Green Light Therapy
Even if you don’t understand the science behind “blue light,” you’ve probably heard it discussed enough to know that the blue light emitted by your laptop and cellphone poses a threat to your vision, sleep cycle and overall health.
But it turns out that blue light’s cousin, green light, may actually hold the secret to improving your health and reversing the invisible effects of blue light. Thanks to groundbreaking scientific research into the benefits of green light therapy, we can now harness the healing power of green light to improve our lives.
What Is Green Light Therapy?
Long before scientists identified light wavelengths and defined electromagnetic energy, ancient civilizations such as the Inca and the Chinese worshipped natural sunlight for its healing powers. Centuries later, doctors discovered the therapeutic effects of both natural and artificial light in the treatment of rickets, psoriasis, lupus, sleep disorders and many other conditions.
Today, we understand that visible light generates signals that travel between the retina and the brain. Each wavelength of light carries its own effects on the human body and kick-starts a particular response when absorbed by light-sensitive molecules in the skin. That response varies based on the wavelength and color of the light.
For example, the blue light emitted from cellphones and computers generates the largest signals, while green light creates the smallest signals. It’s this small signal size that allows green light to treat conditions that other wavelengths of light can’t.
But green light therapy is more than sitting in a room with green lightbulbs. It involves exposure to a narrow band of green light wavelengths from a specialized lamp without interruption from any other type of light.
What Can Green Light Therapy Treat?
If you’re eager to use a simple, safe and effective therapy to address your health woes, consider green light for the following benefits.
Difficulty Sleeping
According to research by the University of Oxford, green light encourages sleep, unlike blue or violet light. In the study, while green light helped produce rapid sleep onset in just one to three minutes, blue light delayed sleep onset to between 16 and 19 minutes.
Chronic Pain
It’s also possible that green light can play a role in pain relief for people with chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia. Functional pain disorders frequently cause sensory hypersensitivity, which makes sounds, smells and even daylight painful to endure. New research suggests that green light may help adjust the pain-modulating systems that cause these overreactions in order to bring patients more relief.
Migraines
Green light is most well-known for its role as an alternative migraine therapy.
Some people experience a phenomenon called photophobia, a reaction to light that exacerbates pain and turns a typical headache into an unrelenting migraine. Research has indicated, however, that low-intensity green light may be therapeutic for migraine sufferers. In some cases, especially when used consistently on a daily basis, green light can reduce migraine pain and improve sleep.
Green light’s small signals are easier for the retina and brain to process than the signals of other types of light, which is why green light seems less prone to intensifying migraine symptoms. Regular sunlight and artificial light stimulate the nerves between the retina and brain in a harsh, unforgiving way, but green light wavelengths tiptoe as they travel.
This doesn’t mean that green light is a miracle cure for migraines. Rather, it offers migraine sufferers a potential way to minimize their symptoms and escape the intense pain of “migraine days.”
Skin Health
We live in a culture of anti-aging treatments and procedures, and research suggests that green light can address a variety of skin concerns. In particular, green light LED therapy can target dark circles under the eyes, pigmentation, sunspots and inflammation. Its soothing effects help to rejuvenate damaged skin.
Research also indicates that green light effectively stimulates the growth of new, healthy skin cells. For example, one study demonstrated the promising positive effects of green light on wound healing.
The Best Green Light Therapy Products
If you’re ready to try green light therapy for yourself, these products provide the perfect place to start. From desk lamps to skin masks, there are many ways to add the therapeutic power of green light to your daily routine.
Green Light Lamp
Green light lamps like the Allay Lamp are designed to soothe your eyes and brain during painful migraines. Even when you can’t handle sunlight or traditional indoor lights, this precise band of green light calms migraine pain so that you can read, work and recover.
Green Light LED Bulb
Green light LED bulbs work similarly to green light lamps. A narrow band of green light replaces your traditional 60-watt bulb to provide green light’s therapeutic benefits.
These lights aren’t regular bulbs coated green, but LED light bulbs that exclusively emit wavelengths of green light. This difference is key! Instead of suffering in darkness or avoiding daylight, people coping with debilitating migraines can use green light LED bulbs to resume normal indoor activities and reduce ongoing pain.
Research also suggests that green light LED bulbs can alleviate the intense pain caused by fibromyalgia and other hypersensitivity conditions. This provides a drug-free, non-invasive way to address a difficult chronic condition.
Green Light Skin Therapy Mask
What better way to nourish your skin with powerful green light than with a therapy mask? The Luma LED Skin Therapy Mask, for example, provides an easy way to shine natural light energy over your entire face to rejuvenate your skin.
This mask in particular uses 150 medical-grade LEDs, which produce seven wavelengths of therapeutic light energy. Each wavelength serves a different purpose in reducing wrinkles, boosting collagen production, and improving complexion. The green light wavelength in particular is proven to reduce hyperpigmentation and brighten skin tone.
Green light provides these skin benefits without the chemicals you’d normally be exposed to in standard cosmetic care products.
The Bottom Line
Green light therapy offers a new and exciting way to address important health concerns. Ongoing research will continue to investigate the full potential of green light in assisting migraine sufferers, rejuvenating the skin, reducing chronic pain, and many more applications.