Bright Light Treatment Insomnia

If you are working with your primary care doctor or a sleep specialist for insomnia you can ask if this is an appropriate treatment for you.

Bright light treatment insomnia.

The standard output of a light box is between. Following baseline sleep and circadian rhythms assessment subjects with sleep maintenance insomnia were treated with timed exposure to either bright white light or dim red light for 12 consecutive days. In this case wake up time needed to be advanced by 2 5 hours over. Light therapy is thought to affect brain chemicals linked to mood and sleep easing sad symptoms.

Your body has an internal clock that tells it when it is time to be asleep and when it is time to be awake. Living with insomnia if you have been diagnosed with insomnia follow your treatment plan and make healthy lifestyle and sleep changes. Light therapy can help some sufferers of insomnia. In some cases light therapy can be helpful for people with insomnia.

The current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of bright light exposure in the treatment of sleep maintenance insomnia. The box gives off bright light that mimics natural outdoor light. With this treatment you plan time each day to sit in front of a light box which produces bright light similar to sunlight. The light usually mimics natural sunlight but there can be variations.

25 only a few of the previous studies that examined the utility of bright light for treatment of insomnia examined. Chronic sleep onset insomnia with late melatonin onset is prevalent in childhood and has negative daytime consequences. Some individuals with sleep onset insomnia experience difficulty falling asleep at a normal time but no difficulty maintaining sleep once it is initiated. Theoretically decreased daytime light intensity can also increase the length of the circadian period.

Melatonin treatment is known to be effective in treating these sleep problems. Bright light therapy in the evening before sleep would be indicated for this type of insomnia as well as for the more extreme version advanced sleep phase disorder. A unit of measure called a lux gauges the amount of light used in a treatment. Bright light therapy might be an alternative treatment with potential advantages over melatonin treatment.

Figure e39 2 illustrated is the use of morning bright light treatment and stimulus control ther apy for sleep onset insomnia.