Blue light therapy for sleep disorders

A few months back, I was in a lot of pressure because of the submission of upcoming final project for my degree. There was much work to do but little time for it, so I started working nights. It worked pretty well in the beginning but the consequences were too weird; I kept staying awake throughout the nights with no sign of sleep. Automatically it also affected my mood and I experienced more anxiety than before. This situation of mine worsened to a point when I was left with no other option than to consult a sleep specialist who then diagnosed me with various sleep disorders. He also advised me to use blue light therapy as one of the effective ways to cure sleep disorders. I later found out that sleep disorders are getting reported more often now and there were certain reason attached to it. As an alarming sign, more than 70 Million people in the US alone are experiencing various types of sleep disorders.


There are different kinds of sleep disorders with each having its own causes and symptoms. Various types include irregular sleep throughout the night, the infamous jetlag syndrome, paradoxical insomnia in which the patient normally sleeps for lesser or more time than they think, periodic limb movement disorder in which the patient tend to move his/her limbs so the sleep is not uniform and insomnia that is incurable because of consumption of too much sleep medications. There can be various reasons behind such sleep disorders such as physical illness, consumption of alcohol and caffeine, use of medications that can cause insomnia and anxiety or psychological disorders. Well there are various medications and procedure adopted for their cure, but the latest of them all is the use of blue light therapy methods. Though it's a relatively new process but it has shown significant results for its effectiveness in insomnia patients.


The blue light therapy actually controls your Circadian rhythm which is responsible for the sleep cycle of the body. The procedure actually stimulates your brain with light with wavelength of 447-484 nm which actually controls the Circadian rhythm so to cure the various sleep disorders. The important thing to note is that the blue light therapy should be used properly because it can cause headache and other complications by any misappropriate use. Furthermore, there are some contraindications associated with such therapies but they are temporary and subside with every treatment. The prices of such therapy sessions also vary with about $40-$70 per session. Currently there are portable light therapy products available in the market for home usage. Such devices costs about $150-$200 and they can be used at home with proper guided instructions. Improving your sleeping habits can also help you cure these disorders to some extent. Routines like sleeping on proper times, not consuming caffeine just before sleeping and relaxing your mind completely can drastically help you get the satisfied sleep that you want.