Posted by Emme on January 6, 2007, at 8:45:00
In reply to Light Therapy Box....Questions, posted by blueberry1 on January 6, 2007, at 0:25:16
> Light therapy boxes are full spectrum fluorescents bulbs, right? Or are they something else? How many watts are they? Is there anything you could buy at the hardware store that would duplicate a light therapy box? It seems like light therapy might be an inexpensive no risk way of improving medications, but I don't know much about them.
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> I know that melatonin supplements make me depressed. Light boxes diminish melatonin production?Full spectrum light is nice but it is not necessary for light therapy. The brightness of the light is what matters. The standard for a light box is 10,000 lux at a specified distance. Do a google search on "light therapy boxes" or "SAD light therapy". The manufacturers will provide specs on their products.
You might check e-bay to see if you can get a good deal on one. I have not found instructions online for building one's own. If you wanted to build you own, you would need a way to make sure you are achieving adequate lux. A full-sized box I used once would knock your socks off if you looked at it directly.
emme
poster:Emme
thread:719749
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070101/msgs/719786.html