Light therapy
Light therapy is the use of natural or artificial light to treat various ailments, but primarily depressive and sleep disorders as well as SAD, Season Affective Disorder. It may be administered by a physician, physical therapist, psychiatrist, or psychologist--or done on one's own with proper instruction from a trained professional. While exposure to
full-spectrum wave length of natural sunlight is considered the best form of light therapy, it is not always possible for many people to get outdoors. Therefore, light therapy is often recommended with simulated sunlight from light boxes.
The form of light therapy most commonly used today is known as
bright-light therapy. It requires that you sit near a special light box fitted
with high-intensity light bulbs, which may provide either full-spectrum
or white light. This type of light therapy has been proven to be
particularly useful in treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known
as the "winter blues," a form of depression that occurs as the amount
of daylight wanes with the change of seasons. Light therapy has also been shown to
be effective for some sleep disorders.
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Two other types of light therapy are:
Colored-light therapy. This type of light therapy utilizes filtered
floodlights or small beams of light to bathe the skin in different shades
of color (usually red, but also white, blue, violet, and occasionally
other colors), sometimes in flashing patterns. Advocates suggest that
different colors of light affect the body by altering production of
neurochemicals in the brain.
Cold laser therapy. Also known as soft or low-level laser therapy, this
type of light therapy focuses a beam of low-intensity laser light at a
particular area of the body. The treatment is thought to initiate a
series of enzymatic reactions and bioelectric events, which stimulate the
natural healing process at the cellular level. Research shows that
cold laser therapy is useful for relieving pain, reducing inflammation,
and helping to heal wounds.
Adequate light is vital to many aspects of healthy living. For example,
light is needed to maintain the body's circadian rhythms, or internal
clock. These rhythms control numerous functions, from hormone levels to
sleep and wake cycles. Studies show that the eye turns light into
electrical impulses, which travel along the optical nerve to the brain,
triggering the release of the mood-altering chemical, serotonin and other
chemical messengers. Healthy levels of serotonin and other
neurotransmitters are very much involved in one's emotional well-being.
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