The scientific hypothesis regarding Low Level Light Therapy, or LLLT, is that light in the form of infrared or near infrared may cause a beneficial cellular and chemical change in the body. There have been a number of clinical studies and literature reviews examining the mechanisms and efficacy of LLLT in the treatment of wounds, inflammation and chronic pain. If proven effective, LLLT could represent a noninvasive treatment without the need of synthetic hormones or pharmaceuticals.
Weldemichael and George T. Grossberg in the September 2, 2010 edition of "International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease." Degradations in the nervous and endocrine systems mediate these changes as the hypothalamus and pineal gla...
For any acne treatment to be successful, it must act on one or more of these factors. If it doesn't, it won't help to improve your complexion. One potential option is infrared light therapy.
Light therapy, also referred to as photo-therapy, exposes a person is exposed to certain light waves to treat several conditions. In dermatology, light therapy is used to treat skin diseases and for skin rejuvenation. It is als...
If you struggle with acne, emerging therapies exist that use lasers to combat this embarrassing skin condition. Red light therapy for acne is sometimes combined with other light therapies or topical treatments. It is also used ...
Although oral and topical antibiotics remain a first-line treatment for rosacea, both patients' and doctors' concerns about the long-term risks of prescription medications make light and laser therapy a popular alternative, say...
As many as 32 percent of night shift workers and 26 percent of people who rotate shift experience shift work disorder, or SWD, lead author Robert Sack, M.D. reported in 2007 in "Sleep." Shift work can cause decreased alertness ...
PUVA is used to describe psoralen and ultraviolet light type A or UVA, which is found naturally in sunlight. In PUVA light therapy, psoralen, which is a prescription medication, and ultraviolet light A from a machine are used ...
Rather than undergo expensive medical treatments or risk the possible side effects of prescription medications, patients and doctors are taking a closer look at the healing potential of light, or phototherapy. According to the ...
Most common in the winter months, SAD is often blamed on the lack of sunlight during this time of year. Using a full spectrum light in a device called a light therapy box can help ease the symptoms of SAD and restore normalcy t...
Healing is the best way to alleviate pain, rather than masking it through the use of pain killers. Drugs can offer relief, albeit with physical, mental and financial side effects and are not likely to remove the source of the p...
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs further notes that PTSD can induce thoughts of worry and fear of danger, or cause nightmares, which makes going to sleep or staying asleep difficult. Light therapy is a means for regulati...
Circadian rhythm refers to the patterns of mental, physical and behavior change that occur in a daily cycle in response to darkness and light in the environment. When circadian rhythm is normal, melatonin, a natural chemical re...
Blue light therapy is a form of phototherapy treatment that applies the wavelengths of blue light to treat specific disorders. Phototherapy in the form of blue light waves is a standard treatment to reduce high levels of biliru...
While interactive light therapy is not a proven medical or psychological intervention, its developers claim it has numerous therapeutic uses. Proponents of this therapy--also known as the Flexyx Neurotherapy System or EEG-Drive...
Light therapy is a means for treating mental health conditions that affect mood such as seasonal affective disorder, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic, light therapy is recommended becau...
After crossing time zones, the brain becomes misaligned too rapidly to immediately adjust to the new cycle of light and darkness. Melatonin is a nocturnal hormone produced in the pineal gland in the brain that regulates how the...
A buildup of bilirubin can be related to certain illnesses, and babies can suffer from the effects of the toxin mainly because of their undeveloped livers. Light therapy is one of the most effective ways to eliminate bilirubin ...
According to the Mayo Clinic, light therapy boxes are specially made lights used to treat a wide range of medical conditions, such as depression, and mood and sleep related disorders. Usually, they give out bright, intense, whi...
Phototherapy uses fluorescent lights, sometimes called bili lights, to reduce the levels of bilirubin in an infant's body. Bilirubin is the yellow pigment in the blood that develops when old blood cells break down, states Unive...
Symptoms include exhaustion, weight gain, and carbohydrate cravings. SAD is linked to lack of sunlight and may be caused by hormonal changes triggered by winter's extra dark hours. SAD is often treated with light therapy, durin...
Most newborns do not need any treatment for the jaundice to resolve. Often, frequent feedings are encouraged to help speed up bilirubin elimination from bowel movements. If jaundice does not clear up on its own or is considered...
Blue-light therapy, also called photodynamic therapy, is a medical treatment that uses a photosensitizing drug and a particular type of light. The photosensitizer is activated by specific wavelengths of light that are delivered...
These sleep disorders include sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy and restless leg syndrome. Sleep disorder treatments include two types of light therapy.
While pain medications can decrease some of this pain, pain medications can make a person feel drowsy, dizzy and even nauseous, so some people turn to alternative treatments to deal with pain. Light therapy, also called phototh...
Some 85 percent of people, or more, will suffer from acne during their lifetime, and on any given day, most teenagers will have at least a sprinkling of pimples. While benzoyl peroxide-based skin care products remain the mainst...
Most people with mild or even moderate acne can clear their skin with help from an over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide product, but some need additional assistance. Dermatologists offer laser and light therapies, which can be eff...
Most cases of facial acne clear up after treatment with over-the-counter skin care products, but some bad cases resist the common ingredients in these products. For these patients, light therapy can help clear disfiguring facia...
It normally strikes in the teenage years and is usually gone by the early to mid-20s, and in most cases causes no more than a few pimples. But in some people, the disease causes major inflammation, deep lesions and potentially ...
A laser is a device that emits light of a specific wavelength. Laser therapy is the use of laser light to provide some physiological benefit in humans or animals. These devices produce laser light with a small amount of power i...
This leads to the buildup of a protein called bilirubin in the blood, which turns the skin and the whites of the eyes yellow. In order to treat this, fluorescent blue lights can be used which will break down the excess bilirubi...
The Mayo Clinic explains that light therapy is a method of providing enough bright, artificial light to those people to help them through their depression.
The condition is more common among women, older adults and people who live in northern latitudes, with symptoms ranging from chronic fatigue and difficulty concentrating to oversleeping and weight gain. Fortunately, light thera...
Over time, it takes abuse from the sun, toxins, bad diet, gravity and hormones. Collagen also begins to break down and causes lines and wrinkles to form around the eyes, lips and brow, leading to a loss of skin's former youthfu...
The FDA has approved the use of systems that use high-intensity, narrow-band blue light for treating acne. There are several such devices available, but Omnilux blue is one which uses LEDs as opposed to fluorescent tubes or bul...
Referred by many different names, a light therapy facial is often called an intense pulsed light facial or IPL. It is also known as a light laser, photo laser or foto facial. Light therapy facials work by targeting laser pulses...
A number of laser and light therapies show potential as effective acne treatments, according to the Mayo Clinic. Pulsed light and heat energy therapy has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat mild to modera...
These blemishes cause embarrassment and may result in reduced confidence or low self-esteem. Skin cancer can spread quickly if it is not treated. Facial skin light therapy treats blemishes and kills cancerous cells before they ...
You have many options for treating wrinkles. More invasive treatments include dermabrasion, laser resurfacing and chemical peels, while gentler treatments include low-level lasers, infrared light and intense pulsed light.
Most people feel the effects of SAD beginning in the fall. For some, it may last throughout the winter until spring has arrived, according to the Mayo Clinic. Treatments for SAD include medication, psychotherapy and light therapy.
Many options are available to treat acne, the most common of which are topical medications and antibiotics. Light-based therapies such as pulsed light are newer forms of treatment that reach deep layers of skin without harming ...
Light therapy or phototherapy is the use of artificial light to treat various kinds of ailments and is used in both conventional and alternative medicine. The Mayo Clinic lists several conditions that can benefit from light the...
Light therapy is an alternative treatment to antidepressant drugs and other therapies for depression and sleep disorders. An intense light used during therapy triggers a chemical reaction in the brain's pineal gland. This lesse...
To relieve the symptoms of SAD or seasonal affective disorder, doctors use light therapy. Special lamps that emit light at 10,000 lux, function similar to sunlight in the brain, triggering an increase in serotonin production a...
Cure your insomnia with bright light therapy. Bright light therapy involves sitting in front of a therapeutic light box for a prescribed amount of time each day. Therapeutic light boxes use diffused fluorescent light bulbs to ...
Light-therapy lamps for skin care help to reduce acne breakouts, skin irritations and rejuvenate aging skin in a variety of ways. Photo therapy can help to normalize the production of oil on the skin, the primary food source o...
Depression and sleep disorders can be treated with light therapy using specially-designed bright lights. Since the 1980s these lights have proven to be successful in helping people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This ...
