. The small panels were a waste of money. We thought we’d use them for targeted treatment. In practice, most patients needed treatment for larger areas (back, shoulder). The small panels collected dust.
2. Two medium panels beat one large panel. We ended up buying two 300W panels instead of one 600W panel. Two panels give us flexibility: treat two patients at once, or combine them for a larger treatment area.
3. The stand matters. A panel without a good stand is hard to use. We bought panels with adjustable stands. They’re easy to position over different body parts. Budget $100-200 for a good stand.
4. Consider future needs. If you plan to expand your clinic, buy panels that can be daisy-chained or used together. Some panels allow connecting multiple units to one controller.
For a physiotherapy clinic, medium-to-large panels (200-400W) are the most practical. Start with one or two 300W panels and expand based on patient volume and treatment needs.