It's well known that excessive light exposure can damage your eyes, but this isn't true for all types of light. In fact, certain frequencies may even be beneficial for your eye health.
In this article you will learn how red light therapy can improve vision and certain eye conditions, as well as see the research that has taken place, producing some incredible results!
The light that is bad for your eyes
High frequency colours of light, such as blue light, deliver a high amount of energy in a short period of time. When this is delivered in an unnatural way, such as from artificial light (computers, TVs, smartphones, laptops and tablets) it can damage eye cells and may lead to macular degeneration (damage to the light sensitive cells in the retina).
Blue light from the sun can be beneficial during the day because it increases alertness and cognitive functioning. The reason why this type of blue light is good is because it is also balanced by the regenerative frequencies of light i.e. red and infrared light.
How Does Red Light Therapy Help Eye Health?
Red light therapy helps to stimulate the mitochondria to produce more energy in your cells, and the more energy that is created, the better they function and regenerate.
It also reduces inflammation which can occur in your eyes after perhaps an eye injury, or through chronic stress (as blue light creates). This can lead to eye tissue disruption and can cause deterioration in your vision.
In 2018, a study was conducted which followed 33 patients for 5 years, with the average patient being 67 years of age. These patients who received treatment with red light therapy had the following results:
- Increase in visual acuity (sharpness of their vision)
- Decrease in edema and hemorrhaging (less broken blood vessels and distorted vision)
- No negative side effects
Red light therapy and optic nerve injuries
Your optic nerve connects your eyes to your brain and is essential to eye health and vision. When there is pressure built up in the eye, it causes the optic nerve to lose function and your cells may start to die, causing vision loss.
A study done in 2016 found that red light therapy has multiple healing effects after optic nerve injuries. This includes:
- Restoring vision
- Retinal cells having a 20% higher survival rate
- Protection of the vulnerable cells from secondary degeneration
Other eye conditions that may be treated with red light therapy:
Macular Degeneration, as mentioned previously, this takes place when part of the retina that helps with clear vision, is damaged. This causes blurry or reduced vision. Red light therapy helps to improve the retinal pigment epithelium, a thin layer of cells that protects the retina and helps to regulate nutrients and waste.
Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye, usually begins during infancy or early childhood. A clinical trial performed in 2012 showed a successful treatment of a group of adolescents and adults with red light therapy, with significant improvements in their sharpness of vision.
Corneal injuries (scratches, burns, shards of sand, splinters and other objects) can be painful and irritating to heal, but red light therapy has been found to reduce the inflammation following these injuries. A study found that red light therapy helped shorten the healing time by 42% of patients who removed foreign objects from their eyes.
Diabetic retinopathy is where there are abnormal levels of glucose in the retina, which can lead to certain cells dying that are necessary for vision. Red light therapy has shown to reduce the level of these cell deaths and reverse diabetes-induced inflammation.
Glaucoma, is an eye disease that is age-related and can lead to vision loss over a period of time. While it cannot be cured, the symptoms and preserving the vision can be treated, which red light therapy helps with.
Mychondria Customer Results
Not only has red light therapy been scientifically proven to improve eye sight, but we've even had people using a device from the MyLight range who had improved vision:
Treatment
Since the mychondria devices are some of the strongest on the market, we do not recommend that you stare directly at them.
In fact, targeting other areas of your body and simply keeping your eyes open, allowing some side light to enter, is enough to see benefits in your eye health.
To conclude, red light therapy has shown and been proven to help protect retinal cells from damage, which means less vision loss, less inflammation and healing of eye injuries. It can also significantly help in treating macular degeneration and glaucoma - age related eye disorders.
If you’re looking for a red light therapy device to aid with your vision-related issues, or other bodily functions, then be sure to view our MyLight collection below: