Light and Sound Therapy: How Light and Sound Affect Your Body

Light and sound therapy pairs chosen wavelengths of light with chosen sound frequencies, often with gentle vibration. People use it to support relaxation, focus and recovery. The effect of light on the body clock is well established. Research on red and near-infrared light is active. Research on specific sound frequencies is at an early stage.

It comes in several forms: light panels, headsets with goggles and headphones, and wearables such as The OneDevice, a pendant that combines visible light, near-infrared light, sound tones and vibration.

Visible light runs from about 380 nanometers (violet) to 700 nanometers (red), according to NASA. The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency. Red has the longest waves we can see, violet the shortest.

Sound is a different kind of wave. Light is electromagnetic. Sound is pressure moving through air, water or the body. A low hum is a slow wave and a high note is a fast one. Vibration is sound you feel through contact rather than hear.

They act on the body in different ways, but they share one vocabulary: frequency. That is why they are so often used together.

Any light can suppress melatonin, the hormone that signals night. Blue does it most strongly, because the eye's body-clock sensors respond most to wavelengths near 480 nm. In a Harvard experiment, 6.5 hours of blue light suppressed melatonin about twice as long as green light of similar brightness, and shifted the body clock by 3 hours against 1.5. By day, the same wavelengths boost attention and mood. With blue light, timing is everything.

These wavelengths are the subject of photobiomodulation research, which studies how cells respond to low-level light. Systematic reviews have looked at mood, muscle recovery and sleep, and a 2023 sham-controlled trial tested a near-infrared device on sleep. Results depend heavily on wavelength and dose, so findings from one device don't carry over to another.

Sound reaches the body two ways: through the ears and, as vibration, through the skin. Vibroacoustic research studies the second route. A 2024 review looked at its effects on psychological and physiological stress. Meta-analyses of music interventions show consistent reductions in stress.

Many light and sound practices use Solfeggio frequencies, a set of tones from 174 Hz to 963 Hz drawn from sound-healing tradition. Research on these specific tones is limited. One small 2018 study measured stress markers while people listened to 528 Hz music. Treat specific frequency meanings as tradition, not established science.

It depends on which part you mean:

The OneDevice is a wearable light and sound therapy device. The pendant emits gentle visible light, near-infrared light, sound tones and vibration against the skin.

It plays 10 tones from 174 Hz to 963 Hz, each paired with a light color. Rotation mode cycles through all of them. Hold it horizontally in your hand and gently tap the side.

The light is low-intensity, far below a screen or room lamp, so the evening settings don't work against your body clock.

What else to know: it charges by USB-C and lasts about 90 hours per charge. It turns off when laid flat and on when picked up. It is water-resistant, not waterproof. In a 74-person pilot survey, 88% of users reported less stress after at least a week of regular use. That was a before-and-after survey; controlled studies are underway.