Light therapy

Light therapy Overview

Light therapy or phototherapy consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, LEDs, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, for a prescribed amount of time and, in some cases, at a specific time of day. It has proven effective in treating Acne vulgaris, seasonal affective disorder, and is part of the standard treatment regimen for delayed sleep phase syndrome. It has recently been shown effective in non-seasonal depression. Proponents claim demonstrable benefits for skin conditions such as psoriasis.

Light therapy is best used for S.A.D. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people every Winter between September and April, in particular during December, January and February.

It is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the hypothalamus due to the shortening of daylight hours and the lack of sunlight in winter.

For many people SAD is a seriously disabling illness, preventing them from functioning normally without continuous medical treatment.

For others, it is a mild but debilitating condition causing discomfort but not severe suffering. We call this subsyndromal SAD or 'winter blues.

The first evolution of a phototherapy system that could emit light similar to the sunlight, was developed in 1896 through the Danish scientist and doctor Prof. Niels Ryberg Finsen. He was honoured with the noble of price for medicine for the successful treatment of skin tuberculosis with light.

Modern science has dedicated itself to the topic “biological effects of light” for now more than 100 years. Many international clinical studies prove the effectiveness of photo and light therapy! From these findings, a great number of practical applications, in different fields of the medicine, have been developed.

Medical fields of use for light therapy

• Dermatology
• Physiotherapy
• Sports medicine
• Rheumatology
• Psychiatry
• Rehabilitation
• Surgery

The sun sends us a radiation cocktail with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and Violet in a mixed manner. No one of these prismatic colours calories the sunlight in a specific colour, it shines in a neutral white light.

Light admission through the skin
Light enters the body through the skin in form of energy and oscillation. As a result, a great number of biological functions are regulated and balanced. The visible light spectrum is able to influence skin, tissue and blood cells positively and therefore, is ideally suitable for the medical and cosmetic application. Light-induced effects start first in the skin or the eyes, after spreads to the entire body. Affected cells can regenerate again and cell communication capability is improved.

Light admission through the eyes
For seeing we need only about 1/4 of the light which enters the eyes. 3/4 of the light is transported through the nervous system from the retina to the Hypothalamus, an extremely light sensitive part of the brain. It co-ordinates and regulates a large amount of biological processes and body functions. For example the control over the pineal gland which is responsible for the production of melatonin. In the night time we need melatonin for sleeping while throughout the day we need seratonin for being active. This process is called circadian rhythm and is light dependant.

Also see:
Color Therapy

 

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Light Therapy Practitioners - AMP site