The infrabed

anarkist said:
Pierre said:
Anarkist said:
It might be useful for you to do the self tests Pierre, because questions are asked which point to the major symptoms of people with a vision perception problem, symptoms that we may not be aware of if we have spent our entire life 'compensating' for the perceptual problem.

I tried changing the background color of the Irlen website and it definitely had an effect. The green background was the most relaxing, and I don't think it's due to a color bias because my favorite color is not green but blue.

yes, my colour was the first purple.
I heard back from 2 of the Screeners, and it is 260$Cdn after taxes for the test(screening) and includes a telephone pre-screening, the screening, and coloured transparent sheet if I have Irlens, and a written report. If I see the Diagnostician, that is 995$ after taxes and includes filtered glasses. It is a little rich for me right now, well at any time I think. Plus there is the issue for me of blocking blue light. I might ask them if theiir Spectral glasses can also be tinted to block blue light, but I won't be moving forward on this regardless.

Wow, that's quite pricey. I think I will test the cheap glasses first and see how it goes. Thanks for sharing information about the Irlen test though.
 
Pierre said:
Thanks for the advise. I'll get those cheap glasses with the correction you recommended and see how it goes. Plus, if it works I'll save hundreds of euros because glasses are expensive here in France.


No problem :)

One thing that can be done, when one feels a migraine attack is imminent, is to try the "fogging method".

For example, in your case (with roughly +0.00 refraction), you could try wearing a pair of those cheap glasses with the value of +3.00 or even +4.00, and look "dreamingly" in the distance (e.g. out of the window). Maybe you could do few rounds of pipe breathing at the same time.

Looking in the distance with considerable amount of plus additions, will start to release the strain in the ciliary muscle and maybe make the migraine more tolerable. There should be enough plus additions, so that you can not make out any details in the landscape (e.g. trees), maybe +3.00 or +4.00 would be enough. If I remember correctly, Viikari mentioned in one of her books that +6.00 addition in the plus direction, is the "maximum" when the fogging is done on your own. She mentioned also, that one should not do it for too long, maybe 10 minutes(?), as it can "backfire".

One trick that people do, is that they put plus glasses on top of each other: for example +1.00 glasses on top of +3.00, which would add up to total value of +4.00.

A thing to note in the long run, is the pupillary distance (PD). The cheap glasses a have certain standard pupillary distance in the lenses, and that might differ from one's individual PD. As the eyes "convergence" when reading, the PD becomes shorter. And if I remember correctly, the PD can "widen" a little as the accommodation strain is released.

When wearing plus glasses, PD is not that essential to start with, if the glasses feel comfortable (the pupillary distance "matches" to some degree). In the long run of course, if there is need to have "real" glasses from the optometrist, these things can be taken into consideration. (They can then make the "centerpoint" of the lens match the position of the pupil vertically too.)


I actually have some extra copies of Viikari's book "Ocular Accommodation Strain": it is a handy and short collection of writings that are maybe a bit more easily understood than her other tomes (it has some writings on migraine also). If it would help, I would gladly send you an extra copy (in this case, maybe I could get the chateau's address in a PM?).


_kaisuviikari.com/ocular-accommodation-strain-new-book/
 
hiker said:
Pierre said:
Thanks for the advise. I'll get those cheap glasses with the correction you recommended and see how it goes. Plus, if it works I'll save hundreds of euros because glasses are expensive here in France.


No problem :)

One thing that can be done, when one feels a migraine attack is imminent, is to try the "fogging method".

For example, in your case (with roughly +0.00 refraction), you could try wearing a pair of those cheap glasses with the value of +3.00 or even +4.00, and look "dreamingly" in the distance (e.g. out of the window). Maybe you could do few rounds of pipe breathing at the same time.

Looking in the distance with considerable amount of plus additions, will start to release the strain in the ciliary muscle and maybe make the migraine more tolerable. There should be enough plus additions, so that you can not make out any details in the landscape (e.g. trees), maybe +3.00 or +4.00 would be enough. If I remember correctly, Viikari mentioned in one of her books that +6.00 addition in the plus direction, is the "maximum" when the fogging is done on your own. She mentioned also, that one should not do it for too long, maybe 10 minutes(?), as it can "backfire".

One trick that people do, is that they put plus glasses on top of each other: for example +1.00 glasses on top of +3.00, which would add up to total value of +4.00.

A thing to note in the long run, is the pupillary distance (PD). The cheap glasses a have certain standard pupillary distance in the lenses, and that might differ from one's individual PD. As the eyes "convergence" when reading, the PD becomes shorter. And if I remember correctly, the PD can "widen" a little as the accommodation strain is released.

When wearing plus glasses, PD is not that essential to start with, if the glasses feel comfortable (the pupillary distance "matches" to some degree). In the long run of course, if there is need to have "real" glasses from the optometrist, these things can be taken into consideration. (They can then make the "centerpoint" of the lens match the position of the pupil vertically too.)


I actually have some extra copies of Viikari's book "Ocular Accommodation Strain": it is a handy and short collection of writings that are maybe a bit more easily understood than her other tomes (it has some writings on migraine also). If it would help, I would gladly send you an extra copy (in this case, maybe I could get the chateau's address in a PM?).


_kaisuviikari.com/ocular-accommodation-strain-new-book/

Let me try the +0.375 glasses first. By the way, the +.0375 correction you calculated is a spherical value, right? When trying to order those glasses I have to provide the correction and two entries are possible: cylindrical value and spherical value.

I also have to provide a pupillary distance but I don't know mine. I had a look in the mirror while holding a ruler between my eyes and the distance between the eyes (center of the pupil to center of the pupil) is about 65 mm, so I plan to enter this value.

If those glasses don't work I'll look more into the fogging technic.

Thanks for your help. :)
 
Pierre said:
Let me try the +0.375 glasses first. By the way, the +.0375 correction you calculated is a spherical value, right? When trying to order those glasses I have to provide the correction and two entries are possible: cylindrical value and spherical value.

I also have to provide a pupillary distance but I don't know mine. I had a look in the mirror while holding a ruler between my eyes and the distance between the eyes (center of the pupil to center of the pupil) is about 65 mm, so I plan to enter this value.

If those glasses don't work I'll look more into the fogging technic.

Thanks for your help. :)


Yep, the + 0.375 is the spherical value. That mirror trick sounds good, so the 65mm should be in the ballpark. :)
 
It seems there are two different measurements for pupillary distance, one for distant viewing and one for reading only.

This video (5:50 min.) explains why:


https://youtu.be/OBuX8QEabZc

Other source: https://www.zennioptical.com/measuring-pd-infographic

My own last measurement amounted to 63 mm (measured for distance).

Hope this helps a bit. :)
 
Just thought I would emphasize the reason for the thermal image photos; when the "lights" are on, you don't see anything and you don't really feel anything; the light is invisible and cool except when you view it with the thermal imaging camera or an infra-red night vision camera/scope.
After a little more soldering, I will be finished making a infra-red helmet as depicted here Let there be light - Photobiomodulation -- Sott.net. However, I do not have access to a thermal imaging camera or an infra-red night vision camera/scope so I'm wondering if there are any other ways to test that it's working--which I'm especially eager to verify since this was the first time I had ever soldered anything and I'm a little concerned that some of those 24 soldered connections weren't successful.
 
However, I do not have access to a thermal imaging camera or an infra-red night vision camera/scope so I'm wondering if there are any other ways to test that it's working--which I'm especially eager to verify since this was the first time I had ever soldered anything and I'm a little wary of my success with all 24 connections.

I have one of those LED infrared lights for viewing things at night. If almost in complete darkness, it shines a faint red glow a few inches away. That's how I figured it was working because there's no switch to turn it on. I wonder if there are apps that can pick up IR signals, assuming a cell phone can read those wavelengths?
 
After a little more soldering, I will be finished making a infra-red helmet as depicted here Let there be light - Photobiomodulation -- Sott.net. However, I do not have access to a thermal imaging camera or an infra-red night vision camera/scope so I'm wondering if there are any other ways to test that it's working--which I'm especially eager to verify since this was the first time I had ever soldered anything and I'm a little concerned that some of those 24 soldered connections weren't successful.
I have one of those LED infrared lights for viewing things at night. If almost in complete darkness, it shines a faint red glow a few inches away. That's how I figured it was working because there's no switch to turn it on. I wonder if there are apps that can pick up IR signals, assuming a cell phone can read those wavelengths?

You can use the camera on your phone to pick up whether any light is shining from the device or not.
 
I have one of those LED infrared lights for viewing things at night. If almost in complete darkness, it shines a faint red glow a few inches away. That's how I figured it was working because there's no switch to turn it on. I wonder if there are apps that can pick up IR signals, assuming a cell phone can read those wavelengths?
You can use the camera on your phone to pick up whether any light is shining from the device or not.
Thanks guys. Hopefully everything's got good connections so I can begin "experimenting" on my 93-year-old mother (and myself ;-D). I'll post my findings in a few months.
 
So I used my 48 LED infrared CCTV light for a little over 15 minutes about a foot away from my leg. Not sure if this is a dumb question, but I didn't find it searching the thread. Would you have to be careful about the infrared light shining on your crystals? I had my personal crystal in silk in my pocket, so I think my leg would have been blocking direct light to it. But my water crystal is in a glass jar behind me so it's just a few feet away from the IR light.

I used my phone to see if it would pick up the infrared light, but it only shows the red part of the LED lights. When you look at people's nighttime CCTV photos, you can see how the infrared LEDs really light up things at night. So it's hard to tell how far it projects. I like to think of it as a powerful LED flashlight that is invisible.
 
Well I finally finished constructing an IR helmet, inspired by this photo and article: https://www.sott.net/article/364680-Let-there-be-light-Photobiomodulation. I found a plastic bucket at Wal-Mart that's oval which conforms to a head shape even better than a round bucket. Then I attached a 16-foot strip of LED lights (850 nm) in a spiral configuration (see photos), and drilled holes in the top to allow heat to escape, and glued in a ring of vinyl tubing to center and stablize the helmet when worn. It required no soldering or electrical connections other than a screw clamp to connect the 60-watt power adaptor. The lights generate a total of 45 watts of output at a rate of 75mW/sq. cm. The author of20180503_154519.jpg the article cited below calculates that a 17-minute session will provide the 1 Joule/square cm. recommended for IR brain treatment, which amounts to .9 watts of IR light actually reaching the cortex after passing through the hair, scalp and skull. While .9 watts doesn't sound like much, it actually amounts to a 4.5% increase of the brain's normal energy useage.

I plan to use it myself and also on my 93-year-old mother whose brain capacity is dwindling with age-related dementia. I plan to monitor her progress by repeated administration of the Simple Mental Status screen. Currently I'm using it for 15 minutes each morning. I've only used it twice, but it did seem to energize my brain and also improve my sleep.

I found a very useful article that explained many details about IR treatment--in great mathematical/scientific detail. Here's the section specifically about IR treatment of the brain (does anyone know anything about that PQQ supplement he mentions?):

“LED Light Therapy”
Scott Roberts
LED Light Therapy

Considerations for infra-red light treatment of the brain

Let's say I want to improve the functioning of my brain mitochondria. I could do this by applying light on a daily basis and taking CoQ10 and PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone, https://blog.bulletproof.com/pqq-boost-the-energy-in-your-cells-to-do-everything-better/) to hopefully increase the actual number of mitochondria by upregulating gene expression. But how much infra-red light is optimal each day? I know for injuries the optimum dose for cells is 4 to 6 J/cm2.

A 2010 review paper on benefits for the brain says 1 J/cm2 is what is found to be good for a mostly healthy cortex. I agree this sounds reasonable because the 4 to 6 J/cm2 is for overtly-injured cells. But natural exposure to the Sun seems capable of providing a lot more. Maybe neurons can benefit from a full 4 J/cm2 when spread out over a day but be harmed if applied all at once with a 100 mW/cm2 that covers 3 times the head surface area.

For insurance, I always take 1,000 mg vitamin C after light therapy to the brain because no one can calculate the correct treatment time within a factor of 2 or maybe 4 which could cause excess oxidation and possibly not be healthy for neurons, even though the body's response to the excess oxidation might be how it provides more the benefit.

Assuming a bald head and very white skin, I'll estimate scalp penetration to be 5% for 660 nm and 10% for 850 nm and skull bone penetration times cortex absorption to be 20% for both. This gives 1% total penetration and cortex absorption for 660 nm and 2% for 850 nm. It's entirely possible actual penetration is 4 times more or 1/4 these numbers.

Suppose you use a 50 mW/cm2 helmet (area of 800 cm2 with LEDs generating 40 Watts of IR energy). If 2% of the light made it through, that would be 0.8 Watts entering the brain. For comparison, the brain uses about 20 watts, so it's a 4% addition which is probably safe.

To get 1 J/cm2 at 2% penetration and cortex absorption, a typical 25 mW/cm2 device that does not need a fan for overheating would require 2,000 seconds, a little over 30 minutes. This is also about the intensity of the Sun, but compared to 850 nm, the Sun's spectrum in the "healing range" is probably only 1/2 as effective in terms of penetration and activation of CCO and the Sun strikes about only 1/3 as much of the scalp as a full-head helmet. In other words 2,000 x 2 x 3 = 3.4 hours in the Sun, which is less than a typical evolution type of working exposure in the summer growing season (at least if bald and white). So all this research, effort, and expense basically is just an attempt to replicate what is natural.

Out of interest in this, I put together a 75 mW/cm2 LED helmet. When using about 10 minutes in the morning, it seems to have some energizing effect and maybe even helps me work better the rest of the day.

How short of treatment time is possible? I can turn the circuit up to 75 mW/cm2 which about 100 mW/cm2 reaching the scalp because my helmet is larger than my head, its array has twice the area of my scalp and the LEDs are pointing inward so it is a kind of focusing. To get 1 J/cm2 and assuming 1% effective light penetration, treatment time is 1/0.100/0.01 = 1,000 seconds, about 17 minutes. Since it covers 3 times the area of the Sun and my chosen wavelengths are about twice as effective as the 25 mW/cm2 "healing" wavelengths of the Sun and my unit is 4 times more powerful, this 17 minutes is like 17 x 3 x 2 x 4 = 408 minutes or 7 hours in the Sun. This is an argument to show this dosage might simulate what's natural and therefore safe and effective, although getting it all at once is certainly not natural.

Can helmet's cause heat stress in the upper cortex?

0.8 watts per square inch is the maximum energy you can apply to any device that touches skin unless a fan or heat sink is used in order to the skin temperature below 105 F (FDA guideline). So at a typical spacing of 12 LEDs per in2 (2 LED per cm2) you can apply 66 mW per LED. That's 45 mA at 1.55 V for the common 850 nm lamp and 35 mA at 1.9 V for a good 660 nm.

my device has been heating the upper neurons of my cortex as much as my body normally heats the full cortex, more than doubling the heat in the upper 1 mm. Blood and cerebral flow and heat conduction to adjacent tissue probably reduce this heat a lot, We can withstand over 30 mW/cm2 for 4 hours a day from the Sun, so 100 mW/cm2 for 10 minutes must not be very dangerous, but anything more seems to have a potential for harm.

About the author: Scott Roberts attended Auburn University, where he maintained a near-perfect grade-point average (3.9) to earn a BS in Electrical Engineering in 2000. Soon after graduating, he became interested in the benefits of red and near-infrared light for healing, which resulted in a very detailed article explaining how and why it works and how to design optimal devices, using LEDs, halogen lights, and reflected sunlight. Thanks to popularity of heelspurs.com, the article remained #1 on Google searches for "LED Light Therapy" for 10 years.

In his article, he explains how to: measure light energy intensity with a shallow cup of water, pulse LEDs for 5x faster benefit (5 instead of 30 minutes) than currently available LED arrays, use $7 halogen lights used on the outside of houses with water to block far-infrared can work 5x better than devices costing over $1000, construct a full-body system using a $5 mirror and sunlight, or 2 mirrors in winter, use halogen-light with water pans for heat-blocking to get full-body red and NIR light in winter or at night. He theorizes that blood needed to evolve to be red (with such a sharp drop-off in the absorption spectrum at 600 nm) in order to allow these wavelengths into animal tissue, providing up to 5% of cellular ATP energy, decreasing the need for food. One of his most interesting projects has been to make devices for a medical researcher to photo-activate a pharmaceutical accumulating inside tumors to kill cancer cells.
 

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I plan to use it myself and also on my 93-year-old mother whose brain capacity is dwindling with age-related dementia. I plan to monitor her progress by repeated administration of the Simple Mental Status screen. Currently I'm using it for 15 minutes each morning. I've only used it twice, but it did seem to energize my brain and also improve my sleep.

Good job! Looking forward to hear more about your experiences and your mother's.

Here's a thread on PQQ:

Pyrroloquinoline quinone - for energy issues
 
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