 Bright light therapy influences on your body’s circadian rhythms timing. It is used to treat patients with such sleep disorders as:
- Early-awakening insomnia
- Delayed sleep phase syndrome
- Circadian rhythm disorders
- Shift work
- Jet lag
As a rule, patients receive bright light therapy at home, with a use of a light box. The light box throws out a standard dosage of 5,000 to 10,000 lux of white light when you sit in front of the light, at a certain distance, for about 30-60 minutes after awakening in the morning. Light therapy must be always used within the proper limits for light tenseness and length of exposure.
Bright light therapy doesn’t have any major side effects. Some of the patients have reported minor side effects such as headache, nausea, eye irritation and dryness, and dryness of skin. To lower the risk of side effects, it is recommended to begin light therapy very slowly and make an appointment with your doctor before use.
People that use the light box should do the following:
- Sit a few feet away from a light box for about 30 minutes every morning
- Try to avoid bright light in the evening
There are a few groups of people that might benefit from light therapy in specific ways:
- Shift workers. The intensity of light should be maximized during hours they are at work and minimized when they need to sleep.
- People that suffer from delayed sleep-phase syndrome.
- Frequent travelers. Light therapy will reduce jet lag for adjusting to new time zone.
Everyone should make an appointment with a doctor before using light therapy. The following groups of people should avoid it or use it only under doctor’s direction:
- People with such type of skin that is highly sensitive to light
- People that take medicines, which increase the chance for photosensitivity
- People with bipolar disorder
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