<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FilingSummary xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Version>2.4.0.6</Version>
  <ProcessingTime />
  <ReportFormat>Html</ReportFormat>
  <ContextCount>288</ContextCount>
  <ElementCount>258</ElementCount>
  <EntityCount>1</EntityCount>
  <FootnotesReported>false</FootnotesReported>
  <SegmentCount>70</SegmentCount>
  <ScenarioCount>0</ScenarioCount>
  <TuplesReported>false</TuplesReported>
  <UnitCount>3</UnitCount>
  <MyReports>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R1.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0001 - Document - Document and Entity Information</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/DocumentAndEntityInformation</Role>
      <ShortName>Document and Entity Information</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>true</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R2.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0002 - Statement - Balance Sheets</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/BalanceSheets</Role>
      <ShortName>Balance Sheets</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R3.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0003 - Statement - Balance Sheets (Parenthetical)</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/BalanceSheetsParenthetical</Role>
      <ShortName>Balance Sheets (Parenthetical)</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R4.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0004 - Statement - Statements of Operations (Unaudited)</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StatementsOfOperations</Role>
      <ShortName>Statements of Operations (Unaudited)</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R5.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0005 - Statement - Statement of Stockholder's Equity</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StatementOfStockholdersEquity</Role>
      <ShortName>Statement of Stockholder's Equity</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R6.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0006 - Statement - Statement of Stockholder's Equity (Parenthetical)</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StatementOfStockholdersEquityParenthetical</Role>
      <ShortName>Statement of Stockholder's Equity (Parenthetical)</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R7.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0007 - Statement - Statements of Cash Flow (Unaudited)</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StatementsOfCashFlow</Role>
      <ShortName>Statements of Cash Flow (Unaudited)</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R8.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0008 - Disclosure - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/SummaryOfSignificantAccountingPolicies</Role>
      <ShortName>Summary of Significant Accounting Policies</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R9.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0009 - Disclosure - Equipment</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/Equipment</Role>
      <ShortName>Equipment</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R10.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0010 - Disclosure - Intangible Assets</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/IntangibleAssets</Role>
      <ShortName>Intangible Assets</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R11.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0011 - Disclosure - Commitments</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/Commitments</Role>
      <ShortName>Commitments</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R12.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0012 - Disclosure - Income Taxes</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/IncomeTaxes</Role>
      <ShortName>Income Taxes</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R13.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0013 - Disclosure - Stockholders' Equity</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StockholdersEquity</Role>
      <ShortName>Stockholders' Equity</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R14.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0014 - Disclosure - Stock Based Compensation</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/StockBasedCompensation</Role>
      <ShortName>Stock Based Compensation</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R15.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0015 - Disclosure - Related Parties</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/RelatedParties</Role>
      <ShortName>Related Parties</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <HtmlFileName>R16.htm</HtmlFileName>
      <LongName>0016 - Disclosure - Subsequent Events</LongName>
      <ReportType>Sheet</ReportType>
      <Role>http://lightwavelogic.com/role/SubsequentEvents</Role>
      <ShortName>Subsequent Events</ShortName>
    </Report>
    <Report>
      <IsDefault>false</IsDefault>
      <HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports>
      <LongName>All Reports</LongName>
      <ReportType>Book</ReportType>
      <ShortName>All Reports</ShortName>
    </Report>
  </MyReports>
  <Logs>
    <Log type="Info">Process Flow-Through: 0002 - Statement - Balance Sheets</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2009'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2008'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2007'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2006'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2005'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2004'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">	Process Flow-Through: Removing column 'Dec. 31, 2003'</Log>
    <Log type="Info">Process Flow-Through: 0003 - Statement - Balance Sheets (Parenthetical)</Log>
    <Log type="Info">Process Flow-Through: 0004 - Statement - Statements of Operations (Unaudited)</Log>
    <Log type="Info">Process Flow-Through: 0006 - Statement - Statement of Stockholder's Equity (Parenthetical)</Log>
    <Log type="Info">Process Flow-Through: 0007 - Statement - Statements of Cash Flow (Unaudited)</Log>
  </Logs>
  <InputFiles>
    <File>lwlg-20111231.xml</File>
    <File>lwlg-20111231.xsd</File>
    <File>lwlg-20111231_cal.xml</File>
    <File>lwlg-20111231_def.xml</File>
    <File>lwlg-20111231_lab.xml</File>
    <File>lwlg-20111231_pre.xml</File>
  </InputFiles>
  <SupplementalFiles />
  <BaseTaxonomies />
  <HasPresentationLinkbase>true</HasPresentationLinkbase>
  <HasCalculationLinkbase>true</HasCalculationLinkbase>
</FilingSummary>
