Delayed sleep phase syndrome is a kind of a sleeping disorder in which a person’s normal sleeping routine is thrown out of order and in this condition, people are generally awake till late hours in the night and have difficulty in waking up due to few hours of sleeping. Thus their lifestyles are disturbed. There are quite a few ways to treat this problem but light therapy treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome is often considered very useful and beneficial. The following is some more information about this treatment method:
What is light therapy treatment?
Bright light therapy or light therapy is a kind of a treatment method in which bright light is used to manage the circadian rhythm disorders, one of which is delayed sleep phase syndrome. This treatment is used to shift the sleep patterns and for this purpose, the timing of the exposure of light is very important. For achieving desire results, the light must be delivered to the retina of the patient’s eye as soon after the spontaneous awakening as possible.
This therapy is also termed as phototherapy and it uses a portable visor or a full spectrum lamp. This lamp is used for 30-90 minutes at an intensity of 10000 lux. In some cases, light therapy may also make use of natural sunlight.
How does it work?
Light therapy treatment works by resetting the body’ internal clock and shifting the erratic sleep timings into normal routine sleep timings. If the light is exposed to the patient for about half hour in the morning, then this process can take place very smoothly and also very effectively. This happens because if the body clock is exposed to light even before the sun has risen then it can reset itself to an earlier time.
Infact if the morning exposure doesn’t work properly then one can also try reduced exposed light in the evening time as well. There are sleep doctors which can correctly estimate the condition of the disorder and suggest light boxes which are available easily in the market. Infact the way to use these light boxes must also be learned from the doctor so as to avoid inappropriate use of the same.
This condition generally starts affecting people from an early age and it is recommended that treated be given to them as soon as possible. A doctor’s consultation in this area is a must.
