Green light found to ease the pain of migraine

Remy

Administrator
People who experience migraines that are made worse by light might be better off seeing the world in green.
While white, blue, red and amber light all increase migraine pain, low-intensity green light seems to reduce it. The team behind the finding hope that specially developed sunglasses that screen out all wavelengths of light except green could help migraineurs.

Many people experience sensitivity to light during a migraine. Photophobia, as it is known, can leave migraineurs resorting to sunglasses in well-lit rooms, or seeking the comfort of darkness.

The reaction is thought to be due to the brain’s wiring. In a brain region called the thalamus, neurons that transmit sensory information from our retinas cross over with other neurons that signal pain. As a result, during migraine, light can worsen pain and pain can cause visual disturbance, says Rami Burstein at Harvard University.

But not all colours of light have the same effect. Six years ago, Burstein and his colleagues studied migraine in sufferers who are blind, either due to the loss of an eye or retina, or because of retinal damage. They found that people who had some remaining retinal cells had worse migraines when they were in brightly lit environments, and that blue light seemed to have the strongest impact.

The finding caused a flurry of excitement, and the promotion of sunglasses that filter out blue light. But since then, a special class of cells has been discovered in the retina that process only blue light – and seem to be saved from some types of retina damage that can cause blindness. So there was nothing special about blue light in Burstein’s study – it was just that it was the only type of light his volunteers’ eyes could process.

In a new study, Burstein and his colleagues sat sighted volunteers in the throes of a migraine in a dark room and gradually raised the intensity of white, blue, green, amber and then red light. As well as recording how the volunteers said the light affected their pain, Burstein’s team recorded the activity of neurons sending signals from the eye to the brain using a tiny electrode placed on the eyelid. They also measured the volunteers’ brain activity using electrodes placed on their heads.

“We were surprised to see that blue light was no more painful than white or amber or red,” says Burstein. “They were all painful.”

But even more surprising was the finding that low intensities of green light did not increase migraine pain – in fact, it lowered the volunteers’ suffering. “I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have no idea why green light might be more pleasant,” says Burstein.

The brain and eye recordings taken from volunteers revealed that green light created a smaller amount of electrical activity, both in the eye and the brain, than any other colour of light. Tests on rats with electrodes inserted into their thalami also showed that green light triggered the least amount of electrical activity.

“Anything that can help the migraineur find relief from their headaches is useful, and this suggests that green light, at least, might not worsen their headache intensity due to photophobia, as much as other waveforms,” says Simon Ackerman at New York University, who was not involved in the research. “It does explain why certain wavelengths are worse than others.”

Burstein hopes that green lighting, or sunglasses that filter out all wavelengths of light except for green, might be useful for people with migraines.

Journal reference: Brain, DOI: 10.1093/brain/aww119
 

Remy

Administrator
I was playing around with the color therapy lights in my sauna for the first time today. Normally I leave them off because if I wanted to disco, I would go to a club. But I discovered that I can shift through the flashing lights and have it hold on a specific color....namely green! Next time I have a migraine I'll go sit in my green lit sauna and see if it makes any difference.
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
In the interest of possibly helping fellow fibies in pain, I'll post the specific LED info. 1--892-728-6031, about $25 cheap for LS-AC60-XX-XX/LS-AC60-118-GR. These are very specific 525 nm frequency lights, 12 feet long with a plug at the end, very sturdy, I never used Christmas lights but I guess that's what they are. The human protocol, as briefly described by the the older woman in the vid, caused me to fasten the 12 feet into an array on a 4 foot sided square wooden frame. I sat three feet away last night and tonight for two hours, no effect yet. It is kind of cool and spooky, like being the Green Lantern, bright enough to read by. I hate to get my hopes up as, like anything fibro, it will work for some unknown subset of people. At least it's cheap and easy to get but I hope this damn thing works. will let you all know.
 

Cort

Founder of Health Rising and Phoenix Rising
Staff member
In the interest of possibly helping fellow fibies in pain, I'll post the specific LED info. 1--892-728-6031, about $25 cheap for LS-AC60-XX-XX/LS-AC60-118-GR. These are very specific 525 nm frequency lights, 12 feet long with a plug at the end, very sturdy, I never used Christmas lights but I guess that's what they are. The human protocol, as briefly described by the the older woman in the vid, caused me to fasten the 12 feet into an array on a 4 foot sided square wooden frame. I sat three feet away last night and tonight for two hours, no effect yet. It is kind of cool and spooky, like being the Green Lantern, bright enough to read by. I hate to get my hopes up as, like anything fibro, it will work for some unknown subset of people. At least it's cheap and easy to get but I hope this damn thing works. will let you all know.
Cheap and easy is my mantra. Even if it helps a little bit - I think that's what it will take - a lot of things each helping a little. Good luck!
 

Paul Parsons

New Member
Hello,

I tried calling that number and it is not in existence. Can you please repost it? I would like to order those lights.
 

Steve

Well-Known Member
Call us: 802.728.6031

I apologize, sometimes the pain )$&& me up.

The lights are fifty bucks, not 25, I think, also wrong. I regret that, like dozens of Pharma and nonpharma treatments, they did not work for me though they appear to work well for some. Good luck.
 

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