Can Green Light Put the Brakes On Pain?

Grant-Funded Non-Opioid Pain Relief Study

Currently, opioids are the most prescribed medications for managing surgical pain. But with the number of surgeries performed in the U.S. growing, and the opioid crisis still raging, researchers are continually looking for effective post-operative pain management therapies for patients, particularly for those at high-risk for substance use disorders, including military members and veterans, who are at higher risk for opioid use disorder.

One such study is being conducted by the University of Arizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center. Researchers there are studying the effectiveness of green light therapy on postsurgical pain and inflammation. They previously studied green light therapy in people with migraine and fibromyalgia and found that it decreased pain, depression, and anxiety, and helped to improve sleep.

Other research found that green light can promote the brain’s ability to reduce inflammation by acting through the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), a pain center in the brainstem.

Read more here.