Whether you suffer from headaches or debilitating migraines, you know that harsh and bright lights can just make things worse. Sometimes even turning off all the lights and sitting in a dark room can still yield little relief.
Photophobia: abnormal sensitivity to light; literally: Fear of light
Lucky for you, science has discovered one color actually helps soothe even the most painful migraine: Green. Maybe that’s why evil villains love it so much…
World domination is no easy task and I’m sure there are a few headaches involved. So if they constantly surround themselves with green light, they can continue with their schemes unhindered!
But in all seriousness, this concept of green light has been studied and the results are clear – for most people, that green light is soothing. It’s helped those with migraines, headaches, fibromyalgia, stress, etc. find some relief from the constant pain.
Below are our top three choices for Green Light Therapy devices currently on the market.
1. The Allay Lamp
The Allay Lamp uses a patented narrow-band green light of around 520 nanometers that has been shown by Harvard scientists to reduce light sensitivity and the severity of headaches.
If we compare the Allay Lamp to say, the Sunlite Green light bulb – we can see just how much less of the other colors are showing up in the light that is emitted.
This is what they mean by “narrow-band.” Other colors such as blue, yellow, amber, and red make headache and migraine light sensitivity worse. In order for the green light to truly be effective, limiting all of those other colors is crucial.
Allay does the best in this category which is why it’s our top recommendation for those who are interested in green light therapy.
How Does It Work?
The Allay Lamp is battery-operated for up to 32 hours and is rechargeable. This means you can bring it with you wherever you go and you don’t have to worry about finding somewhere to plug it in! You could even use it camping!
You also have the option of flipping it over to access more of a normal warm white color light. This makes it so you can use it as a normal lamp which saves money and table space! Both colors can be adjusted for brightness.
Another cool feature is the plastic shroud, or cover, that you can slip on to help direct the light. If you don’t want green splashed all over the room, or you don’t want it shining directly at your face, you have the flexibility to get what you need.
To turn it on and off, all you have to do is cover your palm over the top and watch the magic happen.
Allay recommends that you use it in sessions of at least 30 minutes, but you can enjoy it for 2 hours or more if you feel like it! The light will not abandon you even in your darkest most pain-filled hour.
Conclusion
Overall, this is the best green light product on the market. Period. The narrow-band green light and all other attributes such as portability, adjustable brightness, and direction of light give you full control when you need it.
One small con I came across was if you do need to use it while it’s plugged in and charging, the chord will either be up or down depending on which color you’re using. Just aesthetically it’s a bit unpleasing, but not technically detrimental to its use.
Really the only major hindrance is the price tag. At around $200, it’s certainly an investment, but one that many find absolutely crucial to handle their daily stress, migraines, headaches, fibromyalgia, etc.
It’s certainly better than taking medication and exposing yourself to the potential side effects they may carry. This light has no other side effects than pain relief and happiness.
If this sounds right for you, you can try it out today risk-free for 40 days which, granted isn’t a whole lot of time to determine effectiveness – the body may take some time to adjust – but it’s 100% worth a shot!
The Allay Lamp
Pros
Cons
Coupon Code: DEREK40510 for 15% off
2. The Hooga Lamp
HOOGA CHOKA! HOOGA HOOGA HOOGA CHOKA! HOOGA HOOGA!
This is all that runs through my head whenever I see or hear this company name so sorry not sorry, now you will join me in that madness.
Let’s dive in!
The Hooga Lamp is pretty much a budget version of the Allay. It has the same dual color feature and also adjustable brightness but with no covering.
They both use pretty much the same peak nanometer of green light (521 to be exact), but as you can see in the comparison below, Hooga has just a teeeeensy bit more of some of the other colors in the spectrum, particularly on the blue side.
Not a massive difference, but since some people have greater photophobia – light sensitivity – with their migraines, they might be able to detect these small amounts. Blue is the harshest wavelength so it might not work as well for some.
How Does It Work?
Unlike the Allay, the Hooga needs to be constantly plugged in and only stands in one direction. Don’t try to flip it over to get it to change colors, it just won’t work.
This lamp has just one sensor pad on the top that you can use to change color, adjust brightness, and turn the lamp on and off. Very simple. Very straightforward. It is probably the most user-friendly of the two.
Hooga also recommends sessions of at least 30 minutes but, of course, states that the longer you use it the better. There are no side effects as it is simply light and not pharmacological in nature so that is definitely a huge plus.
Conclusion
If you are interested in a green light therapy lamp but don’t have excess funds for something like the Allay, the Hooga is absolutely your next best option.
At around $70-$80 dollars, this lamp is the most affordable in terms of color, brightness, and ease of use.
The cons that come with the Hooga are that is it not battery-operated so it’s not exactly portable. It’s still small enough that you could travel with it, but you would just have to make sure you have somewhere to plug it in.
It also doesn’t have a covering so if the lowest brightness setting is still too bright, or if you don’t like it shining directly in your face, you will have to improvise to find a way to dim it down even more.
Hooga offers a generous 60-day trial period with a full refund – though you do have to pay return shipping – so you can try it out and see if it helps you!
The Hooga Lamp
Pros
Cons
Use coupon code OPTIMIZE12 for 12% off!
3. NorbRELIEF Bulb
The NorbRELIEF bulb is your average normal light bulb but it emits the same narrow-band green light (peak is 524nm) that aids in the pain relief from headaches, migraines, fibromyalgia, etc.
When compared with the Hooga Lamp, we can see that there really isn’t much of a difference in terms of spectral light. It has about the same green peak and not many additional blue or red wavelengths.
Now let’s see it against another green light bulb- the Sunlite. Yet another marketed “green light bulb” but as we can see below, a massively different spectrum with additional wavelengths that will not be as effective in treating your symptoms.
Many green light bulbs can be deceptive because they say they emit green light but in reality, they just have a green coating.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that they give off the proper wavelengths needed for headaches/migraines.
They can make great party lights, but for effective symptom treatment, you want to make sure you’re getting a bulb that was made to help.
How Does It Work?
Since it’s just a light bulb, you can screw it into any old light fixture you already have around the house. Easy peasy!
Or, if you want to get fancy, you can build your own setup for just this bulb so you don’t have to worry about switching when the time comes. That would just be annoying, especially if you are already stressed and in pain.
Conclusion
If you simply need an effective green light and don’t want to get into all of the bells and whistles of dedicated green light therapy lamps, this light bulb is absolutely your best bet.
Just treat it like you would any other lightbulb and away you go! It technically doesn’t have brightness or color-changing capabilities, but depending on what kind of fixture you put it in, you can have it do whatever you want.
The biggest pro is that this little bulb has the same green light as the Hooga lamp but at a fraction of the cost. You won’t be missing out on anything and you don’t have to break the bank to find non-medicated relief.
NorbRELIEF Bulb
