Light Therapy for Fibromyalgia

How Can Light Therapy Benefit Fibromyalgia?

The light from the sun is something that grants us life. Because of this, it’s important that we have an understanding of how it works and we utilize different types of light in helping us to be a bit more healthy and flexible.

That being said, light therapy has started to be used for fibromyalgia more and more. Why is this the case?

What exactly does light therapy do, and how can it help those who are working to relieve their fibromyalgia symptoms?

What Does Light Therapy Look Like?

So, this begs the question. What is light therapy, anyway? Some people get turned off by it right away because it sounds all “new age” and such. But, the truth is, light therapy has been used for a number of different disorders other than fibromyalgia.

It has been utilized for those who are dealing with depression and anxiety, those who struggle with seasonal affective disorder, and those who are dealing with other chronic fatigue disorders.

The light has been shown to help with all of these and more, and because it is natural, it has been tested in a variety of other contexts as well.

In light therapy, you may end up dealing with a few different types of light. Here are the three most common types of light therapy.

“Bright Lights.” Bright light therapy is a type of light therapy that focuses on your body’s natural patterns of embracing light and dark.

All of our bodies have a specific rhythm that we fall into, but the seasons sometimes mess that up for us, making it so that we have a hard time sleeping or relaxing throughout the day.

Bright light therapy allows us to get back into that rhythm by sitting in front of a lightbox, absorbing the light into your skin.

Low Light Laser Therapy. This type of therapy is meant to help reduce pain by focusing the light into certain parts of a person’s body, specifically where they are feeling the pain.

There’s no heat, so there’s no risk of damage – the low light lasers just help to relieve the pain slightly.

That being said, many people who use this type of light therapy often notice that the pain is reduced right away, thus making it a lot more bearable for you to cope with.

Color Lights. These lights are usually used for people who are dealing with pain on a daily basis (thus, it is what is most often used among those who are dealing with fibromyalgia pain).

This causes the pain to “shoot off” certain sensors, which then allows the brain to relax and to fight off any pain that the person may be in.

The sensitivity is lessened and the chronic pain sufferer finds at least some relief from their pain for a time. Color light therapy can also be used in order to help promote healing from an injury or for those who are struggling with their moods.

The colors used to do color light therapy are usually purple, blue, red, and white (variants are rare).

Other types of light therapy may be variants of these, but this is basically where doctors start.

The type of light therapy that is used on you will depend on your tolerance for it if there is any progress related to utilizing it, and how much progress you see regarding it.

It will also depend on your doctor and how they usually use light therapy for their particular patients.

 Light Therapy for Fibromyalgia

How Does Light Therapy Help Fibromyalgia Sufferers?

Alright, so now that we have a general overview of how light therapy helps people, how specifically does it help those with fibromyalgia? Here are the main four ways that light therapy can help.

As someone who struggles with fibromyalgia, you likely know how much fatigue you have to fight off in order to feel healthy.

It’s a big deal. Light therapy can help to give you more energy and gives you the ability to continue to move forward with your life.

Insomnia and inability to sleep through the night. This is linked with fatigue, but it’s not at the same time. Sleeping is really hard when you’re in pain most of the time.

The pain keeps you up at night and it stresses you out. By having more energy, and relaxing more, you can get better sleep.

Mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. We mentioned above that light therapy was first used to help with these sorts of disorders, and that’s still the case to this day.

Fibromyalgia is closely linked with a variety of different emotional and mental disorders, so it’s important to do what we can in order to get that under control. Light therapy can play a role in that.

You can feel a lot less stressed as well, which is always helpful when you’re looking to reduce pain.

Muscle pain and weakness. With fibromyalgia, our muscles and joints are constantly hurting, and we feel like we are unable to move.

Light therapy can help to relieve the pain that happens in our bodies and it can make it so that they are more flexible and that you end up with a better field of motion, which can provide you with a lot of relief and reduce the stress that you feel as well.

Light therapy can play a huge role in helping with various parts of fibromyalgia. By taking care of the person and integrating it into your therapy routine, you may start to see significant differences.

Have you tried light therapy, or have you considered trying it at all?

Either way, you want to make sure that you’re working with a specialist so that you can get the most benefit and keep an eye on your symptoms to see if it’s actually working as it should be. Contact your specialist today to learn more about this innovative, all-natural treatment.

References:

http://www.fibromyalgia-symptoms.org/fibromyalgia_light.html

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/723164

http://fibrofriends.typepad.com/fibro_friends/2010/07/phototherapy-healing-with-light.html

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