I've tried Red Light Therapy/NIR withdifferent formats, and with varying resultsand decided to give this one a shot for jointpain in particular.
The claims to use laser diodes seems to betrue, as laser radiation is visible from theLED. It doesn't heat up as much or as quicklyas regular infrared devices, and I'd guess thecover is less to avoid burns and more to blocklaser damage to eyes -nwhichnwould alsoexplain the inclusion of the glasses.
There's a small amout of pain relief, possiblyfrom the latent heat being absorbed, but theform factor requiring holding the wand in thesame place for upwards of15 minutes meansaches and pains are likely to pop up in otherareas. You might be able to keep it in placewith a band or wrap and avoid having to.holdit, but it's ultimately better if someone elseuses it on you.
Use on pets is likely as effective as humans, ifthat's your goal, but either way for the priceyou'd likely hope for better results... This is abit cheaper than comperable models using lessof the NIR LEDs, so has a bit of a boost there-I still don't know ifI'd recommend ithowever.