What is Chromotherapy?

Defining Chromotherapy

Chromotherapy, also known as color therapy, is an alternative treatment that uses color, or colored light, as a means of relieving one of various ailments. It’s rooted in the idea that there are changes in the body that can happen as a result of exposure to certain colors.[1] Some scientists speculate that these effects relate to the pineal gland. They rationalize that, because behavior is usually governed by day and night, then color may have an effect on metabolic rate and glandular secretions.[2]

From a traditional perspective, the colors used in chromotherapy have been associated with the following beneficial properties:[3]

Violet - Muscle relaxation
Indigo - Calmness
Blue - Knowledge
Green - Balance
Yellow - Clarity
Orange - Enthusiasm
Red - Energy

Beyond this traditional view, however, the beneficial associations with color are occasionally documented empirically. In Japan, for example, select train stations were fixed with blue lights in hope that the lights would be able to reduce railway suicides. It proved that the project was highly effective. Based on data, researchers found that suicide rates at the bluely-lit stations dropped by a whopping 74%.[4]

The Origins of Chromotherapy

According to researchers, [5][6][7] chromotherapy has a long history. The practice can be first traced back to the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians believed that this form of therapy was discovered by the god Thoth. To practice it, they built special windows that utilized sunlight to break the color spectrum. Eventually, the ancient Greeks also began using color to treat disease. Their way of doing it consisted of two methods: the direct method, where the body was exposed to color through light, and the indirect method, where the body was exposed to color through solid materials.

Eventually as the B.C. epoch rolled over into the A.D. times, chromotherapy began to see more in-depth documentation. Persian philosopher and physician, Avicenna, who played a major role in the history of medicine, wrote of it in his 1025 A.D. publication The Canon of Medicine. In it, he mentioned many alleged effects of color on the body, such a blue reducing blood flow, and yellow easing inflammation. By the 1800s, American Civil War General, Augustus Pleasonton, wrote of his belief in blue light having health benefits. A few years later, Pleasonton’s work would influence Edwin Babbitt. Babbitt’s work, which claimed that there’s an association between color and health, would put chromotherapy into a more modern context.

The Benefits of Chromotherapy

Gone are the dark days of chromotherapy’s history, where people were left in the dark of not knowing whether chromotherapy had any actual effects. Thanks to the advances within the natural sciences, and the efforts of researchers worldwide, there are studies published today that give us a glimpse into the potential benefits of chromotherapy. There following are some of the positive effects found: 

• Chromotherapy may help increase mathematic ability. Noting that anxiety is one of the leading emotional problems related to failure in mathematics, researchers decided to look into chromotherapy’s effect on student’s math anxiety levels. Measurements of mathematic anxiety were taken before and after chromotherapy sessions were administered. It was found that the anxiety levels significantly decreased after the therapy was given. The researchers attributed this to a possible effect upon the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, thus improving mood.[8]

• Chromotherapy may help decrease issues with allergic diseases. Researchers concluded this after they investigated the effects of selective chromotherapy upon children with bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis. After splitting 120 children into four groups (two experimental groups, and two control groups), and exposing the experimental groups to either monochromatic polarized green light, or monochromatic polarized blue light, the researchers took measurements that were processed into the study’s findings. They had found that the green lights were 92% therapeutically efficient for children with bronchial asthma, while blue lights were 80% therapeutically efficient for children with atopic dermatitis.[9]

• Chromotherapy may ease stress. In a study that investigated the effects of chromotherapy upon brain activity, researchers found that exposure to red increased beta waves (associated with alertness), whereas exposure to blue or green increased alpha waves (associated with relaxation). Thus, therapeutic use of blue or green light could bring about an effect of stress relief.[10]

Here at EPIC, we offer salt booths with color-changing chromotherapy lights. If you’d like to experience some of the benefits of chromotherapy, alongside the benefits from the salt aerosol, then don’t be shy to give us a try! Our salt booths await your arrival.

Sources:

[1.] Scully, S.M. (2020, July 20). The Mood-Boosting Benefits of Color Therapy. Healthline. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/the-mood-boosting-benefits-of-color-therapy

[2.] Silva, A. (n.d.) Color Therapy. Vanderbilt University Psychology Department. Retrieved from: http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/color_therapy.htm

[3.] Marra, M. (2010). Design and Implementation of a Chromotherapy System Using a Wireless Sensor Network. University of Padova.

[4.] Matsubayashi T, Sawada Y, and Ueda M. (2014). Does the installation of blue Lights on train platforms shift suicide to another station?: Evidence from Japan. J Affect Disord, 169, 57-60.

[5.] Sembian N., and Aathi, M.K. (2016). Chromo Therapy: Healing Power of Colors. I-Manager’s Journal of Nursing, 5(4), 6-7

[6.] Azeemi, S. T., and Raza, S. M. (2005). A critical analysis of chromotherapy and its scientific evolution. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2(4), 481–488.

[7.] Whitfield, T. and Whelton, Jianne. (2013). The Arcane Roots of Colour Psychology, Chromotherapy, and Colour Forecasting. Color Research & Application. 40(1).

[8.] Ifdil, I., Fadli, R.P., Zola, N., Erwinda, L., Sari, A., Churnia, E., Rangka, I.B., Solihatun, S., Suranata, K., Bariyyah, K., Ardi, Z., Afdal, A., Refnadi, R., Zufriani, Z., Nikmarijal, N., Dahlan, D., Fitria, L., and Barseli, M. (2019). Chromotherapy: An Alternative Treatment for Mathematics Anxiety Among Elementary School Students. Journal of Physics: Conf. Series, 1175.

[9.] Pogonchenkova IV, Lyan NA, Khan MA, et al. (2020). To the question of the possibility of using selective chromotherapy for allergic diseases in children. Voprosy Kurortologii, Fizioterapii, i Lechebnoi Fizicheskoi Kultury, 97(4), 37-43.

[10.] Hong, G.J., Kim, S.M., Lee, B.C., Yi, D.H., and An, S.K. (2009). The Effect of Color Therapy on Stress and Electroencephalogram Variation. Kor J Aesthet Cosmetol, 7(1), 51-59.