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What is blue light therapy (BLT)? BLT is a non-invasive and drug-free therapy used to treat various conditions using specific blue light wavelengths. It can be used to treat.
- Acne
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and depression
- Periodontal Disease
- Neonatal Jaundice
BLT Is FDA approved therapy for treating various conditions. It has almost no long-term side effects and some immediate side effects that are ignorable.
Blue Light Therapy Acne
Acne is one of the widespread problems in the world today. BLT is the best cure as compared to traditional medication or other treatments.
Blue light can kill P. acne bacteria, which are responsible for acne. During this therapy, no other skin cells are harmed; blue light hits those bacteria and starts a chemical reaction that kills them.
Nowadays, you can do this blue light therapy at home. There are many BLT machines or lamps available online that you can buy for this purpose. There are almost no side effects of this therapy except eye strain caused by overexposure to blue light.
You can use blue light blocking glasses to protect your eyes from eyestrain caused by blue light. Almost all machines or lamps used to treat acne come with these blue light blocking glasses.
If you are going to do this at home, you must consult with your skin doctor before. You can use this blue light at the infected skin spot for up to 15 minutes, depending upon the severity of the condition.
This type of acne treatment has several advantages like it is safe, painless, drug-free, appropriate for all areas of the body, and there is no need to avoid the sun after the treatment.
Blue Light Therapy for Depression and SAD
There are special lamps that emit blue light, which can be used to treat the seasonal affective disorder or SAD. This seasonal affective disorder is caused by short days or less exposure to natural sunlight during winter months.
You can do this BLT at home. You can expose yourself to blue light lamps for 30-40 minutes daily to cure the seasonal affective disorder.
Some studies support that proper exposure to natural sunlight, which also contains blue light can decrease depression and dementia.
BLT for Periodontal Disease
Blue light also kills the bacteria that cause periodontal diseases. Even nowadays, there are special toothbrushes which have blue light on them. These toothbrushes can be used to treat any periodontal disease that is caused by bacteria.
BLT for Neonatal Jaundice
It can be used for the treatment of conditions in which liver function is reduced. BLT is being used widely in treating neonatal jaundice.
Specific wavelengths of blue light can penetrate deep into the skin. It then interacts with blood capillaries and neutralizes the toxins passing through them. You will have to use blue light with a longer wavelength ranging from 450 nm(nanometers) and above.
A typical treatment of this kind doesn’t take more than 20 minutes.
Blue Light Therapy side effects
There are no long-term side effects of this therapy reported so far. Immediate side effects in some people could be the following.
- Dry skin
- Redness
- Swelling
- Eye strain syndrome if overexposed
- It rarely causes Headache
- Blue light causes “bronze baby syndrome” in babies with cholestasis. In this syndrome, skin, and urine become brown color. These symptoms disappear after the treatment ends.
- It could cause a large number of moles in newborns. This condition is known as melanoma.
- It could also cause retinal damage in newborn babies because their retina is not well developed at that time.
Contra-Indications
There is a rare blood disease known as porphyria. People with this disease have increased sensitivity to light. If anyone has this disease, then he should avoid BLT.
You should avoid BLT if you have an allergy to porphyrins or a family history of porphyria. It also should not be used by people with lupus.
Blue light therapy is one of the modern techniques that is used to treat various conditions. As scientists discover more things, it would also be used for treating various other diseases. Blue light is also being used in treating skin cancer, but that particular therapy is called photo dynamic therapy.