Investigating Whether Green Light Might Slow a Migraine

A University of Arizona anesthesiologist and pain specialist is in the proof-of-concept stage of developing a study to determine whether green light could have a therapeutic effect on migraine headache, and possibly other pain conditions, according to an article and interview produced by Arizona Public Media (APM).1

Mohab M. Ibrahim, PhD, MD, has been testing since 2018 to see whether daily exposure to green light could help as a supplemental treatment for migraine and other chronic pain. Ibrahim is an associate professor of anesthesiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. He also is director of the pain medicine fellowship program and director of the Chronic Pain Management Clinic.

He and his fellow researchers ask migraineur participants to spend 2 hours every day in a dark room lit only by a green light, with no other source of light. The light is bright enough for them to read, write, listen to music, exercise, or carry out any other activities that do not involve another source of light (such as from a computer, mobile phone, or television).

Of the 25 people involved in one of his studies, nearly half reported pain relief within a few days. Although the period for the study is 2 hours, Ibrahim said a session may not need to be as long as that, and that for some patients simply a change of scenery to a lush green environment-whether it is a back yard, a forest, or a park-could be enough to relieve or reduce the effect of a migraine.

Ibrahim told APM that he first began to wonder if green light could be a therapy a few years ago after talking with his brother about how he manages migraine headaches, which both brothers experience. His brother told him that spending time in a tranquil setting outside around his home in San Diego, amid flowers and trees, usually helps him. Ibrahim tried doing the same in Tucson's Reid Park, and found it made his headache go away.

In a preclinical animal study in rats, published by Ibrahim in the journal Pain in 2017, he and his co-authors reported that "We found that green light produced antinociceptive and antihyperalgesic effects that involved descending, opioid-sensitive inhibition."2

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