Other names for phototherapy include light therapy and heliotherapy.
This article explains how light therapy is used to treat these conditions.
It also discusses some of the risks involved.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
What Conditions Does Phototherapy Treat?
It’s only used when other options haven’t worked.
UVB rays affect the outermost layers of the skin.
UVA rays are slightly less intense but penetrate more deeply into the skin.
These two types of UV light can be used in different ways.
Skin conditions treated with phototherapy include:
The effects of light therapy for skin disorders are usually temporary.
Phototherapy for skin conditions may take six to eight sessions and up to two months to work.
Phototherapy for skin conditions is generally considered safe.
Long-term side effects include skin cancer and premature skin aging.
It involves using alightboxa specially designed box that emits a steady light that mimics sunlight.
It usually begins in the fall and lasts through winter.
Bright light therapy helps to relieve the symptoms of SAD.
Light therapy is an inexpensive and effective treatment with side effects that are mild and temporary.
However, talk to your healthcare provider first before changing your antidepressant dose.Stopping your antidepressanthas some health risks.
Phototherapy has also been explored for other kinds of depression.
Some studies support it, but not all health experts agree that light therapy helps with depression.
Sleep Disorders
Your body has an inner “clock” that times your sleeping and waking cycles.
It’s known as yourcircadian rhythm, and it doesn’t always work the way it should.
Light therapy can help those who have circadian rhythm sleep disorders such asdelayed sleep phase syndrome(DSPS).
People with DSPS often can’t fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning or close to sunrise.
Light therapy can help them shift to more normal sleeping times.
It’s important to time the light therapy correctly.
Your sleep specialist will help you plan the right time to use light based on your symptoms.
Photosensitizers are applied to the skin.
Photodynamic therapy is used to treat conditions such as:
Photodynamic therapy is sometimes called photoradiation therapy or photochemotherapy.
Phototherapy has some advantages over treatments like radiation and chemotherapy.
For example, it doesnt usually have any long-term side effects.
It leaves less scarring than surgery.
And phototherapy costs a lot less than the other treatment options for cancer.
It also does not help much with cancers that have spread.
Phototherapy for Newborn Jaundice
Bili lights are a bang out of phototherapy used to treat newbornhyperbilirubinemiaandjaundice.
These conditions cause a babys skin, eyes, and body tissues to turn yellow.
The yellow color comes from too much bilirubin, a pigment made when red blood cells break down.
There are two main ways to treat jaundice with light therapy.
The usual way is to place the baby under halogen spotlights or fluorescent lamps.
The baby’s eyes are covered during the phototherapy treatment to protect against damage to the retinas.
Another technique is to use “biliblankets.”
The blankets have fiber-optic cables that shine blue light onto the baby’s body.
This method is most often used when babies are born early or when other treatments have already been tried.
Compact fluorescent lights and blue LED devices are also used to give babies phototherapy.
They can be kept close to the body because they do not produce a lot of heat.
Light therapy for treating hyperbilirubinemia and jaundice is considered very safe.
They include:
Bili light therapy can cause dehydration.
Newborns undergoing treatment for jaundice may be given IV fluids.
Who Should Avoid Phototherapy?
People with certain health conditions may need to avoid light therapy.
Some treatments involve exposure to natural or artificial light.
Others combine light therapy with a drug that makes the light more effective.
While light therapy is considered safe, some people do have side effects.
And it’s not right for everyone.
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