Lightboxes and blindness

[kestrell]

I started wondering about this last winter and could find no information whatsoever, so I'm posting to LJ/DW in hopes of mining the group intelligence. Considering the lack of info, *knowledgeable* guesses are welcome.

Can lightboxes benefit blind people? Specifically, someone like me, with prosthetic eyes and thus zero light perception?

I realize that the emphasis is always on light being perceived through the eyes but, as light is also absorbed through the skin, I am wondering if this could also have a beneficial effect. Is this idea absolutely ridiculous, or is it just that no one has bothered doing a study with blind people? Should I just go ahead and conduct my own experiment? (Okay, I'm pretty certain that the mad scientists are all for doing my own experiments.)

Comments

[liv]

Hello, I am a random person here via Latest Things. I think it's likely that a lightbox could do some good for a completely blind person. I don't know of any research specifically on blind people, but I do know that light exposure can be effective when the light source is strapped to the back of (seeing) subjects' knees so that they can't really see the light. My guess is that you'd have to put the light quite close to your skin and leave it on for a fairly long time, but it might do some good for mood / sleep cycle related things.

[kestrell]

Thanks! This gives me a lead to research; I was thinking that, if I tried this, I would set up a light over my reading chair, so time would not necessarily be a concern.