Sleep is an extremely important part of our lives that we often don’t pay enough attention to. By now, most of us know that sleep is crucial to the body and we need at least 8-9 hours of it in order to function normally and give our internal clock energy.
But even with all the information available to us and the science to support it, we still push sleep to the side. In America alone, 50-70 million people suffer from some type of sleep-related problem. Roughly 70% of Americans have difficulties falling asleep once or more a month, while a staggering 11% struggle every night.
These numbers have been shown to be steadily increasing over the years and more people are becoming at risk of living a sleep-deprived life. Even though science cannot quite explain exactly how sleep works, everyone can agree that without it, we’re in big trouble.
You may be wondering, with numbers that high, what could possibly be the reason why so many people are losing sleep on a regular basis? Well, one of the main reasons besides late nights out is the rise of screen technology and the blue light it emits.
The blue light that can be found in cell phones, televisions, fluorescent lights, LED’s, computer screens and so on all affect our sleeping habits negatively. This type of light is invisible to the naked eye, but once it enters us from our electronic devices, it has an influence on our brain that can produce certain hormones, which in turn, make us more alert. But to fight this effect, there is a solution that involves a different form of light to counter the blue’s side effects, this is red light therapy.
Red light therapy, as you probably already guessed, is red-colored light. However, this light uses a combination of low-wavelength light and heat that can promote healing inside the body and out. It has numerous benefits not just for sleeping but also for skin problems such as wrinkles, scars, acne, cold sores, inflammation, arthritis, and so on.
This specific form of light positively affects the body on a cellular level, helping the cells recover and rejuvenate faster and naturally. It’s a completely safe and effective method to solve a wide variety of problems you may be experiencing without any medication or surgical intervention.
So you may be wondering just how does red-colored light affect my sleeping positively? Does the color of light really matter that much? The answer is yes, different colored light has shown to have different effects on the body, but red light therapy has proven to be the most useful when it comes to sleep.
The red light wavelengths emitted produce melatonin, a hormone created to promote sleep inside the body. Using a red light therapy device for the first 30 minutes of sleeping can improve sleep quality after a few days of use. Within a few days, your body will be reaping the benefits of red light therapy.
Luckily, Kaiyan Medical produces MDSAP-certified and FDA-approved light therapy products and devices for your own at-home treatment or even for your patients. We've worked hard to provide solutions for both patients and healthcare practitioners, catering to various needs. Whether you're looking to private label your own light therapy devices or for home use, contact our team, as we would love to help you through your light therapy journey.
While blue light is well-known for its teeth whitening properties, many people are unaware that visible blue light is also used in many antimicrobial therapies, including acne treatment, wound healing, sanitation, and even against antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA.
Blue Light can help whiten teeth, target and kill bad bacteria, and fresh the breath. On the other hand, red light can help to reduce inflammation, increase circulation and improve gum health.
Dental researchers have demonstrated in at least 16 clinical and scientific studies the ability of visible blue light to eradicate specific strains of harmful anaerobic bacteria, with efficacy being dependent on the blue light intensity, the wavelength used, and length of exposure. In-vivo human studies show that daily use of blue light in the mouth provides continuous suppression of pathogenic oral bacteria, and results appear to be cumulative over time. This includes suppression of pathogenic bacteria such as; porphyromonas gingivalis, fusobacterium nucleatum, and prevotella intermedia that are responsible for plaque, bad breath, and gum disease, including gingivitis and periodontal disease. Furthermore, phototherapy studies showed that blue light suppresses specific strains of bacteria known to produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), the odorous substance that leads to bad breath and halitosis.
The human mouth contains nearly 700 known species of bacteria. Typically, a human adult will have about 200 species. These strains are beneficial bacteria (probiotics) such as lactobacillus and bifidobacteria that serve vital roles, including immune and digestive support. Only about 3% of species are considered harmful (pathologic) that, if left unchecked, can invade and destroy gum tissue and bone, leading to tooth loss and potentially infection elsewhere in the body.
One of the interesting advantages of blue light phototherapy over bactericides like mouthwashes and antibiotics is that phototherapy targets the harmful bacteria implicated in infections. These carnivorous bacteria’s metabolic process is based on an iron-based pigment called a porphyrin, the iron obtained from food sources such as their host's blood. This pigment makes these bacteria vulnerable to visible light in the blue spectrum. Therefore, specific wavelengths resonate with porphyrins to selectively destroy only these pigmented strains of bacteria while leaving helpful probiotics unharmed. Conversely, mouthwashes and antibiotics wipe out all bacteria indiscriminately, and over time, this can lead to an even greater imbalance in the oral flora and more dental problems. Blue light studies indicate that as pathogenic bacteria are suppressed, the share of beneficial bacteria increases, improving the body’s immune defense against
Much like blue light, low-level red and infrared phototherapy is a natural, non-invasive method that has been studied extensively for a wide variety of applications. Red light’s beneficial effects stem from a complex but well-understood process that stimulates cellular energy generation through ATP synthesis. Red light has a biphasic dose-response, meaning that lower doses give a good effect, while higher doses show diminishing returns. At lower doses, red light has no side effects, is safe and painless.
Red light’s benefits have been studied for dental therapy applications, including reducing teeth sensitivity, reducing inflammation, increasing blood circulation, and stimulating regrowth of gum tissue and bone growth.
The moon shines because its surface reflects light from the sun. And even though it sometimes seems to shine very brightly, the moon reflects only between 3 and 12 percent of the sunlight that hits it.
The moon’s perceived brightness from Earth depends on where the moon is in its orbit around the planet. The moon travels once around Earth every 29.5 days, and during its journey, it’s lit from varying angles by the sun.
This moon’s movement around the Earth — and the simultaneous orbiting of Earth around the sun — account for the moon’s different phases (full moon, quarter moon, etc.). At any given point in the moon’s trajectory around the Earth, only half of its surface is facing the sun, and therefore, only half of the moon is lit up. The other half of the surface faces away from the sun and is in shadow.
Now, I took my first moonlight photograph in 1998, using my father’s old Kodak camera. The results were almost invisible, of course. It was pretty clear that I had no idea what I was doing. But I did know that the feeling of being out under the stars was one that I needed to capture somehow, and I had to find a way to go about doing it.
I left the moonlight photography for a while. Some years later, I read that the brightness of moonlight is extremely variable over a range of many stops and that it was nearly impossible to figure out the brightness of a given scene was going to be ahead of time. The brightness of moonlight under clear skies is as easily predictable as is the brightness of sunlight under similar conditions.
Several things cause moonlight brightness to vary. The most obvious is the moon’s phase. The brightness of moonlight varies by approximately a factor of 10 between the quarter phase and full moon, based on a diffuse reflection and the geometry of the positions of the earth, sun, and moon alone. This is about three and a half stops of light, which is substantial. Another factor is the distance between the earth, moon, and sun, which changes due to the earth and lunar orbits not being perfect circles. The distance from the earth to the sun varies from 0.9833 Astronomical Units at perihelion to 1.0167 Astronomical Units at aphelion. The earth’s distance to the moon varies from 356,400 kilometers at extreme perigee to 407000 kilometers at extreme apogee. The amount of light that falls on a body varies with the inverse square of the distance from the light source, so the combined effect of these distance variations can be quite pronounced. The range of lunar illumination variation is 6.9% for variation in sun distance and 30% for moon distance variation. This amounts to about one-third stop of brightness, which enough to change the mood of a photo when slide films are used.
The third factor in moonlight brightness is the so-called opposition effect. The surface of the moon is covered with small glassy particles that can serve as wonderful retro-reflectors. If you are within a small angle to the line between the sun and moon, the amount of light coming from the moon increases dramatically relative to what you would expect from a diffuse reflection alone. There is quite a range in the magnitude of this effect presented in scientific literature, ranging from a factor of 1.35 to 20! Whatever value you choose to use, the effect is at least one-third stop of light, making it significant to use slide film.
The final parameter that introduces variation into moonlight brightness is atmospheric attenuation, or atmospheric extinction, to use astronomer’s jargon. This accounts for the amount of light absorbed or scattered when light from the moon passes through the earth’s atmosphere. There are two factors involved: the amount of reduction per a given amount of air transited by the light (the “extinction coefficient”) and the amount of air in the light path (“air mass”). Three principal phenomena contribute to the extinction coefficient: molecular absorption, molecular (Rayleigh) scattering, and aerosols’ scattering (particles larger than molecules). See my web page on atmospheric attenuation for more on these individual factors. Overall, an extinction coefficient value is small for dry, clear air but can be huge for moist, dusty air. And the amount of air the light passes through can vary from one “air mass” with the moon directly above you to forty “air masses” when the moon is on the horizon.
So how bright can moonlight be? The brightest moonlight occurs with the moon at perigee and the earth at perihelion, right at the full moon phase. You can never have the moon at its theoretically fullest phase, right opposite the earth from the sun, because whenever the moon goes there, it enters the earth’s shadow, and we get a lunar eclipse! But assuming the eclipse didn’t happen, we could assume the following: a phase angle of zero, apparent air with an “extinction coefficient” of 0.11 magnitudes per air mass, the moon on the zenith so that the moonlight passes through a single “air mass,” the brightness would be 0.0462-foot-candles (LV -2.0), neglecting “the opposition effect.” If we include “the opposition effect,” the brightness could be anywhere from 35% to 20 times brighter (note that 35% is the more accepted value in the scientific literature, which would give an LV of -1.7). I once measured moonlight brightness with a Gossen Luna-Pro incident light meter in mid-winter on the Kelso Dunes at LV=-2.2, so this is a believable result.
There is a rule of thumb, sometimes called the Looney 11 Rule, which says we should treat the moon as being 250,000 times dimmer than the sun. This would have us use a shutter speed 18 stops slower than the 1/(film speed) value that is used in the “Sunny 16 Rule”, which works out to about 44 minutes at f/16 under moonlight conditions with the film having an ISO speed rating of 100 (uncorrected for reciprocity failure!). This is close enough to be useful under full moonlight conditions given an average earth-moon and earth-sun distance, with the moon high in the sky and clear air. Actually, since the sun has an astronomical visual magnitude of -26.74 and the full moon an astronomical visual magnitude of -12.73, the sun is more like 402,000 times brighter than the moon 18.6 stops. Thus using this rule pretty much ensures a minimum of 2/3 stop underexposure — which may actually be fine, since most of the time you want an underexposure to give the impression of the night in the image.
Surprisingly, the moonlight is actually a slightly warmer color than sunlight, as the moon reflectance is higher for longer wavelengths. Yet, on clear nights, with the full moon high in the sky (as little atmospheric influence as possible), the landscape around us appears blueish because of the Purkinje effect: at low illumination levels, our red color sensitivity decreases (as our vision system gradually switches from daylight (cones) to night time vision (using rod cells)).
That’s why the sunlight looks “warm” (more yellow), and the moonlight looks “cold” (bluer — because the insufficient light level changes our color perception), even though the real colors are pretty much the same.
In fact, this is can even become a real problem when taking very long exposure photos at night! They look almost like daylight photos, destroying the intended atmosphere of mystery. Objectively, the photograph is correct, but it is not what we see with our own eyes. Add some blue tint and the night feeling is back.
References
Have you heard of Chromotherapy before? Chromotherapy, also known as Color Therapy, is an alternative healing treatment to improve your overall health and wellbeing. But what does that exactly mean? Well, Chemotherapy uses different color light within an infrared sauna to heal your body from the inside out.
Chromotherapy is best described as the following: "Modern chromotherapy is defined as the practice of applying light in the form of color to the body in order to balance "energy" that may be lacking. It is based on the belief that each of the colors possess a frequency of a specific vibration, and each vibration is related to a different physical quality. An imbalance in the energy systems of the body, whether it be on the physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental level, may therefore manifest as an illness or ailment. It is through the application of colors are that the energies are brought back into balance so that health and harmony can be restored."
The power of light
Light is an essential part of the human experience. All beings follow light and need it to survive. Light and color can affect mood, health, and psychological reactions. For example, when we look at the ocean, we feel calm. When the sun is rising in the morning, we feel rejuvenated and energized. When we buy groceries, we seek vegetables bright in color, which indicates ripeness. While we may not be aware of it, we heavily react to light and color.
And naturally, different colors are used for different purposes. The following colors have an immense effect on the human body.
Combining Chromotherapy with infrared rays stimulates serotonin production, giving you the feeling you've been bathing in the sun all day. With infrared light creating biochemical changes in the cells, the body can heal from within, tackling health issues and injuries.
Chromotherapy has been used for centuries. Doctors use blue light therapy on babies with jaundice to break down the excess of bilirubin to exit through the infant's liver. Red light therapy is used to treat various skin conditions, while it's also used to treat people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SADs).
Chromotherapy can come in different forms and devices, depending on your needs. However, you want to make sure your light therapy device is approved by the appropriate organizations and made with quality.
Luckily, Kaiyan Medical produces MDSAP-certified and FDA-approved light therapy products and devices for your own at-home treatment or even for your patients. We've worked hard to provide solutions for both patients and healthcare practitioners, catering to various needs. Whether you're looking to private label your own light therapy devices or for home use, contact our team, as we would love to help you through your light therapy journey.
Color Light therapy is based on the idea of restoring balance by applying color to the body. Its history is rooted as far back as the Mayan culture.
In India, Ayurveda, an ancient form of medicine practiced for thousands of years, is based on the idea that every individual contains five elements of the universe that are present in specific proportions unique to each individual, including their personality type and constitution. When these elements are out of balance, Ayurveda works with the energies inherent in the colors of the spectrum to restore this balance.
In ancient Egypt the art of healing with color was founded in the Hermetic tradition, the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used colored minerals, stones, crystals, salves, and dyes as remedies, and painted treatment sanctuaries in various shades of color.
In China, traditional Chinese medicine incorporates color to be associated with each organ and elemental system. This healing method looks at the idea that every individual is a balance. The first color wheel was invented by Sir Isaac Newton. He split white sunlight into red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue. He then joined the two ends of the color spectrum together to show the natural progression of colors.
Light Therapy has been valued throughout history as a remarkable source of healing. Today, the therapeutic applications of light and color are being investigated in major hospitals and research centers worldwide. Results indicate that full-spectrum, ultraviolet, colored, and laser light can have therapeutic value for a range of conditions from chronic pain and depression to immune disorders.
Light Therapy has been reported, as part of a healthy lifestyle, to temporarily reduce swelling, relieve pain, decrease inflammation, accelerate open wound healing and greatly reduce overall recovery after medical/surgical procedures. Patients have demonstrated an increased range of motion, decreased muscle tension and spasm, and improved circulation.
Rejuvenating LED light therapy can be used for temporary pain management such as joint and back pain, sore or torn muscles, sprains, arthritis, post-surgical scars, burns, wounds, and more. When used with infrared technology, light therapy (phototherapy) is one of the most effective and non-invasive ways to improve overall wellness.
Light therapy is also used to temporarily relieve Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD affects individuals when the lack of sunlight results in seasonal depression. Phototherapy helps with SAD by resetting the internal biological clock (Circadian rhythms), helping individuals sleep better, and regulate their mood. Even companies, such as GE and Philips, have created phototherapeutic products to improve and regulate mood.
Light therapy is also a growing treatment for anti-aging. Many individuals have seen a temporary reduction in the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, and age spots.
Light therapy is “effective at improving the appearance of the face, neck, and chest by reducing the signs of aging, wrinkles and age spots”, says Web M.D. Combined with infrared therapy, LED phototherapy can be a great way to revitalize skin.
Color is light split into different wavelengths vibrating at different speeds and at different frequencies. Objects that ABSORB all wavelengths and DO NOT reflect are black in nature. Objects that REFLECT all wavelengths and DO reflect are white in nature. Between black and white lies COLOR. Colors are wavelengths of energy that, to us, appear as color because of the potential and capabilities of the object to either absorb or reflect the energy.
In the early 1990s, RLT was used by scientists to help grow plants in space. The scientists found that the intense light from red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) helped promote the growth and photosynthesis of plant cells.
The red light was then studied for its potential application in medicine, more specifically to find out if RLT could increase energy inside human cells. The researchers hoped that RLT could be an effective way to treat the muscle atrophy, slow wound healing, and bone density issues caused by weightlessness during space travel.
You may have heard of red light therapy (RLT) by its other names, which include:
Red is called “The Great Healer”. So far is the most popular light therapy. To wind down before bed, use red light. “The color signals that it’s night, which may encourage the body to produce melatonin,” says Michael Breus, Ph.D., an advisory board member for SleepScore Labs.
Red light can also improve your workout. Just one to five minutes of exposure to red and infrared light right before exercise boosted strength and prevented soreness, says Ernesto Leal-Junior, Ph.D., the head of the Laboratory of Phototherapy in Sports and Exercise at Nove de Julho University in Brazil. “Certain wavelengths of red and infrared light-660 to 905 nanometers-reach skeletal muscle tissue, stimulating the mitochondria to produce more ATP, a substance that cells use as fuel,” he says.
Green is the universal healing color. Originally, the color of love. Green is midway in the color spectrum; therefore, it contains both a physical nature and a spiritual nature, in equal balance and in equal harmony.
Gazing at green light can reduce chronic pain (caused by fibromyalgia or migraines, for example) by up to 60 percent, according to a study in the journal Pain, and animal studies have shown that the beneficial effects can last up to nine days. “Looking at green light seems to lead to an increase in the body’s production of enkephalins, pain-killing opioid-like chemicals. And it reduces inflammation, which plays a role in many chronic pain conditions,” says researcher Mohab Ibrahim, M.D., Ph.D.
More studies are needed before doctors can make recommendations on how and how often to use green light to treat migraines and other pain, and Dr. Ibrahim says you should see a physician before trying to treat yourself at home. But at this point research indicates that exposing yourself to an hour or two every night-either by using a green light bulb in a lamp or by wearing glasses fitted with tinted optical filters-may decrease migraines and other types of chronic pain
Helps to treat and prevent hyper-pigmentation by inhibiting the production of excess melanin which then prevents it from traveling to the surface. It will help break up the melanin clusters that are already on the surface.
Yellow helps awaken mental inspiration arousing a higher mentality. Thus, it is an excellent color for nervous or nerve-related conditions or ailments; fueling the solar plexus. Yellow has a very enriching effect upon the intellect. Yellow can be used for conditions of the stomach, liver, and intestines. It can help the pores of the skin by repairing scarred tissue. These rays have an alkalizing effect which strengthens the nerves. Awakening, inspiring, and vitally stimulating the higher mind promoting self-control. Typical diseases treated by yellow are constipation, gas, liver troubles, diabetes, eczema, and nervous exhaustion. Providing clarity of thought, increasing awareness, stimulating interest, and curiosity yellow energy is related to the ability to perceive or understand.
The yellow is used for treating redness, flushing, irritation, and Rosacea. It may also reduce the appearance of the tiny blood vessels on the nose and face.
Blue light therapy technology is an additional option for the treatment of acne. Research has shown in-office and at-home systems produce positive results.
“Blue light therapy effectively helps alleviate this common skin condition affecting 50 million Americans and 94 percent of all females, according to Judith Hellman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, in practice in New York City. Dr. Hellman, who practices medical dermatology and specializes in dermatological surgery, laser surgery, and anti-aging skin treatments, explains how the blue light treatment system works for acne, its uses, and her clinical experience with the technology.
It is used as a gentle acne treatment to control oil production in the skin as well as reduce inflammation. It also promotes the synthesis of protein and collagen.
Orange Light
Orange has a freeing action upon the mind, relieving repression. Because orange is a blend of red and yellow, it combines physical energy with mental wisdom, inducing a transformation between lower physical reaction and higher mental response. Thus, it is often referred to as “The Wisdom Ray.” Orange is warm, cheering, and non-constricting.
Through orange, we are able to heal the physical body (red) and, at the same time, induce within the mind (yellow) greater understanding. Orange helps assimilate new ideas. Orange is the best emotional stimulant, helping to remove inhibitions paving independent social behavior. Bring joy to your workday and strengthen your appetite for life. Orange aids in repairing inflammation of the kidneys, gallstones, menstrual cramps, epilepsy, wet cough, and all sinus conditions.
Purple Light
Violet is the last color we can see before light passes on to ultra-violet. Violet purifies our thoughts and feelings giving us inspiration in all undertakings. The violet energy connects us to our spiritual self bringing guidance, wisdom, and inner strength and enhances artistic talent and creativity. Leonardo da Vinci proclaimed that you can increase the power of meditation ten-fold by meditating under the gentle rays of Violet, as found in church windows.
Light therapy uses colors for their proposed wellness abilities in treating emotional and physical disturbances. Light therapy is based on the premise that different colors evoke different responses in people. For example, some colors are considered to be stimulating, whereas others may be soothing. Color therapy has been suggested for many uses, based on tradition or on scientific theories. Consult with a health care provider before using color therapy for any use.
Infrared Light
Infrared light penetrates to the inner layers of the skin at about 2 to 7 centimeters deep. Hence, it reaches the muscles, nerves, and even the bones. Many studies have shown that a frequency of infrared light, with wavelengths from 700 to 1,000 nanometers, is best used for healing inflammatory conditions.
The use of electricity for healing purposes began in 2,750 BC when people used electric eels to give electric shocks. Electricity and magnetism were used in people with just little success. However, in 1975, transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) was developed to treat chronic pain. It was not until recently that infrared therapy was developed to improve wound healing, reduce the pain caused by arthritis, boost endorphin levels, and bioactivate neuromodulators.
Infrared therapy technology allows people to harness the benefits of the sun, without being exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays. Also, infrared therapy is safe and effective, without adverse side effects. As a matter of fact, infrared light is safe and is used even for infants in neonatal intensive care.
Infrared light is absorbed by the photoreceptors in cells. Once absorbed, the light energy kickstarts a series of metabolic events, triggering several natural processes of the body on a cellular level.
Kaiyan Medical
In Kaiyan, we are in love with light therapy. We believe in the natural balance in our bodies. We develop devices such as the Aduro mask which will provide you with the full range of color light therapies.
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