Dr. Mercola March 05 2005 2,234 views
Exposure to sunlight may be the newest method of easing pain. According to a report, boosting the amount of sunlight in a patient's hospital room decreases their perception of pain and their need for painkiller medication.
Researchers enrolled nearly 90 patients who had undergone spinal surgery and placed them in randomly assigned hospital rooms--the rooms were either sunny or dim upon their return from surgery.
With the aid of light meter measurements, researchers found:
Patients assigned to bright rooms received an average of 46 percent more natural sunlight a day, compared to patients in the dim room, which translated to an average 21 percent reduction in the cost of painkiller medication for patients in bright rooms
Bright-room patients had considerably lower stress scores and slightly lower pain scores when they left the hospital, compared to patients in dimmer rooms
These results may motivate hospital administrators to relocate patients with high painkiller requirements to rooms with higher intensity sunlight.
Psychosomatic Medicine January/February 2005;67(1):156-163
If you read the Healing Sun this study is no surprise as this has been known for over 100 years. It is a pity that conventional medicine continually needs to rediscover these pillars of foundational natural healing truth. If you have any interest in understanding how you can benefit from using simple, virtually free tools like sunlight to improve your health, than I would strongly encourage you to read the Healing Sun as it is one of the best health books I have ever read.
This study clearly demonstrates that patients who received high-intensity sunlight in their hospital rooms experienced improved recoveries, as well as significant reductions in stress and pain scores. Additionally, along with being a natural pain reliever, sunlight serves as an aid for additional health treatments such as:
You see, there is little question that sunlight is an essential element in staying healthy; however, when you are eating optimally by following the nutrition plan, especially according to your metabolic type, it seems that you will be far more resistant to decreased sun exposure.
Increasing Sunlight Exposure to Maintain Optimal Health
While it is recommended that everyone get exposure to one hour of sunlight per day--essential for optimal health--many people have a difficult time achieving this goal. Whether it's dreary winter weather, the climate you live in or simply time constraints, there seems to be a great deficiency in sunlight exposure among Americans.
That is why I have begun to offer full-spectrum lights bulbs that are designed to help you obtain the balanced sunlight that is essential to your physical and mental health. What's more, you don't have to go through the research, time and energy of determining which light bulbs are the best on the market, as I personally have spent serious time and effort researching and found that BioPure light bulbs are one of the most accurate natural full-spectrum light bulbs available.
These light bulbs project full-spectrum light that most closely matches natural daylight and contain the necessary full-spectrum of color (imagine the colors of the rainbow), as well as infrared and the three ultraviolet wavelengths.
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When I am experiencing strong depression or sadness, a one hour nap in the early morning sun, bundled up if it is chilly, refreshes me. The sun on my face is especially theraputic for me.