(Washington, D.C.) People who suffer from migraines or other types of serious headaches could benefit from a new, drug-free, noninvasive therapy. Green light technology could be the answer to alleviating their pain.
More than 40 million Americans experience migraines, which can inflict debilitating pain. Employers annually lose in excess of $13 billion due to missed workdays caused by migraine headaches. COVID has made the problem worse, with ten states reporting a surge as high as 54% in migraines caused by stress and anxiety related to the pandemic. A new phenomenon known as “Zoom fatigue” also seems to play a role in the increasing number of headaches.
Of the variety of treatment options available for migraine patients, most are ineffective, expensive, invasive or all of the above. But now research from the University of Arizona Health Sciences has revealed a new approach that holds tremendous promise. Their studies show that green light therapy can reduce both the frequency and intensity of headaches, improving patient quality of life.
Participants in the study spent 1-2 hours a day for ten weeks in a room lit only by a white light, then spent ten weeks doing the same using a green light. During the weeks of green light exposure, patients reported significantly reduced pain levels and headache duration and great improvements in their ability to sleep, work, and exercise.
The UAHS findings further validate previous data compiled by Harvard neuroscientist Dr. Rami Burstein, a world leader in the science of migraine and headache pain who has been studying green light therapy for years. His work showed that a specific, narrow band of green light was effective in reducing photophobia (light sensitivity) and headache severity. The UAHS study suggested that this green light can even help prevent a migraine attack from happening.
Fortunately for headache patients, green light devices are already available on the commercial market, including a relatively inexpensive green light lamp developed and sold by a company called Allay.
Migraine patients are always eager to try anything that can help them deal with this inherited neurological disorder, which the World Health Organization has named as one of the 10 most disabling illnesses. Green light therapy could be the just treatment many headache sufferers need.