Green Light Treatment Shows Positive Effects on Migraine Sufferers

Anyone who’s had a migraine knows how debilitating can be - even more so if that person is a chronic migraine sufferer. At its worst, migraines can be all-consuming: you can't open your eyes from the pain, perhaps even suffering from nausea and vomiting.

Migraines are even more common than you think. They’re a more powerful headache, which usually affects one side of the head. Sometimes they come with warnings, but most times you’ll just get them suddenly, which is probably the most inconvenient part. Migraines can be difficult and painful. You could be having a regular day with no problems, and suddenly you'll get a jolt of pain to your head that feels inescapable.

Dealing with a migraine is often a serious challenge; you can’t just go lie down and take 30-minutes to rest up. It takes hours, even days for a migraine to end. And if you’re working, unable to take multiple days off, this is a serious problem.

Migraines can happen with or without auras. When they occur with auras, this means you see flickering light, spots, or lines. It can feel like your mind is playing games with you when in reality, it's a migraine forming.

Migraines without auras are the ones that come without warning; however, mood changes can be an indicator that a migraine is manifesting itself for you. Your eyes could start burning or watering, and your nose could be stuffy right before a migraine. They usually feel like a throbbing pain in your head, as mentioned, often on one side of the head. Neck pains and cramps are also something you could be feeling and experiencing during a migraine.

They often feel like a tightening of the whole head and body, giving a rather inconvenient sensation. It's not uncommon to experience vertigo and double vision, as well. Migraines sometimes feel incurable, precisely because of the way the symptoms can vary. You can experience one type of migraine and, within a few days, a completely different one. Sometimes they last for minutes and others, hours or days.

If you, someone you know, or a patient of yours is experiencing migraines frequently and severely, that person has probably seen a doctor for the condition. And though some people have shelves full of prescriptions, many are seeking something less invasive, without side effects, yet still effective. Well, luckily, there is a solution for non-invasive migraine treatment: light therapy lamp treatments.

Light therapy is a way of transforming your overall health. In a light therapy treatment, you not only receive relief for your migraine but also for your general health. LED light therapy health benefits multiply the more invested you are. Light therapy eases the symptoms of whatever may be getting in your way while increasing your energy and improving mood.

How light therapy can help migraines is via green light. While green light therapy has been studied for a while, recent studies are proving its effectiveness against migraines. A new study shows that green light exposure reduced the number of headache days per month by an average of about 60%. The light not only reduced the pain but reduced the time of the migraine, making it shorter and more bearable. Another study showed that immediately after light therapy treatment, patients reported reduced migraine discomfort by 20%. Green light also produces a relaxing effect and has shown a much better result at dealing with migraines long-term than any other form of light.

So by penetrating into the body’s cells, it regenerates your cellular system, and thus, the whole body. It’s a process that should be done in the darkness, at any given time, for a period of 15-30 minutes. With daily treatments, you are more likely to reap the many benefits of light therapy.

Why green light?

The idea that there's a link between green light and pain especially for migraine is being studied by several research groups.

Research led by Rodrigo Noseda in 2016 at Harvard Medical School looked at light sensitivity, known as photophobia, a common symptom of migraines. He found that green light is significantly less likely to exacerbate a migraine compared with other colors and, in some cases, can actually decrease the intensity of the headache. The group at Harvard has also shown that green light can "trigger positive emotions" during migraines, in contrast to colors like red, which are associated with negative feelings.

Dr. Mohab Ibrahim, the migraine study's principal investigator and an associate professor at the University of Arizona, conducted a study the effect of green light to migrain suferrers. The study shows that on average, people experienced a 60% decrease in the intensity of their migraines and a drop from 20 migraines a month to about six. Ibrahim's patient, Ann Jones decided to keep the green light, even though the study is over. She discovered that when she stopped doing the treatment regularly, her migraines reemerged.

Ibrahim and his research colleagues also found a connection with the visual system. "We basically made the conclusion that whatever effect is happening is taking place through the visual system," he says. "That's why when we recruited patients, we told them you cannot fall asleep when you're undergoing this therapy."

Ibrahim says his most recent research supports the theory that green light therapy is working in multiple ways: "It's a concert of mechanisms working in harmony toward a common goal." The effect of green light for conditions such as fibromyalgia, nerve pain related to HIV and chemotherapy and a painful bladder condition called interstitial cystitis is now also being studied by him.

Light Tree Ventures's light therapy devices are perfect for at-home treatments (wearable) or for use in medical clinics, specifically designed for you or your clients’ wants and needs. They are MDA-certified and FDA-approved, ensuring that your light therapy device meets medical and safety standards.

Reference:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/12/15/787138928/researchers-explore-a-drug-free-idea-to-relieve-chronic-pain-green-light?t=1618227646388

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