About Heliotherapy

Heliotherapy is the use of light to treat disease. The source of the light is sunlight or sunlamps or indoor tanning beds. A doctor uses heliotherapy to treat the symptoms of psoriasis, acne, and other conditions. A doctor suggests on how much light a patient needs and prescribes a daily regime.

A physical condition is not the only use for heliotherapy. Patient A feels sad or depressed during the winter months. He has Seasonal Affective Disorder. Doctors think the lack of sunlight is the source of the problem. Doctors prescribe heliotherapy to introduce more sunlight into the patient's environment. With more sunlight, the patient feels better.

Heliotherapy's Roots

Exposure to sunlight has long been a cure for what ails you. There are examples of the use of heliotherapy throughout literature and art. However, the first documented uses of heliotherapy are from the mid1800s. Then, various doctors throughout Europe were prescribing heliotherapy as a treatment for everything from tuberculosis to dermatitis.

Today, doctors use heliotherapy, or sunlight therapy. Doctors prescribe it to treat conditions such as Seasonal Affective Disorder and some dermatological conditions such as psoriasis. Doctors recommend getting more sunlight or make use of tanning beds to take care of ailments.

Heliotherapy Self Treatment

You can do heliotherapy on your own using a home tanning bed or visiting a commercial tanning salon. The point is to get more sunlight or UV rays in order to feel better.

You can also use a lightbox, which is more portable than even the smallest indoor tanning canopy. Some people cannot afford a tanning bed or tanning canopy. You also may not be able to get out to a tanning salon. A lightbox is a small portable box with the same sort of lighting you would get from a tanning bed. You can even set timers on a light box to shed light into the room a certain times of the day. There are instructions you can follow to learn how to do this.

Before diagnosing and treating yourself, talk to your physician. Discuss your concerns with your doctor and come up with a sensible plan together.

About Light Therapy

Light therapy is another name for heliotherapy. It is the treatment of the symptoms of a disease or condition using natural or artificial light. Doctors prescribe light therapy when a patient needs more sunlight or the aide of a tanning bed or sunlamps.

One of the more common uses of light therapy is to treat seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. SAD causes symptoms of depression in people who live in light-deprived regions. As an example, the northern countries in Europe and the Northeast region of the United States lacks the sunlight compared to regions closer to the Equator.