Red Light Therapy for the Neck: Lines, Crepey Skin and Turkey Neck

Red light therapy can soften the fine horizontal lines on the neck and may improve crepey texture, and the neck has its own trial to show it. In a 2025 sham-controlled trial of 70 adults, a home LED neck device used for 9 minutes a day, five days a week, improved neck wrinkles in 77% of users after 12 weeks, against 9% with the sham, as rated by the investigators. What red light will not do is fix "turkey neck": loose skin, fat under the chin and the vertical bands of the neck muscle are structural, and doctors treat them with injections, tightening devices or surgery. The thyroid sits in the front of the neck, and both neck studies checked it and found no thyroid problems, but anyone with a thyroid condition or on thyroid medication should not use Kivorla devices at all. A face mask does not reach the neck, so this is a job for a panel. Here is what the studies found, how to set up a panel for the neck, and what else helps.

Does red light therapy work on the neck?

For fine lines and skin quality, the evidence says it can. Two neck studies found fewer and softer horizontal lines after 12 to 16 weeks of regular use.

Both used the pairing found in many face devices, 630 nm red with 850 nm near-infrared, in a wearable neck device used for 9 minutes a session. The face trials behind red light for wrinkles used very similar wavelengths, so neck skin responding in a similar way is no surprise. It has been studied far less than the face. Red light therapy for wrinkles covers the face evidence in detail.

What did the neck studies find?

The larger one was randomised and double-blind against a sham device. The smaller one had no control group but measured the skin with instruments.

Sources: Park, Lee 2021, Lee 2007. The authors of the 2025 trial concluded that LED on the neck "may be considered a satisfactory and safe procedure", and noted that deep neck lines are harder to shift than fine ones. Both neck trials were in Korean adults and lasted four months or less.

Why does the neck show age early?

Neck skin is thin and has few oil glands. Sun and posture do the rest.

A clinical review puts the skin of the neck at just over a quarter of a millimetre thick, against more than a millimetre on the cheek. StatPearls. A Cleveland Clinic dermatologist adds sun, smoking and "tech neck", the creasing from looking down at a phone, to the causes. Cleveland Clinic. Sunscreen seems to matter: in a small 2026 study, daily neck sunscreen was linked to more elastic neck skin. Study.

Can red light therapy fix turkey neck?

No. Turkey neck is loose skin, fat under the chin and separated neck muscle, and light does not move muscle, remove fat or lift skin.

Surgeons describe three things behind an ageing neck: lax skin, fat under the chin, and changes in the platysma, the thin sheet of muscle whose edges show as vertical bands. Treatments are matched to each. Bands are softened with botulinum toxin; fat is reduced with injections, freezing or liposuction; loose skin is tightened with radiofrequency or ultrasound, or removed in a neck lift, which the Cleveland Clinic calls the gold standard alongside the facelift. Cleveland Clinic, ASPS. Where red light fits is the skin surface: horizontal lines, crepey texture, tone. If what bothers you is a hanging fold or cords under the chin, a dermatologist or plastic surgeon is the right first stop.

Is red light therapy on the neck safe for the thyroid?

In healthy adults, the two neck studies found no effect on the thyroid. If you have a thyroid condition or take thyroid medication, do not use Kivorla devices at all.

The 2025 trial scanned participants' thyroids by ultrasound at the start, at 12 weeks and at 16 weeks, and found "no significant thyroid-related complications". The 2021 study checked thyroid hormones, antibodies and ultrasound over 16 weeks of daily use and found no significant changes. The 2021 study screened out people with thyroid problems before it began, so these results apply to healthy thyroids. Kivorla's precautions list a thyroid condition or thyroid medication as a reason not to use our devices, whichever area you plan to treat.

How do you use a red light panel on your neck?

At about 12 inches, goggles on, chin lifted slightly, for no longer than the manual's time per area. Gentle and regular beats close and long.

1. Clean skin. Remove sunscreen, makeup and active serums first; red light with makeup or sunscreen explains why.
2. Set the height so the centre of the panel sits level with your neck and upper chest. How to set up a red light panel at home has the heights.
3. Sit about 12 inches away. That spreads the light across neck and chest. The neck devices in the trials were far gentler than a panel at 6 inches, and there is no evidence that sitting closer helps.
4. Goggles on, eyes closed, chin tilted slightly up so the light reaches the lines and the underside of the jaw.
5. Keep it short. Start at lower brightness and the low end of the manual's 10 to 15 minutes per area. The trials used 9 minutes.
6. Keep it regular. The trials ran five to seven days a week; first changes showed at about four weeks and clearer ones at eight to twelve. How often to use red light therapy covers the limits.

Stop if the skin feels hot or irritated. Afterwards, sunscreen on the neck by day and, if you use one, a lower-strength retinoid at night; the Cleveland Clinic dermatologist above recommends a gentler strength on the neck than on the face.

Can you use a red light face mask on your neck?

No. A face mask is shaped to the face and ends at the jaw, so the neck needs a panel or a device made for the neck.

The Kivorla mask covers the face from forehead to chin, with an eye cutout and no diodes over the eyes. Holding it against the neck would leave most of the light off the skin, and it is not designed for that. If you want face and neck in one routine, use the mask for the face and the panel at 12 inches for neck and chest. Red light therapy mask vs panel compares the two.

Does red light therapy help neck pain?

Possibly. Chronic neck pain has some of the stronger evidence for red and near-infrared light, mostly from laser trials.

A meta-analysis in The Lancet pooled 16 trials: people with chronic neck pain treated with low-level laser were about four times as likely to improve as those given placebo, and the relief lasted up to 22 weeks after treatment ended. Chow 2009. Red light therapy for pain and inflammation covers the neck, knee and tendon evidence and how to aim a panel at a sore joint. Neck pain after an accident, or with numbness or weakness in the arms, needs a doctor first.

Using the Kivorla panel on your neck

The panel has both wavelengths the neck trials used, and you can run them on their own at low brightness.

The 9-Spectrum Red Light Therapy Panel includes 630 nm red and 850 nm near-infrared, the two wavelengths used in both neck trials, among its nine, and each one dims on its own from 1 to 100%. You can run a neck setting with just those channels at low brightness, switch the blue off, and let the timer end the session. Goggles come in the box, and the surface stays at or below 40°C. For the face, the cordless 4-Wavelength Red Light Therapy Mask pairs 665 nm red with 850 and 1064 nm near-infrared.

Read the precautions before ordering, since returns are accepted within 30 days, less a 10% restocking fee if the device is unopened with its seals intact, or 20% if it is opened but undamaged and complete. Standard shipping to the US, UK and Germany is free.

Kivorla devices are general wellness devices, not medical devices. Do not use them if you have a thyroid condition or take thyroid medication, and speak to a doctor about neck pain that does not settle.