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Talk to an expertAnswer · Comparison
Choose a bed when you want uniform whole-body exposure in a single lie-down session and have the room and budget for it. Choose a panel when you're treating one region at a time — back, legs, face — and would rather spend less and give up coverage. Both use the same red and near-infrared wavelengths; what differs is how much of you gets dosed per session, and how consistently.
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A bed wraps light around you, so distance and angle stay roughly constant across your whole body. That consistency is hard to reproduce with a flat panel, where the parts of you nearest the centre receive noticeably more than the edges.
With a panel, whole-body exposure means repositioning: front, back, maybe sides, in sequence. That's workable, but it multiplies the session time and introduces variability every time you set up.
Session length for a bed is typically 10 to 20 minutes total. Achieving comparable whole-body coverage with a panel usually takes several of those blocks back to back.
Panels win decisively on footprint. A panel hangs on a door or stands in a corner; a bed needs dedicated floor space, clearance to open, and a confirmed standard outlet.
The honest tiebreaker is habit. The device you'll actually use four times a week beats the more capable one you set up twice and abandon.
Panels span a wide but much lower range than beds, which is why they're the usual entry point. Medical-grade full-body beds are a significant investment and sit in the tens of thousands.
That gap is why we ask for your budget in the quiz rather than showing prices up front. If a bed is realistic for you, a short call gets you a real figure for a specific configuration; if it isn't, a good panel is a genuinely reasonable answer, not a consolation prize.
| Full-body bed | Panel | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage per session | Whole body, uniform | One region at a time |
| Typical session | 10–20 minutes total | 10–20 minutes per region |
| Consistency | High — fixed distance and angle | Varies with placement |
| Space needed | Dedicated floor area | Door hook or corner |
| Relative cost | Highest category | Mid-range, wide spread |
| Best when | Recovery, sleep, whole-body skin goals | A specific area, or a first device |
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