Light therapy or phototherapy
(classically referred to as heliotherapy) consists of exposure
to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers,
light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps
or very bright, full-spectrum light, usually controlled
with various devices. The light is administered for a prescribed
amount of time and, in some cases, at a specific time of
day.
Q: It is hard for me to believe
that shining a little red or blue light on my body can
heal anything. Why should I use this light therapy device?
A: There are literally thousands of articles, abstracts
and books written on the benefits of Light Therapy today.
These publications have been written by doctors, scientists
and practitioners from such prestigious organizations
as NASA, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Samuel Haroff
Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Harvard and many
other organizations that have conducted extensive research
on Light Therapy. To read Amercian Cancer Society Article
About Light Therapy .
What’s this about infrared light therapy
and dramatic recovery from chronic wounds and healing
severely damaged tissues—has the medical community
found something better than surgery?
Your skin has the ability to absorb infrared light and
use it as a source of energy to stimulate cellular regeneration.
Infrared LED light therapy, first researched by NASA
for use in the U.S. Space Program, can reverse and control
the visible signs of aging and help you look years younger
without harsh chemical treatments or invasive surgical
procedures. Dramatic tightening of skin, smoothing of
wrinkles and rough spots, disappearing blemishes, softening
of redness, and shrinking of pore size can be achieved
with this natural light treatment. In addition, the unit
can be used to effectively treat minor muscle and joint
aches, sprains, back pain, muscle spasms, the pain and
stiffness associated with arthritis, and more.
Three highly-qualified RN’s have published their
findings about the benefits of treatment that overcome
the complications of severe tissue damage caused by underlying
auto-immune disease, arthritis, unstable diabetes, or
resistance to antibiotic therapies. (Wow!—it’s
better than antibiotics?! I do NOT like taking medications
if possible—and this is more beneficial, medically
proven and validated, and…more affordable than
repeated hospital or skilled facility placement?)
Now comes the hard part: who to believe—the insurance companies
and which part of the government?
Well, it works for our fighting men in the military:
this has already validated in a NASA News, Marshall Space
Flight Center News Release 00-336 (12-18-00). Dr. Harry
Whelan, commander and diving medical officer in the U.S.
Navy reserve then assigned to Naval Special Warfare Command
and a professor of pediatric neurology and director of
hyperbaric medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin,
has been working alongside doctors at Navy Special Warfare
Command centers in Norfolk, VA, and San Diego, CA. They
reported a 40 percent improvement in patients who had
musculoskeletal training injuries treated with the light-emitting
diodes. In the laboratory, Whelan and his team have shown
that skin and muscle cells grown in cultures and exposed
to the LED infrared light grow 150 to 200 percent faster
than ground control cultures not stimulated by the light.
Furthermore, a wound-healing device was placed on the
USS Salt Lake City submarine, and doctors reported 50
percent faster healing of crewmember’s lacerations
when exposed to the LED light. Injuries treated with
the LEDs healed in seven days, while untreated injuries
took 14 days.
Wound Healing In A Microgravity Environment
July 21, 2009 by wfleonard
7 We have all heard how space technology can benefit us all here
on Earth; well, this is no exception when we look at LED therapy.
While the researchers in the field were fine-tuning their devices
for pain relief, NASA needed a means to the use of light therapy
with LEDs can help prevent bone and muscle atrophy as well as increase
the rate of wound healing in a microgravity environment, thus reducing
the risk of treatable injuries becoming mission catastrophes. They
worked, and NASA took the next step .... |
And it helps children too: Dr. Whelan’s
NASA-funded research has already seen remarkable results
using the light-emitting diodes to promote healing of
painful mouth ulcers caused by cancer therapies such
as radiation and chemotherapy. The treatment is quick
and painless.
Doctors at the Children’s Hospital
of Wisconsin recently completed the first-ever surgery
with the improved probe and medicine. The drugs also
has fewer side effects after surgery. The ongoing brain
surgery study is described in a 1999 peer-reviewed journal
article in Pediatric Neurosurgery. “Some children
who probably would have had to be fed intravenously because
of the severe sores in their mouths have been able to
eat solid food,” said Dr. David Margolis, an oncologist
at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee
and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical
College of Wisconsin.
Light
Therapy Is Used For Many Areas
We live in troubled times in which we are
losing the battle with health care costs, lack of insurance,
losing our jobs, etc. and have to start taking the time
and responsibility for our own health. We have to start
thinking outside of the box in terms of what we can do
for our own health
Where is Light Therapy
Used
Light therapy has found many uses in different areas.
For example, it is used to treat a variety of skin diseases
and it is used to treat mood and sleep related disorders
as well. Let us have a look at the various places where
light therapy is being used.
The same tiny lights found in electronic billboards
and traffic lights might zap away wrinkles and
lead to younger-looking skin without the need for
cosmetic surgery or Botox, say researchers in Germany.
The research centered on elastin — the
protein involved in skin elasticity. With age,
elastin fibers break down and the skin loses
its ability to bounce back.
Researchers Andrei P. Sommer and Dan Zhu of
the University of Ulm in Germany have discovered
that during aging, water layers surrounding elastin
fibers change and affect the elastin fibers.
This may contribute to the formation of wrinkles.
The researchers theorized that they could use
high-intensity visible light from LEDs to change
the molecular structure of the water layer to
free up elastin. They used an array of LEDs that
gave off 600-720 nanometers of light. To prevent
any adverse effects to the cells from the light
penetrating the skin, the doses were adjusted
to temporarily increase circulation.
After nine weeks of daily treatment, participants
had a noticeable reduction in wrinkles. The LED
therapy led to rejuvenated, younger-looking,
and more resilient skin, according to the researchers.
NOVA
vs. Botox Injections |
|
Botox
Injections |
NOVA |
Facial Expression
|
Paralyses the muscles of the face and impedes muscle
movement |
Improves muscle and tissue tone and lifts facial
features. |
Facial sag |
Can cause the skin of the forehead to sag |
Improves facial tone, making the eyes wider and
more youthful looking. |
Wrinkles |
Reduces the depth of wrinkles |
Reduces the depth of wrinkles |
Time of onset |
Almost immediate, some swelling from
the injection for about a week. |
When used as directed, gradual improvement
can be visibly seen after 3 weeks, continued improvement
up to 3 months |
Side Effects |
As with any invasive treatment there
are numerous side effects including infection of
the injection site and facial sag in the hands of
an inexperienced operators. |
No side effects recorded. |
Bags under the eyes |
No effect |
Reduces the size of the bags under
the eyes |
Loose skin above the top lids |
No effect |
Visibly Shrinks the loose skin above
the top lids |
Age Reversal |
No effect |
Rejuvenates the skin and superficial
tissue by as much as 10 years |
Acne:
It has been known since a long time that sunlight helps
cure the bacteria which cause acne. The visible violet
light which is present in the sunlight activates a porphyrin
that damages and kills the bacteria which cause acne.
And this process does not cause any tanning or sunburn.
However, during the course of this treatment, it is important
to protect the eyes from the light as this may be harmful
to the chemicals in the retina. This treatment has proved
to be more effective than Benzoyl Peroxide which is often
used to cure acne.
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Infrared LED light stimulates
your skin to produce collagen and elastin.
The infrared light produced by LED lamps,
aka photo rejuvenation, stimulates fibroblast
cell activity in the skin, which increases
the production of collagen and elastin—the
proteins responsible for your skin’s
tone and elasticity. More Light
Therapy Studies, Skin Rejuvenation |
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Psoriasis:
One of the common problems of people suffering with
psoriasis is skin inflammation. Narrow band ultra violet
B rays are given as a light therapy on the skin surface
which is inflamed. The ultra violet rays help suppress
the inflammation on the skin.
Wound Healing:
It has been found that infrared light releases nitrous
oxide in the blood stream which increases the circulation
of blood in the area where the light is directed. This
is very helpful for people, who due to various diseases
such as Diabetes find it very difficult to heal wounds
on the surface of the skin. This is also helpful for
patients suffering with Neuropathy, Ulcers and for patients
whose blood circulation is improper.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD):
People with seasonal affective disorder go into depression
like states during the winter months. This is seen in
places where the amount of daylight is very less in these
seasons (countries near the North Pole, for instance).
The cure for these people is full sunlight. So, light
boxes which replicate sunlight conditions are used for
these patients. These use artificial illumination to
re-create the fully lighted atmospheric conditions that
are normally present in sunlight.
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People with seasonal
affective disorder go into depression like states
during the winter months. This is seen in places
where the amount of daylight is very less in these
seasons (countries near the North Pole, for instance).
The cure for these people is full sunlight. So,
light boxes which replicate sunlight conditions
are used for these patients. These use artificial
illumination to re-create the fully lighted atmospheric
conditions that are normally present in sunlight.More Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD): |
Increasingly,
light therapy is being used to reset our body clocks – sometimes
along with melatonin and sometimes on its own-no
matter how or why they’ve been put off track.
Scientists are discovering that light therapy may
have potential for treatment of several other disorders
in addition to that of SAD. Another area where bright
light therapy has proven itself beneficial is in
the area of sleep disorders. Advanced sleep phase
syndrome (ASPS) is characterized by premature sleep
onset and early morning awakening. Future applications
of bright light therapy may well include any area
where a disease or syndrome recurs seasonally, shows
winter exacerbation, or plausibly is related to insufficient
or ill-timed outdoor light exposure regardless of
the season.
* Early Morning Insomnia
* Night-owl insomnia
* Jet Lag
* Productivity Enhancement
* Bulimia
* Late-shift drowsiness
* Nonseasonal depression
* Prolonged menstrual cycles.
Colored light therapy: Supporters of colored
light therapy (also called chromatotherapy) claim
that colored light relieves a number of conditions,
including sleep disorders, shoulder pain, diabetes,
impotence, and allergies. Others believe that it
can help colds and flu, stress, fatigue, high blood
pressure, as well as heart and lung problems. Practitioners
of one system of chromatotherapy believe that shining
colored lights on the body harms cancer cells.
Source American cancer Society web page |
Depression:
This is a non-seasonal kind of depression. But light
therapy has shown interesting results in the treatment
of such patients as well. A similar kind of treatment
method is followed for treating these patients as with
the people affected with SAD. The results are faster
compared to the use of anti-depressants.
Sleep
Sleep disturbances increase as we age.
Some studies report more than half of seniors 65 years
of age or older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances.
Researchers have long believed that the sleep disturbances
common among the elderly often result from a disruption
of the body’s circadian rhythms — biological
cycles that repeat approximately every 24 hours.In recent
years, scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s
Lighting Research Center and elsewhere have demonstrated
that blue light is the most effective at stimulating
the circadian system when combined with the appropriate
light intensity, spatial distribution, timing, and duration.
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
(DSPS):
People suffering with Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)
have problems sleeping and often end up falling asleep
way past midnight and thus have difficulty waking up
in the morning. In these cases the light must be provided
as soon as the patient wakes up. Light therapy is useful
for the people suffering from DSPS because it causes
dawn simulation.
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Sleep disorders can have many causes
and may be of many types; Insomnia is a
familiar amongst the many types of sleeping
disorders. Medication often proves to have
worst side effects and the body builds
a resistance or a dependency to the commonly
used sleep drugs as well:
More Light
Therapy for Sleep |
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS):
People suffering with Delayed Sleep
Phase Syndrome (DSPS) have problems sleeping
and often end up falling asleep way past
midnight and thus have difficulty waking
up in the morning. In these cases the
light must be provided as soon as the
patient wakes up. Light therapy is useful
for the people suffering from DSPS because
it causes dawn simulation. |
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Jet Lag:
It has been seen that exposing the person
suffering from jet lag to light at appropriate times
before, during and after the air travel can actually
reduce the effects of jet lag and help the body to adjust
easily to the time differences. This process has even
been used by NASA to train its astronauts for late night
launches.
Heliotherapy:
This is a very popular term which is used to describe
light therapy, and is used in spas and such places. These
places use various forms of light therapy to provide
tanning beds and booths and even tanning lamps which
use both ultraviolet and infrared rays of light for providing
treatment to their customers.
When not to use Light
Therapy
However advantageous light therapy may be, there are
certain times when light therapy is not advisable.
It has been observed that exposure to too much light
can cause skin damage as well as destroying the amounts
of vitamins A and C in the skin, and it can damage the
generation of free radicals in the body. It is for this
reason that it is said that light therapy should always
be taken in the presence of a licensed practitioner,
qualified doctor or dermatologist.
Light therapy used for patients suffering from depression
can also cause maniac states (which are the absolute
opposite of depressed states) because of the mood alteration
effect produced by it. As such, it can also be considered
similar to taking mood-altering drugs. Hence, it is always
advised to take such therapies under the consultation
of a qualified medical practitioner only.
In some cases, where the patient suffers from phototoxicity
(light can kill the cells), or has a photosensitive skin
or is taking certain medicines which can create such
conditions, light therapy is not advised. Also, with
patients that have a tendency towards manic behavior,
light therapy is not advised.
By Madhavi Ghare
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