Five Ways Red Light Therapy Can Help You Get Through Winter's Worst

As the calendar turns to February, much of the country finds itself grinding through winter’s toughest stretch—short days, stubborn cold, and the lingering aftermath of one of the most wide-reaching winter storms in recent memory. From snow-covered driveways to disrupted sleep and sore, sun-starved bodies, this is the point in the season when small tools that support recovery, mood, and resilience can make a real difference.

Transformation Wellness, Pittsburgh's only source of medical-grade red light therapy, welcomes clients with growing interest in incorporating red light therapy into their self-care routines, during winter and year-round.

“Winter places a unique strain on the body—from mood and motivation to muscle recovery, skin health, metabolism, and sleep,” says Annette Cronauer, founder of Transformation Weight Loss and Wellness. “Red light therapy supports the body at a cellular level, helping clients feel more resilient and restored during a season when energy, movement, and sunlight are often in short supply.”

Here are Five Ways Red Light Therapy Can Help You Get Through Winter's Worst:

Red Light for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Evidence specifically on red/near-infrared photobiomodulation (PBM) for Seasonal Affective Disorder is still emerging (most established “light therapy for SAD” research uses bright white light). That said, an integrative review of PBM for mental health reports that PBM shows promise as an adjunct approach for mood conditions—including depression and SAD—based on the growing clinical and mechanistic literature (e.g., mitochondrial signaling, inflammation modulation, and cerebral blood-flow effects), while also emphasizing the need for larger, standardized SAD-focused randomized trials before making strong clinical claims. 

“During the darkest months of the year, supporting the brain’s energy systems can be just as important as addressing light exposure,” says Annette Cronauer. “Red light therapy offers a gentle, non-stimulating option that many people find helpful when winter takes a toll on mood and motivation.”

Red Light for Muscle Recovery After Shoveling

If winter chores leave you with that “I overdid it” soreness, PBM has been studied for delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)—a close match to the kind of muscle stress you can get after heavy shoveling. A paper examining photomodulation therapy for DOMS found that it may help reduce pain, support strength recovery, and lower biochemical markers of muscle damage compared with comparison conditions, suggesting PBM can be a practical recovery tool when used with an evidence-based protocol (timing, dose, and target area matter).

Red Light for Dry Winter Skin

For winter skin that feels tight, rough, or irritated, red and near-infrared light has clinical evidence in “photorejuvenation”-type outcomes that overlap with winter dryness (texture, roughness, and overall skin feel). In a controlled trial, treatment with red and near-infrared light sources led to improvements in patient satisfaction and skin appearance measures, including reduced roughness and increased intradermal collagen density, which can support a healthier-looking barrier and smoother texture—especially relevant when cold air and indoor heat leave skin feeling depleted. 

Red Light for Metabolism

For “metabolism,” the most defensible human evidence tends to focus on measurable endpoints, such as resting energy expenditure (REE) and body-composition markers, rather than broad “metabolism boost” claims. A randomized controlled study in women with obesity tested a single exposure to combined red and near-infrared PBM and specifically examined whether it could acutely increase resting energy expenditure compared with a sham condition—an important step toward tying PBM to a concrete metabolic mechanism (even though acute changes don’t automatically translate into long-term fat loss without a broader lifestyle context). 

Red Light for Sleep Cycles and Circadian Rhythms

Winter can disrupt sleep timing (dark mornings, bright evenings, more indoor light), and PBM is being explored as a way to improve sleep quality without the alerting effects of blue or bright light at night. In a randomized, sham-controlled trial, red and near-infrared phototherapy applied to the neck before bedtime improved perceived relaxation, sleep quality, and next-day function compared with sham, suggesting that PBM may support sleep regulation and the “wind-down” process that helps stabilize circadian rhythms.

“Winter can quietly disrupt sleep cycles, even for people who think they’re resting enough,” says Annette Cronauer. “Red light therapy can help the body shift into a calmer, more restorative state—supporting the wind-down process that healthy sleep and circadian rhythms depend on.”

Annette concludes: “What I see every winter is how interconnected these systems really are,” she says. “When we support cellular energy with red and near-infrared light, people often notice benefits that ripple outward—less soreness after physical strain, calmer skin, better sleep rhythms, and a more balanced sense of well-being when winter feels relentless.”