Free shipping (DE)
4.9 / 5 | 800+ ratings
30-day money-back guarantee

What LED color helps against headaches?

What LED color helps against headaches?

It stings. Pulsating. Hurts in waves. Or presses incessantly. Headaches and migraines are one of the most common diseases that occur in our latitudes. More than every second woman and 44.4% of men from Germany are affected by headaches at least once a year. About one in seven women and one in 16 men also meet the complete criteria for migraine. Slightly more than 10 percent of women and 6.5 percent of men suffer from tension headaches.

Frequency of headache disorders

Source: JoHM_S6_2020_Migraene_tension_headache.pdf (Journal of Health Monitoring - 2020 5(S6) DOI 10.25646/6988.2).

If you're a headache or migraine sufferer yourself, you know how bad the pain is. How much they can limit your day. And also what effect they have on your psyche. Yes, it's true: a day with a headache is a lost day. And a migraine attack is a cruel mountain to overcome every time.

Medication can provide relief. But only if you take them early. If you wait too long, the best painkillers often no longer work. And to be honest, you don't really feel like taking pills all the time, do you?

We find: Prevention is the best cure for headaches, migraines and tension headaches. In other words, fighting headaches before they occur. And it works! Very well, in fact. In addition to sufficient sleep, a healthy diet, plenty of fluids and avoiding stress, there is another way to prevent headaches.

With the right light!

Unfortunately, only very few people know that. But you are now in the club of the initiated. How you can use light against the pain in your head and what LED lamps have to do with it, you will learn in this article.

The right LED light for headache and migraine patients

Have you ever had a really bad migraine attack? Or such a bad headache that all you wanted to do was crawl under your covers? Then you probably also know the desire to avoid light when your head hurts. You're not alone, by the way. 8 out of 10 headache sufferers avoid light during an attack.

People who suffer from migraines like to retreat to a dark room. Bright light conditions are deliberately avoided. But a U.S. study shows that not every color of light is perceived as unpleasant by migraine sufferers. On the contrary. Green light is even said to be able to relieve the pain.

Effects of color on pain assessment

Source: Migraine photophobia originating in cone-driven retinal pathways (Image: Effects of color on pain ratings).

The study was conducted by Rami Burstein, professor of anesthesiology and neuroscience, together with his team at Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA).

69 subjects had to rate pain intensity on a scale of 1 to 10 during an acute migraine attack. 8 out of 10 participants felt an increase in pain with bright light. With green light, it was only 4 out of 10. Subsequently, the intensity of the light was adjusted. And lo and behold, green light around 530 nanometers increased the headache in only 5 percent of the participants.

But the most astonishing result was the pain relief. At particularly low light intensities, the green light is said to have reduced the pain intensity of the respondents by as much as a good 15 percent.

The researchers' conclusion: Green light may be therapeutically beneficial for improving light phobia and possibly headache.

Light in green colors the solution?

So it's all a question of light colors? That could be a good thing. Migraine patients and headache sufferers could, for example, rely on glasses that filter out all color frequencies except green from the environment. Or they could use light sources that emit subdued green light.

The findings of the study could provide a neurophysiological explanation "for the fact that certain wavelengths of light, starting from the color-sensitive sensory cells of the retina, influence pain sensitivity differently," says the spokesman of the Neuroophthalmology Commission of the German Neurological Society (DGN).

The study set the ball rolling. It has brought completely new findings that have made some experts sit up and take notice in amazement. So whether green light is always helpful as a therapeutic measure for migraine and other types of headache still needs to be clarified. For this, the results must be confirmed in larger studies. Further research could also shed more light on the optimal frequency range of light for headaches.

Just try it out: Use green light against the discomfort

It may be a long time before further studies on the subject are published. However, if you are suffering acutely from headaches such as migraines, you might consider green light therapy. Or at least use green light to create lighting that you find comfortable in times of pain.

By the way: Light colors can also influence your state of mind and your productivity. And even your biorhythm. Blue light, for example, makes you awake and alert during the day. Less blue light - but more orange and red areas - make you tired. Warm white light in the evening helps you to relax. And that can be very pleasant when you have a headache.

Ring light with 3 light spectra - Lichtblock Luce

Tip: Take a look at our new ring light. It has three light modes that you can adjust according to your mood and the time of day. Red light for the evening, candlelight for cozy hours and daylight for your wide awake phases.

Leave a comment

Please note that comments must be approved before publication