What is light therapy and how does it work?
Who has never heard of light therapy?
Light therapy is a technique that involves exposing yourself to intense white light in the morning, imitating that of the sun. This practice is particularly popular in winter in Nordic countries, when the days get shorter and the duration of natural light becomes (very) limited. Light therapy thus helps combat the effects of a lack of light. It is often used to treat disorders associated with the disruption of biological rhythms, including seasonal depression, characterized by symptoms such as:
- A depressed mood
- Persistent fatigue
- A decrease in libido
- Difficulty waking up in the morning
Light therapy helps compensate for the lack of light in winter by providing controlled exposure to sunlight-like light, which can regulate disrupted biological rhythms and improve mood and overall well-being.
But what benefits can we get from sunlight?
Light plays a very important role in regulating our circadian rhythms (wakefulness-sleep, meals, variations in body temperature, etc.). If this internal clock is disrupted, various unpleasant symptoms can appear, such as a marked decrease in the secretion of melatonin (the nighttime hormone), thus disrupting sleep.
Exposure to daylight, or artificial light such as that used in light therapy, is recommended to restore this balance. Light acts on neurotransmitters including serotonin, more commonly known as the happy hormone, essential for stabilizing mood, regulating appetite and maintaining a harmonious sleep-wake cycle.
Light prevention as a complement to light therapy
While light therapy is beneficial when used in the morning to stimulate wakefulness, it is crucial to avoid exposure to bright light in the evening, particularly blue light emitted by screens. This light can disrupt melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. Light prevention offers tailored solutions, such as the use of red light, which does not interfere with melatonin production and helps promote restful sleep. It will not disrupt your melatonin if you use it before bed.
Red light VS blue light: what’s the difference for your health?
Unlike blue light, red light is beneficial in the evening because it does not affect the secretion of melatonin. For example, imagine a couple of young parents, faced with waking up at night to take care of their baby. "Classic" lighting - in fact, light perceived as white contains a lot of the blue spectrum even if it is invisible - risks disrupting and blocking the secretion of melatonin in these young parents. These changes are interpreted by our brains as signs that the sun is rising and the day is beginning. So, when they go back to bed, they will have a lot of trouble falling back to sleep. On the other hand, using red light at night spares melatonin and promotes falling asleep. New parents will therefore have every interest in taking a light bath in the morning (natural or via light therapy) combined with a red light lamp in the evening and when they wake up in the middle of the night.
Such exposure to light will keep your internal clock in sync with the true day-night cycle.
How to integrate light therapy and light prevention into your daily life:
Use light therapy especially in winter when the days are short and the sun does not rise very high in the sky. To get the most out of light therapy, it is recommended to use it in the morning, as soon as you wake up, to simulate the energizing effect of daylight. A light therapy session generally lasts between 20 and 30 minutes. The lamp should be positioned just above, so avoid looking at it directly (risk of glare).
Why choose red light in the evening?
In the evening, all year round, replacing bright or white lights (again, they contain blue light) with soft red light is a simple but effective way to support good sleep. This light helps maintain optimal melatonin levels, thus promoting rapid falling asleep and quality sleep.
Byeblues: your red light solution for restful nights
ByeBlues does not offer you light therapy lamps, however ByeBlues is an expert in red light and offers an ingenious solution to preserve your natural rhythms, such as the ByeBlues Baby lamp. It is designed for use in the evening and at night if you have to get up, no matter the reason or the time of year. No more blue light, make way for red light. By integrating this solution into your routine, you can effectively complement the effects of light therapy practiced in the morning, thus ensuring well-regulated circadian rhythms. We are therefore talking here about light prevention complementary to light therapy.
By combining the morning use of light therapy with the red light of the Byeblues Baby lantern in the evening, you ensure perfect synchronization of your internal clock, thus providing more productive days and more restful nights.
In conclusion, light therapy and light prevention are complementary approaches, essential to improve your overall well-being. Light therapy reproduces the benefits of morning exposure to the sun, necessary especially when winter is here and the level of natural light decreases; on the other hand, light prevention is recommended throughout the year, where the use of red light in the evening helps you maintain quality sleep. Through red light, you will find the hope of having better and more peaceful nights. In short, science and light allow you to regulate your rhythms and synchronize your internal clock. Thanks to light therapy and light prevention, you will not only be able to save your days, but also guarantee restful nights.
