Last Updated on June 4, 2024 by melissanreynolds
Yes, green light therapy for fibromyalgia. Not red light, of which we’ve heard much. I’m going to share what it is, the recent study, recommendations and options for use.
The research for green light therapy goes back a couple of years, but it was brought to my attention by an update from Dr Jarred Younger from the Neuroinflammation, Pain and Fatigue Lab. If you’re not subscribed for his weekly updates, go follow the channel, but I believe he will find our answer.
The study referenced is from Pain Medicine Journal and was published in 2021. Entitled Green Light Exposure Improves Pain and Quality of Life in Fibromyalgia Patients: A Preliminary One-Way Crossover Clinical Trial. It gives great hope.
Let’s dig into it a little bit. It was only 21 patients. And the average pain levels of the patients was quite high (8.7/10). The pain reduction was significant, we’ll come to results in a moment.
When my pain levels were that high on average, my nervous system was like a runaway freight train. There was no sleep quality, high brain fog, no reprieve, extreme exhaustion and immune system involvement (I was sick all the time). So it’s impressive that they had a significant response to something as benign as green light therapy.
The study
For in depth details, please do watch Dr Younger’s video. But here’s the summary.
Patients were exposed to green light every day for 10 weeks, for around 1.6 hours. They were allowed to do what they liked as long as the only light they were exposed to was green. This is simplifying – there was a period of exposure to a different light therapy and then a wash out (pause) before starting the treatment.
“They reported a statistically significant reduction in their average NPS pain intensity, from 8.4 ± 0.3 (SEM) (range from 6 to 10) to 4.9 ± 0.4 (SEM) (range from 2 to 10)”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7861466/
And everybody with fibromyalgia said, “I need some green lights now”.
Besides pain they collected information on, and found significant improvement in, pain frequency; duration of pain episodes; ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, work, exercise, and do household chores; and their overall quality of life. Looking at their graphs it looked like falling asleep and staying asleep was dramatic improvement.
There’s another study as referenced in this article, where people with fibromyalgia wore green glasses for four hours a day, for two weeks. It also provides a case study of a woman who sat in a room with green lights for two hours, every day for 70 days. She got off all meds and only uses them when her pain flares.
Was it literal green light?
Yes green light bulbs or strip lights.
Are there side effects?
Not that they could find. The only reason people left the study was a lack of perceived benefit. If you’re going to compare the side effects here (none) to those of medications (which may not work at all and sometimes not even partially) then the difference is staggering.
The recommendations for using green light therapy
Use green light as your sole source of light for 1.5 hours per day. There was a slightly lesser pain reduction in those who used less than this. They were encouraged to stay awake and don’t use other light sources – no TV or smartphones. Examples are to read and write.
This could be difficult for people like me with small children and busy lives. However – it’s worth a try. During my experiment I will try reading, writing, coloring, and other activities and report back. Personal thought, I wonder if it would super charge the results to do gentle yoga or restorative yoga in the green light.
Why does green light therapy help?
In an article on it from Health Rising they say, “Green light therapy also appears to activate melanopsin, a light-sensitive neurotransmitter in the eye that interacts with a part of the brainstem that plays a role in processing pain. Perhaps most significantly, it stimulates the endogenous opioid system, causing an increase in both beta-endorphins and enkephalins – both of which appear to be reduced in FM.”
It’s also said to help with circadian rhythm by promoting melatonin production. Some people with fibromyalgia benefit from melatonin supplementation (I am not one).
Green light has been in use for migraine for some time.
So what can we use?
They haven’t made outright recommendations at this point. There’s green lightbulbs, green lamps (often sold for migraine support), green light strips and green tinted glasses. They’re all relatively affordable and readily available.
My Experiment
I wasn’t going to try anything new for some time. But given this is low cost, high potential and no side effects, I had to give it a go. I’ve ordered some green light glasses and green lightbulbs. When I’ve received and trialed them I will let you know how they go. It was hard to find the best as green light as included in the red light section and that is much more well known. So we will see!
Affiliate notice, please note that some of my links may be affiliate links and if you make a purchase using one of these links, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Doing your own experiment?
I created a symptom tracking journal just for tracking experiments! It’s downloadable and printable so you can get started immediately.
It includes:
- Pre- and post- health summaries
- Experiment write up sheet
- Daily Health Logs for the experiment time
- Instructions for how to make the most of it
- Space for additional notes
- BONUS Symptom Plan and Flare Plan
