How Deep Red Light Therapy Can Benefit The Eyes

As you go through the process of aging and you get older, you will most certainly notice that you find it a lot more difficult to make proper distinctions between different types of colors. You may notice small issues with your everyday life including having trouble understanding and reading a menu in a restaurant with dim lighting.  It is true that changes in vision are quite normal but the more exciting fact here is that they may soon be able to be treated.

A lot of studies have been conducted which explored how red light therapy can help you get better eyesight and also as a treatment model for eyesight that is declining. A lot of these studies have been able to come up with conclusive results. One of the most useful benefits they found was that when a person gets exposed to red light therapy on a regular basis, they are more likely to have better eyesight. This is because of the actions that take place in the mitochondria and also the adenosine triphosphate during red light therapy sessions.

The regular and normal process of aging brings with it a decline (one that is natural) of the ability of the mitochondria in being able to produce sufficient amounts of ATP.3. Another reason for this is that the photoreceptor cells that are found in the retina have a very high demand for energy (and also a lot from the mitochondria as well). The retina is also an organ of the body that ages much faster than all the other organs of the body.

As you go through life, you will most definitely lose about 70 percent of the ATP that is present in the retina. What this means is that it will very likely lead to a lot of issues with the functioning of the eyes. The cells known as the photoreceptor are then not able to perform their jobs properly as they are not getting enough energy.
 
Red Light Can Dramatically Improve Your Vision
There have been a lot of studies conducted on animals that used deep red light. These studies have been able to determine that certain wavelengths of deep red light have the potential to really help improve the functioning of these receptors that are present in the retina. We can see how this can thus result in better eyesight. Researchers then performed similar experiments on humans to see the efficacy of red lights in helping improve eyesight. That study is discussed in detail below.  

In a somewhat small study, researchers aimed at seeing how the eye functioned and also the sensitivity of their cones and also rods within the eyes of about 24 participants. These people were within the age range of 28 and 72 and they did not have any prior conditions of the eye. After the necessary data had been collected by the researchers, they sent the participants home. They also gave these participants an LED light that was kind of small and emitted a deep red light that was of the wavelength 670 nm. The research participants were then told to look directly into the source of the light of this device for about 3 minutes a day. They were told to continue this for a period of about 2 weeks.

After these participants returned to their designated research centers in order to test their eyes, the researchers did not find anything different in the eyes of those participants who were under the age of 40. However, the main takeaway from this entire experiment was that those who were 40 years of age or older, these people saw significant improvements in their eyesight. They were able to tell apart different colors of light much better than before.

The most noticeable difference that these people saw was in their cone color contrast sensitivity. A lot of the participants experienced benefits that measure up to be about 20 percent.

The researchers were able to explain these benefits pretty well as well. What they understood was that exposure to these certain wavelengths of light had the effect of recharging the cells that were deteriorated in the retina. They noticed that this was rather similar to how you would recharge a battery. What this effectively means is that when the retina absorbs this red light, and also when the mitochondria can make proper use of it and produce the necessary amount of ATP that is required in order to keep the eyes healthy and also properly functional.


Making Sure That Your Eyes Stay Healthy
It is true that red light therapy does hold some significant promise for the benefit of our eyes, but it is also important to remember that the entire concept is a pretty new one and there does not exist a list of potential side effects.

The study that we mentioned above was conducted with very small sample size. Therefore, there is still a lot more scope for further investigation into these. From the data and the results that have been obtained thus far, things seem very promising but there needs to be a lot more research done on the subject.

What these researchers were also able to determine was that the number one tip in protecting the degradation of the eyes as you age is to wear sunglasses that are 100 % UV blocking when you are in an outdoor setting. These researchers also made particular mention of how important nutrition is to maintain your eyesight.