Daily green light treatment may reduce fibromyalgia pain by 50%. I'll cover that research and let you know what I think about the approach. The published report is at the link below. - Jarred Younger www.ncbi.nlm.n...
Here is a Health Rising article by Cort Johnson if you want some more background info on green light phototherapy: www.healthrising.org/blog/2023/08/25/green-light-therapy-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/
*Check the update at the end of this post* If anyone is looking for a green lightbulb, Feit Electric Green A19 bulb has a peak luminosity at 518 nm which is very close to the study’s 525 nm light source. It does produce light at 525 nm, that’s just not where its peak is. I measured using a Sekonic C-7000 spectrometer. They are less than $5 on Amazon. *UPDATE* I just purchased (June 2024) a new Feit Electric Green A19 and they have changed it since I bought the last one. The new version peaks at 524 nm, even closer to the study’s 525 nm.
@@alicerowaan8748 Hi I'm in the UK and they were not available on UK Amazon so I just ordered 2 of these suggested green bulbs from the US via Amazon. It was quire reasonable. Maybe try it out?
I so appreciate you taking on fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other debilitating invisible conditions. I significantly appreciate you passing information on that may help those of us with these conditions.
Avalux has performed studies and have developed lenses for migraine sufferers that allows green light through but blocks significant red, amber and blue light wavelengths. May be worth investigating ...
I’ve just discovered your channel; immediately subscribed, and I’ve already ordered the light bulb! Can’t wait to try it and to share this with my mom and my daughters who also have “mystery” illnesses. I know exactly what 8.5 pain feels like - I was there last night, actually, as a thunderstorm approached. It feels like Voldemort must be nearby! A 50% reduction would be such relief - I can function at 4! It’s so good to know that there are researchers like you who actively study these misunderstood conditions and look beyond pharmaceuticals for answers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing helpful information with those of us who struggle to find an understanding health practitioner. And thank you for your soft tone of voice, LoL. It’s so soothing. 💚
I really do appreciate what you do. Your research is invaluable to us who suffer from chronic pain conditions. We need more research to be done on chronic pain, which is such a debilitating thing to try and live with. I’ve just spent the day in bed almost unable to move and I am so over living like this, it’s not living, it’s existing. Thank you so much ❤for
It's so wild to have this video pop up for me, because as a long-time ME/CFS patient, I'm of course familiar with your name, but somehow never found your channel. For several months, I've been kind of obsessed with the lighting in my room, because I've gotten so photosensitive, and green is really the only color I can tolerate for long. My room looks like an undersea cave!. I've been adding LED smart lights, so I can have precise control over my environment. Thank you for this series, I'm going to check out all your videos.
Green light also relates to the heart chakra and the sound 528 hz. I have been suffering from chronic pain in my fascia and connective tissues for a long time now and also found incredible healing on my journey out of pain. SOUND has been paramount for me, but sound and color can be thought of as different languages of the same energy. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Solfeggio Frequencies for those looking for healing in this regard. Thousand of playlists out there The channel Meditative Mind has many options. Love and light to all. May we all find peace and healing. Thank you for this green light share. I will explore further. Gratitude.
I caught Covid in April of 2021, over 150 days on the ventilator and deep sedation. Came home Dec 29th, 2021. Beat the crap out of me, still lots of pain, fatigue, brain fog etc. I just now found your channel and subscribed. I have some catching up to do . Now back to your video.
You can find a lot of real and good information regarding long COVID symptoms there good drs, therapies for the brain and not chemical medication most are supplements and you can choose what you think it sounds to you on your symptoms
I am now in remission from ME/CFS with the help of LSD. I strongly urge you to do research on this. I dose 200 Mikrogramms every 4 days. I have walked outside every day and I have no resistance or discomfort at all. Yesterday I walked 20k steps, and today 7k steps and my muscles feel normal.
Thanks for the comment. I am working with Peter Hendricks now on a psilocybin study, but have not pursued LSD yet. The clinical psychologists are required to sit with the participant for the entire session (even with micro dose), and I think the length of the LSD sessions could be problematic. but the research in these compounds is increasing rapidly now. - Jarred Younger
I’m hearing ayahuasca , DMT, psilocybin but haven’t yet heard of using lsd. Paul Stamets’ work in mycology proves fungi & mushrooms do work for many diseases including depression, inflammation, even cancers. Problem: where do we find anything unless it’s in a clinical trial and we qualify for said study? Do you have a doctor working with you, or a Shaman? I can’t afford to fly to Peru, but I’m so tired of pain. Thank you.
@@Truerealism747not autism but was recently diagnosed with ADHD by bone marrow transplant unit at UMass. I just saw Onc there and mentioned Dr. Youngers research studies. Specified in Blood cancers, the Onc’s don’t have a lot of Interest in pain. They are there to detect molecular changes only and to treat said disease. Unfortunately the Palliative Care group reveals no alternative treatment for FM. However I was treated for pain with opioids which, as Dr Younger states it does alleviate stress and inflammation-caused depression and anxiety. My FM was Not the initial diagnosis. I was 15 years into leukemia treatment when my Palliative Care Dr ( at that time) added FM to my diagnosis. I elected to get off opioids because I was told they were causing my pain ( I’m an idiot!) so I was assigned to a psychiatrist who just dxd the ADHD: no treatment followed.
@@Careabout211 something about the antiinflammatory, and antidepressant and neuroplastic effects helped my nervous system get outof a stable state back to a functional state, the way the conscious mind couples with the autonomic nervous system seemed to be the problem for me. all my pots is gone. my internal tremor is gone. i can listen to music like normal without getting fatigued.
Also, if you attached affiliate links to stuff like green lights or products that help people and made the money of those affiliate links go to your research, I think people would support you in that
Thanks. Affiliate links are probably a ways off. This channel is officially associated with my academic institute, and they are still learning about RU-vid and associated fund raising options. They may allow it in the future once they have a good system in place to monitor things. - Jarred Younger
well, i'm going to try that again . . . and i'll let you know how it goes . i tried it before and i really couldn't get a green light bulb believe it or not - i had an old one and it blew. So, here i am again, i have severe fibromyalgia , this year it's so bad i only get out of bed for about 3 hours a night and go ut at 2 in the morning for a bike ride. Then back to bed. A head injury and migraines go with that. So i'm going to get two types of bulbs that i can afford - bulbs that go in lamps and decorative strips i can plug in. Lets hope for something good.
I can relate. Somehow I’m running a business, homeschooling and self Healing. It’s so hard for ppl like us to function to do simple things most others may take for granted because it’s easy for them. On an another note, I’m experimenting with Dr. Gabor Mate” info and somatic release as well as light language, meditation, rife machine beats and mysticism alongside using my dowsing rods to find things that agitate my condition. So far I have gotten off of a pain med I took for 20 years and weaned down to a lower level pain med using these methods. I’m Also Using zeolite to detox heavy metals, heal my gut and adapting a soft lifestyle as a supportive way to heal. I blog my experiences on my channel and after 2 NDE’S which are documented on my channel from 2006 and 2009, my spiritual abilities increased despite the chronic pain. I’m beginning to believe ppl with chronic pain have beautiful gifts. Just as a blind person has a keen sense of healing and smell. The universe has a way of giving us something to compensate for what we don’t have which is such a soothing thing to believe. Good luck to u🍀 and all Others struggling with chronic pain.
@@ldirk58601 magnesium is fantastic , my pain specialist used to inject it into my muscles and i would take supplements too - i can't seem to find a supplement my stomach will deal with right now - but, yes, it is the thing that made the differnce
Interesting! Perhaps do a trial contrasting the red light UV therapy which is researched to boost atp and enhance energy/reduce muscular pain versus the green light.
Yep! I'm guessing that would work just as well. As long as it is close to the nanometer range (and approximate intensity) used in the studies, we would expect the same results. It is actually pretty expensive to test if the green light is 525 nm. I'd like to see the studies use slightly varying wavelengths to see how wide of a range can be used with the same effects. - Jarred Younger
That is an "efficient clinical trial design". 😀 I can't ask anyone to try it, but I'd be interested to hear the experiences people have! - Jarred Younger
Ohhh! Btw, the Spectrum colors are used in Meditation and correspond with our Chakras. Green hits chest, solar plexus. Indigo is our frontal lobe. Purple, Third eye, Etc. hmmmmm
Yes, green is associated with the heart chakras. Not to mention, in some countries doctors prescribe a “forest bath”. As we all know, trees are green. There is definitely something to this. I wonder if it helps CFS? I hope so. It’s hard for me to leave the house anymore.
@@deborahchapman222 so even though the link Dr Younger posted was giving me feedback from patients in August 2023 saying “ no truth it works “ ( apparently they’d done the study, bought the lights, sunglasses) they saw no difference in “ cluster or migraine headaches,” after months of use over suggested time per day. However, Today In New England was a perfect day, not too hot, sunny, slight breeze. I took my dog for a walk and stood on a trail under a canopy of green leaves under the sun. I stood for a while just staring into that” green” and was surprised I had even enough energy to play my violin for a few minutes. Perhaps it’s psychosomatic, but there’s definitely something to our response to trees and sunlight ( duh😆) but I know I’ll wake up unable to move in the morning, cos when we feel ok - we tend to overdo ! Back to the drawing board ( but it’s No wonder we have an entire species wracked with pain & fatigue) gosh I hope you ❤️🩹 better!
That could be a good cheap/free option (just the electricity for the screen). I haven't used it. The only caveat I can think of is that people's monitors vary considerably on what colors they project, and the program can't know that information (unless it has settings for standard monitors or it interfaces with calibration equipment). But my understanding is that if it looks like classic green light, it should be close enough to the target wavelength. - Jarred Younger
Yep I'd like to see more studies like that. Sunglasses could be made to notch out a specific range and still give most of the visible color spectrum for daily use. - Jarred Younger
@@youngerlabI used to wear sunglasses with green lenses( but I was perfectly fine then) and was laughed at in college. Idk why I bought them but I’m going to try this!)
@@Truerealism747 yes I have Fibromyalgia now but I believe that is a by-product from years on chemotherapy and bio therapy. Back when I had green sunglasses, I was college age( 1979) and had PERFECT health. I went on to present with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2000. Have battled it 24 yrs. Diagnosis of FM was 2012.
@@ZeroGravitas I use green just after I wake up and red a couple of hours before bed.Its working. My circadian rhythms are disrupted due to adrenal fatigue.
There are a lot of studies online on the efficacy of redlight/infrared light therapy in the spectrum between 660nm and 810 also done on patients with neuro inflammation or other related diseases. O, and it’s kinda trendy in the biohacking industry.. but nevertheless, maybe u can look into it, it’s very interesting how just light can improve (according to studies) so many symptoms… 😅
Am studying light therapy in general.red light shows up consistently, + little on green light.. remembering outdoor early sunlight the best ifive in good area.. would like more info on comparison studies between the 2, always enjoyyr informative presentations, tu🙏💞
Good point. I am behind on the red light work. The last I checked there was some interesting animal model work with inflammatory markers, but I need to see if the work has progressed to patients. Thanks! - Jarred Younger
As I'm laying here with my pulsed 660nm and 840nm red light on my back after overdoing it today. I swear by it for my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/ MCAS mediated pain.
@@youngerlab You might find NEURAL REGENERATION RESEARCH｜Vol 16｜No.6｜June 2021｜1177 "Current application and future directions of photobiomodulation in central nervous diseases" a helpful place to start even if it's already a few years old. Animals + humans.
I do light therapy in winter. I wonder if it’s a similar frequency if I just put green gel’s taped to cover the light box. I’m a photographer so I also have some multi colored bulbs and one is green. They’re like a few bucks at the store. I’ll just put one in my lamp. Just curious about the frequency. I see the study is linked so I’ll have to look.
Suggestion to report on the wavelength used. For photosynthesis plants use light that can be described to a tenth of wavelength. There is old red light therapy research that found tissue responds to bands of wavelength. Important to note that a lot of red light devices fall outside these bands of wavelengths that a biological active! Red light and near infra red light interacts with stem cells and mitochondria energy system, cell wall. this is the first time I hear about green light look forward what you find.
Red (633nm) reduces inflammation, pigmentation, and redness and helps prompt cellular repair and circulation for a more vibrant complexion. Near-infrared (830nm) targets deeper fibroblast cells, stimulating new collagen and elastin production, resulting in plumper, firmer, more youthful looking skin.
The green and red/near-infrared literatures are mostly separate with different histories. I agree with the comments that red/NIR light seems more applicable to some inflammatory issues, skin problems, and wound healing/pain. - Jarred Younger
Have u seen the clinical papers that compute levels of pain among different types of pain such as labor pain, pancreatic cancer and sickle cell disease? If not I’d love to hear your perspective. I think this way of measuring may help chronic pain sufferers to be seen as honest versus malingers seeking drugs.
It is true that the standard 0 - 10 pain scale used clinically has drawbacks, mainly because of how people use the scale so differently. And many times people go through life thinking a bee sting is the worst pain possible, until they get hit by a kidney stone or something similar. Then how they rate pain changes drastically. - Jarred Younger
@@youngerlabI was always given a 1-10 scale. Having only slight pain episodes during my life( never broke a bone, never had a surgery, and childbirth is what it is, ( we forget when baby arrives) it was incredibly confounding to be suddenly up all night with intense bone pain; long bones in legs, joints. I never lied on scale so when I knew it was at 8-9 I was in trouble. I can imagine other situations that would go over that scale- but do not want to.
I still do not understand why “ cancer pain” is still invalidated by some doctors. It’s really frustrating that people who did not need medication abused it.
@@youngerlab when I'm asked to rate on this scale, I make sure to tell that I 've experienced prolonged episodes of trigeminal neuralgia, which would be a 10+. But unless it's a neurologist, they usually still don't really get it. I'd be trying not to scream with the neuralgia, and hospital staff trying to evaluate me for drug seeker. Opioids don't even work on that condition anyway, and I have no history of use or abuse.
Maybe blue green would reduce pain without making you sleepy? 😂 I’ve heard red light for sleep. There was a movie I watched as a kid that makes me seriously dislike red light. As for sunlight, it can make me sick after too much time in it. Maybe green light won’t do that?
Thanks for another informative video! I'm most interested in the animal studies since the placebo effect isn't an issue. Since the effect is mediated by an increase in endogenous opioids, is it possible there could be reduction in efficacy over time due to tolerance? Could there be negative side effects? Is there a difference between opioid drug use and increased endogenous opioid production in terms of cancer risk? (I'm guessing this is safe, but it would be nice to have downsides ruled out) I'm going to try this. I have experienced really profound pain relief from going outside in the sun to garden. I had thought it was an effect of red light on mitochondria. Now that it's a bit too hot to go outside often, I'll try getting a green LED. I also suffer from migraines and of course I don't go anywhere near sunlight when I have a migraine! TTFD also really helped my neuropathy symptoms - they are pretty much gone now; I had been taking a B complex with plenty of thiamine HCl (Pure Encapsulations), so the form really made a difference for me. I had started the TTFD in hopes of helping with my IBS-C, but I haven't noticed much improvement in constipation/gut motility.
Interesting coincidence, I have been trying green kasina meditation for a while now - which has produced some very interesting effects, though I'm not sure if any relate to pain reduction. My overall sense of well being has improved.
Good questions. The light is not going to cause release of opioids anything like taking analgesic medicine. These are going to be small changes with the central nervous system. The animal literature does not show a change of opioid levels in the blood with green light. The effect seems to be isolated to the brain and spinal cord. I have never seen a bit of evidence to suggest endogenous opioids can cause cancer. It is possible for opioids to change the rate of growth in an existing tumor, but the small changes we are seeing in the studies make it very unlikely there is a link between green light and tumors. Good luck! - Jarred Younger
@@rhyothemisprinceps1617 I have been using Kratom and the red strain is supposed to help but GREEN works best. I still don’t understand how to apply this light.
I’m in a lot of pain last few weeks. I need to try this. Let me ask: palliative care put me on Suboxone after 20 years of opioids. ( I have CML) & FM,) will this Light work if the Suboxone binds to receptors in frontal lobe?
@@Careabout211 Well, hopefully Dr Younger can weigh in, but a paper from 2017 titled 'Long-lasting antinociceptive effects of green light in acute and chronic pain in rats' reported that "Twenty μg, intrathecal (i.t.) of naloxone also reversed the antinociception (Fig. 6A). These results suggest that GLED exposure likely elicits antinociception via release of endogenous opioids."
There have been two studies that showed green sunglasses work similarly to the LEDs. But they need to be made to truly allow green light through and nothing else. Standard green-tinted sunglasses probably would not be good. But it should be ok with glasses made specifically for clinical use and providing information on the light being passed through. - Jarred Younger
I’m just listening to a BBC Sliced Bread episode about LED facemasks and it occurred to me that if one of these had green LEDs might that be of benefit?
It might. It may be a bit too direct if worn on the face, but my understanding is that as long as the proper wavelength (basically green) is reaching the eyes, it would trigger the relevant physiologic effects. - Jarred Younger
Wow this is a game changer for sufferers. Thanks for sharing this awesome aid for pain. You have said do it during the day, but there would be also natural light from the sun throughout the day. So do we close all curtains and try to blackout the room or not worry!
Hi. I meant to say people typically use the green light at night so they avoid the problem of conflicting daylight. It is reported to not interfere with sleep, so it seems ok to use later in the day. If used during the day, I would try to block out as much other light as reasonably possible. - Jarred Younger
When I was doing my PhD, we covered the nasty fluorescent strip lights in our office with pale blue-turquoise crepe paper. Massively reduced my migraines (which are triggered by fluorescent lights) and made the room much more pleasant
Can you explain the difference between full spectrum/white lights and things like green lights/red lights? How come indoor led lights or full-spectrum lights don't seem to have effects like this?
That is actually my #1 question as well. There may be an easy answer, but I will have to ask the lead authors on one of these papers. Maybe it is like how a musical note becomes unidentifiable and just white noise when combined with all the others. I don't know much about the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, but I am guessing its behavior and outputs to the visual cortex are going to differ considerably under narrow and full spectrum light conditions. I'll see what the experts say. - Jarred Younger
Wait, what? Why no off label drugs when safe and effective? Everybody knows off label uses are often found that treat other problems, sometimes even more usefully than for the original approval. The entire industry encourages such usage at least until the patent expires when some manufacturers turn against their own.
Yes you're right -- almost everything in my field is off-label. We just note at the beginning of a talk whether we will talk about FDA-approved indications or off-label uses. It doesn't change anything -- it is just a note mainly for physicians. Off-label meds can sometimes be harder to get covered by medical insurance. - Jarred Younger
What about cfl bulb? I happen to have one in the bedroom near the head of my bed and for the last few nights have fallen asleep with it still on and have finally been able to sleep for more than an hour at a time even though I woke up at the hour interval and turned the light off-maybe that hour+ with the green light helped??? I've had chronic pain for decades and lately it's been extremely high so any kind of help like this is very much appreciated! The question is-my eyelids were closed so then does it count? By my results I would say that it does somehow!?
The type of bulb won't matter. The eyelids will attenuate a good bit of the green light, but some will get through. Whatever gets through will still be green light. It would be an interesting study to see if green light when sleeping has any beneficial effect. But if someone has their face buried in a pillow or under covers, it won't work for sure. - Jarred Younger
That's a good hypothesis! White LEDs could prompt the production of Vit D - so if those two individuals had low Vit D levels and little sunlight exposure, the white LEDs could have corrected the deficiency. Low Vit D can cause fibromyalgia symptoms - pain and fatigue. Too bad Vit D wasn't tracked in the study -- that would be a good thing to do in future trials. - Jarred Younger
@@youngerlab Doesn't endogenous vit D require UVB skin exposure? (Which white LEDs won't provide.) My money's on a SAD light type effect for those responders. (Or coincidence.) Great video and amusing to boot. 🙂
I'd be super curious to see comparisons of patients whose pain levels were lower on average to start. Would the result be similar or less for those with less pain levels to start.
I was thinking that too! The figure may have gotten messy, but they could have drawn a line from the baseline point to the treatment point so we could see who improved and how much. I checked if there is a supplemental section with that information, but there isn't one. - Jarred Younger
The human participant work doesn't clearly determine if exposure to the retina is required, but the animal model works is pretty clear that the green light must be registered by the eye. There are several studies testing that question in various ways. If the light is blocked before the eye, or if the optic nerve is blocked/cut, the green light doesn't work. - Jarred Younger
More studies definitely need to be done in this area. I had a huge plantar's wart fall off after a healer used blue light(back in the 1960s). After all our body is surrounded by an energy field and all the newest healing methods including those used by medical therapists have to do with frequency nowadays and all colors have a particular frequency, green has always been part of the healing spectrum@@youngerlab
@@l.c.345could you expound a bit on the treatment from the healer? What kind of healer, how did you find them, what light source/how did they describe what it was they were going to do (or did do)/how long until the wart fell off/any other effects noticed etc.? That kind of thing. If you dont mind! Feel free to tell me to shove off lol
Little bit confused as to how they can measure pain in animal models. Surely it’s subjective. Also, how do animals get diagnosed with fibromyalgia, ME/CFS 🤔
How long did it take until you felt a difference? I feel like crap since I had chemotherapy and am interested in this treatment. I have severe fatigue, some neuropathy and aggravated arthritis in my hands especially.
The study used www.ledsupply.com/led-strips/ac-power-5050-led-strips - green light option and probably 6 feet is plenty. The one I held up was the Green Light Therapy Bulb by Hooga. It is probably a bit expensive for what it is, but looks like it would work well. - Jarred Younger
You know what?! If you can just buy a green light off the shelf can we do that with just a colored light. Anyway. What kind of bulb? A colored bulb like a Christmas light? Or what?
I can't see a reason why it wouldn't work. It really is just supposed to be straight green light. This sounds like a cheap way to at least test it. - Jarred Younger
Not at all. Red light therapy has been proving out to be significant. LOTS of studies on it. Just as blue light keeps you awake, who's to say green light doesn't have some effect?
