Red Light Therapy for Eye Problems

Posted by mikem3 @mikem3, Nov 9, 2025

I have just joined this site, about an hour ago.

My name is Mike and I live in London, here we have several
Universities and the one that I want to tell you about is, UCL,
University College London!

Several years ago, 4 I think, I read an interesting article about
red light therapy for eye problems, they said that 3 minutes of
red light therapy will reverse many eyesight problems, since
then, they have changed that to 3 minutes per week, which is
a good indicator as to the power of light.
Ask Google for, UCL red light therapy for eyesight.
I bought a little torch for the eyes, from Amazon and I used it for
a year or so, but not too often, anyway, the reason was because an
optician, told me that I had the beginnings of cataracts in both
eyes, the following year, when I had another eye check, I got a
different optician, I asked him how the cataracts were doing, he
said, "what cataracts", so I got rid of them.
So it is worth looking into if you have sight defects.
Mike.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Eye Conditions Support Group.

Profile picture for 56huxley @sjs1

EYECHARGER- bought the original model mail order from Australia years ago when they were selling the original model. It failed to be a clinical device for AMD due to regulatory reasons. Dr Jeffrey PhD now of Univ of London ( he formerly was in Australia and marketed it there) ) was interviewed by the AMD Brighthouse Foundation. Dr Jeffery's study found that in persons aged ~34 to 70 who did not have known ocular disease, a single 3-minute exposure to 670 nm (deep red) light in the morning (8-9 am) led to improved colour contrast sensitivity (vision of cones) by ~17% on average. 
• The improvement lasted up to a week in some participants for colour contrast. 
• The effect was timing-dependent: the same light exposure in the afternoon did not produce measurable improvement. The authors suggest mitochondrial “workload shifts” during the day may underlie this. 
• The mechanism proposed: photoreceptors (especially cones) have high mitochondrial density and energy demand; with aging, mitochondrial ATP production declines, impairing photoreceptor function. The deep red light is thought to “kick-start” mitochondrial energy production (via e.g., increased ATP synthesis, reduced mitochondrial viscosity, etc.).
Now the 6000 dollar in office red light treatment is different with stronger and different wavelengths.
I use my device daily. Most AMD sufferers don't believe in "home cures", the gut eye axis in AMD , supplements for AMD specifically shown in the research journal studies, exercise for retina health- but I do. Retina doctors don't study preventive measures and only offer AREDS2 and just say eat kale etc. There are so many factors that come together to make the perfect storm that becomes early AMD. It takes a multifactorial approach to attempt to keep it from progressing. I hope to hang in there with my intermediate dry stage until better solutions are found to manage it.
I believe in longevity devices and supplements because what other hope do we have!

Jump to this post

@sjs1
Is Eyecharger the one you use? What supplements have you found to be helpful? I currently use Coq10 because I’m on a low dose statin and it’s supposed to it’s supposed to replenish the mitochondria.
Thanks so much for info you shared!!

REPLY
Profile picture for 56huxley @sjs1

EYECHARGER- bought the original model mail order from Australia years ago when they were selling the original model. It failed to be a clinical device for AMD due to regulatory reasons. Dr Jeffrey PhD now of Univ of London ( he formerly was in Australia and marketed it there) ) was interviewed by the AMD Brighthouse Foundation. Dr Jeffery's study found that in persons aged ~34 to 70 who did not have known ocular disease, a single 3-minute exposure to 670 nm (deep red) light in the morning (8-9 am) led to improved colour contrast sensitivity (vision of cones) by ~17% on average. 
• The improvement lasted up to a week in some participants for colour contrast. 
• The effect was timing-dependent: the same light exposure in the afternoon did not produce measurable improvement. The authors suggest mitochondrial “workload shifts” during the day may underlie this. 
• The mechanism proposed: photoreceptors (especially cones) have high mitochondrial density and energy demand; with aging, mitochondrial ATP production declines, impairing photoreceptor function. The deep red light is thought to “kick-start” mitochondrial energy production (via e.g., increased ATP synthesis, reduced mitochondrial viscosity, etc.).
Now the 6000 dollar in office red light treatment is different with stronger and different wavelengths.
I use my device daily. Most AMD sufferers don't believe in "home cures", the gut eye axis in AMD , supplements for AMD specifically shown in the research journal studies, exercise for retina health- but I do. Retina doctors don't study preventive measures and only offer AREDS2 and just say eat kale etc. There are so many factors that come together to make the perfect storm that becomes early AMD. It takes a multifactorial approach to attempt to keep it from progressing. I hope to hang in there with my intermediate dry stage until better solutions are found to manage it.
I believe in longevity devices and supplements because what other hope do we have!

Jump to this post

Thank you for that information.

REPLY
Profile picture for dorine @dorine

@sjs1
Is Eyecharger the one you use? What supplements have you found to be helpful? I currently use Coq10 because I’m on a low dose statin and it’s supposed to it’s supposed to replenish the mitochondria.
Thanks so much for info you shared!!

Jump to this post

I had never heard of Mitochondria until I saw your post. So I looked it up and found it fascinating. Thank you.

REPLY

I signed up for this newsletter and look forward to reading it and hearing what others in this thread interpret from the same…

The Eye Health Connection is the email newsletter for the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP). The Eye Health Connection brings you the latest updates from NEI and NEHEP partners, including:

The latest vision research news
Upcoming eye health events
Helpful new resources
Opportunities to collaborate with NEHEP partners
We send out new issues of the Eye Health Connection every 2 months.

Subscribe to the Eye Health Connection
https://www.nei.nih.gov/about/education-and-outreach/eye-health-connection-newsletter

REPLY
Profile picture for kaye46 @kaye46

I had never heard of Mitochondria until I saw your post. So I looked it up and found it fascinating. Thank you.

Jump to this post

@kaye46
You’re welcome! 😊We’re all learning and sharing.

REPLY
Profile picture for mikewyatt @mikewyatt

I signed up for this newsletter and look forward to reading it and hearing what others in this thread interpret from the same…

The Eye Health Connection is the email newsletter for the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP). The Eye Health Connection brings you the latest updates from NEI and NEHEP partners, including:

The latest vision research news
Upcoming eye health events
Helpful new resources
Opportunities to collaborate with NEHEP partners
We send out new issues of the Eye Health Connection every 2 months.

Subscribe to the Eye Health Connection
https://www.nei.nih.gov/about/education-and-outreach/eye-health-connection-newsletter

Jump to this post

@mikewyatt
Thanks for sharing! I just signed up!

REPLY

Thank you I signed up as well. NIH is very well recognized institution in science and medicine. Another good resource is Bright Focus, brightfocus.org. They are doing eye research plus a couple other medical areas. Once a month they do phone conferences with researchers and or medical professionals with topics of interest related to macular degeneration and other focused areas (Alzheimer’s disease).

REPLY

Is this the same as Valeda treatment?

REPLY
Profile picture for travisg123 @travisg123

Hey guys, after taking steroids, I have what I describe as a thick black squiggly lines and blurred vision in my right eye and it twirls. Any help is appreciated because its driving me crazy.
Thanks, TravisG

Jump to this post

@travisg123
It sounds like these may be floaters.

REPLY

I'm an intermediate dry AMD patient who has also done a lot of reading about this. Another item people may be interested in is the MACULIGHT study now underway in Germany of an at-home device that uses only 670 nm light applied every other day. I don't know when this study will complete and publish results. There was also an interesting case report published in 2025 about someone who used an at-home device, titled "Improvement in Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration with Photobiomodulation". Consistent with the requirements of this forum, this is for information only and is not medical advice. The eye clinic I've been attending doesn't yet believe in PBM and won't use it. I'm not satisfied with the prognosis offered by AREDS 2, so I'm now checking out another clinic that does use the Valeda PBM system and considering at-home options in family with the above, as addition to AREDS 2 and other supplements discussed in the literature that lack the level of clinical trial evidence that the AREDS formula has.

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.