Light Therapy For Ailing Skin And Stress

 by: Tiffany Pacchia

The Healing Powers Of Light On Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a skin disease characterized by scaling and since there are a number of forms of psoriasis, this skin ailment affects about 400,000 Americans. Skin diseases are difficult to treat in general and psoriasis is no exception. While many doctors prescribe topical ointments to treat psoriasis, it may be surprising to the general public who is accustomed to taking pills or using creams for skin problems that phototherapy, or treatment with light, is an effective treatment for a number of skin diseases, including psoriasis.

Phototherapy, according to scientific medical studies at several respected institutions, is able to clear up around 80% of all skin scaling caused by psoriasis. The right kind of light treatment also works well for jaundice, Rosacea, acne and skin fungus. For people who suffer from depression and SAD (seasonal affective disorder), light therapy is very helpful. With SAD, a disorder where a person is depressed during the winter season, a person’s depression is presumably due to lack of sunlight.

Simply turning on more lights in your house or going to a tanning bed do not provide the right kind of light that the body seems to need to combat skin disorders and SAD. What is needed is a special kind of light known as UVB and only a few manufacturers make light bulbs that emit UVB light. A person with a skin disease like psoriasis needs light treatment anywhere from three to five times a week and preferably every day. Few people can afford the luxury of visiting their dermatologist nearly every day for an expensive custom light treatment, even if it is highly effective.

The benefits of UVB are healthy for generally anyone, not just for a person with a skin disorder. For instance, sunlight and specialized UVB light are clinically proven to reduce stress. Maybe that’s why going to the beach is so relaxing. If you consider the lack of sunlight in most workplaces and the constant commutes during darkness, this might shed some light as to why many workers are so grumpy! For this reason, some forward-thinking businesses are starting to replace fluorescent lights with UVB lighting. Another benefit of the UVB lighting besides reducing stress is this lighting is much easier on the eyes and produces fewer glares.

The human body needs sunlight to create natural vitamin D. While modern humans can get synthetic vitamin D from milk or a vitamin supplement, synthetic vitamins are no real substitute for the naturally produced vitamins needed every day for proper health. Exposure to UVB light is close enough to natural sunlight that the body will produce the needed vitamin D.

Phototherapy has been used for decades to effectively treat psoriasis. There are home phototherapy units that can be ordered online without a prescription. These units are safe to use as long as the directions are followed. See http://phototherapy.biz or http://beatpsoriasis.com for more information on home units.