J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Feb;11(2):453-457
The untold saga of chromotherapy in dentistry
Dsv Sindhuja 1, Sumit Bhateja 1, Meenakshi Sharma 1, Geetika S Arora 2
1 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad, Haryana, India.
2 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Inderprastha Dental College and Hospital, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abstract
Being a centuries-old concept and used successfully over years, chromotherapy is the method of treating diseases using coloured food, coloured clothing, colour saturated oils, coloured water and visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. The basis of chromotherapy depends on the fact that illness is caused by an imbalance in the basic chakras of the body. Colour therapy rebalances the chakras using specific colours. Being a part of complementary and alternative medicine systems, it proves to be effective for various systems of the body and affects neurohormonal pathways. Based on the available literature, this review documents the scientific evolution of colour therapy in medicine and dentistry and its various applications. Future studies will establish exactly how chromotherapy promotes wellbeing, owing to technical advancements and the scientific approach. Till then, it is a low-cost, non-invasive treatment option that is worth a go.
Free full text:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8963609/Excerpts:
"Many elements of humanity’s investigations are overlooked, dismissed or forgotten. One of these overlooked concepts is colour medication. This review provides an insight into the application of chromotherapy in treating various diseases in the body and oral pathological conditions in a holistic manner and highlights the need of using this therapy as a part of routine treatment in clinical setups.
"Chromotherapy provides a supportive treatment to eliminate the root cause of the pathology for people who cannot afford costlier therapies for long-term diseases making it easier for the patients to reach a healthier state of the body without any side effects.
"This therapy adds relevance to day-to-day clinical practise for family physicians, medical professionals and dentists to guide the patients towards a healthy living at affordable prices and time without adding much burden physically, mentally and psychologically to the patients.
"Colour therapy is also known as chromotherapy and is based on the idea that colours and coloured lights can treat mental or physical health.[1]
"The basic physics behind visible colour is that it reflects, bends and refracts through all particles, molecules and objects. Different types of light are produced due to a variety of wavelengths.
"Colour is taken up by our skin cells, eyes, skull and so-called ‘magnetic energy field’ also known as aura and this energy affects us on all levels including physical being, spiritual mind and emotional status."
"CHROMO THERAPY
"Basic Idea
"Chromotherapy is a kind of holistic healing that uses the energy corresponding to each of the seven colours of the spectrum, that is, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Each colour has its own energy corresponding to varying wavelengths of the light thus forming the spectrum. In colour therapy, these light energies resonate with the energy of each of the seven main chakras of the body thereby balancing them.[2] Each chakra is related to a particular colour, gland/organ.
"Alternative therapies also think that a person’s aura has different layers of light that can be utilised for cleansing and balancing. Knowing the colours of your aura will help you gain a greater understanding of your spirit and, as a result, how to heal.[3]"
"The God Thoth, according to Egyptian mythology, discovered the art of chromotherapy.[4]
"Sunlight was suggested by the ancient Ayurvedic physician Charaka, who lived in the 6th century BC, to treat a number of diseases.[5]
"Avicenna (AD 980) pioneered the use of colours in curing."
"Ideas and Practices in the Nineteenth Century Pleasanton (1876) only used blue and said that it was the first treatment for bruises, burns and aches.[6]
"The Scientific Revolution of the Twentieth Century Ghadiali (1927) discovered the scientific concepts that describe why and how various colour rays have different therapeutic effects on the human body."
"Later, Ott stressed how chromotherapy affects the biological functioning of the human body. For healing purposes, he noted that different lights affect different enzymatic reactions. The effect of chromotherapy was tested for the first time at the DNA level.
"Klotsche also connected colours to chakras. He discovered it to be a comprehensive treatment plan for 123 major illnesses."
"How colour therapy is used?
"It aims to harmonise and strengthen our bodies energy centres/chakras, which can aid in the body’s natural healing process.
"As a series of cogs/wheels, visualise the chakras/energy centres."
"By adding the required colour to the body and thereby rebalancing our chakras, colour therapy will help to rebalance these ‘wheels’."
"The seven chakras" [and colors]
"Root chakra: First chakra"
"Sacral chakra: Second chakra [orange]
"Solar plexus chakra: Third chakra [yellow]
"Heart chakra: Fourth chakra"
"Throat chakra: Fifth chakra"
"Third eye chakra: Sixth chakra" [indigo]
"Crown Chakra: Seventh chakra" [violet]
"Chromotherapy is an ideal system for the prevention and management of metabolic risk factors..."
"Colours can be used as a part of day-to-day life to improve our functioning and to enhance a person’s lifestyle."
"If a person wants to strengthen the memory, adding yellow into the mix might help to boost up the memory."
"To improve performance while workout, choosing a red outfit, and taking a route downtown where there is a chance to see red road signs, red cars, and red stoplights may help.
"A study was conducted in the year 2007, which presented that people in a yellow room ate twice than people eating in a red or blue walled room. Therefore, avoiding yellow is an effective step in weight reduction.
"Incorporating green into the mix might help to relax as it has a direct connection with nature and the environment. A 2009 study found that people exposed to blue were better able to explore their creative side. So, using blue in art, crafting or writing room enhances the skills.
"Purple helps to get in touch with our intuition and is also the colour associated with dream activity and psychic powers.[11]"
"Red light may stimulate circulation, strengthen the heart and reduce inflammation and swelling in the body. It can be used in treating chronic pain and inflammatory conditions."
"Orange colour stimulates the respiratory system and thyroid gland..."
"The colour blue boosts metabolism, boosts energy, stimulates growth, lowers heartbeat and serves as a general tonic for the body."
"Yellow light therapy can be used in treating eyesight problems, especially night blindness issues. Yellow improves the texture of the skin while also mending and cleaning scars and other skin conditions such as eczema. It carries inspirational and stimulating positive magnetic currents that strengthen the nerves and stimulate cerebral activity (Wills 1993)."
"Diabetes is caused by a lack of orange and yellow hues in the body, according to chromo treatment."
"Intermittently exposing the body to the sun for short periods is one of the methods used in colour therapy.[15]
"Other methods include the use of desired hue glass containers with charged water, lamp and projector radiation, electro thermolume cabinet, colour massage, colour breathing etc."
"Diseases and their treatment" [giving just three examples here. Other diseases discussed are flu, cough, migraine, paralysis, rheumatoid arthritis, and obesity]
"HEPATITIS: Consume light green chromatsied water, twice a day
∙ Project blue light on the right side of the abdomen for 15 min twice a day.
∙ Massage with yellow light charged linseed oil over the liver."
"DIABETES: use violet chromatised water twice a day and yellow charged water after meals
• Take blue chromatised water prior to meals and massage the upper vertebrae with yellow charged oil for 5 min.
• Cast light of violet and yellow colours for about 10 min each, with a gap of 5 min in between."
"CANCER
• The ambience around the patient, i.e. the room where the patient resides, must be coloured red. The patients’ attire, as well as the walls, curtains, bed sheets and pillow coverings, should all be red.
• Cast red light over the body for 10 to 15 min several times a day.
• Massage red charged oil upon the back of trunk, thigh muscles and calves once daily."
"Application of chromotherapy in dentistry
"Various oral diseases can be cured using chromotherapy." [discussion of dental pain, mouth ulcers, pyorrhea]
"Teething problems in children" [in addition to bruxism, measles is for some reason discussed in this section]
"Conclusion
"Based on the available literature, this review suggests that chromotherapy has profound benefits on the human body and is in use for centuries. This field of alternative therapy needs a further and deeper study so that it can be helpful in understanding new dimensions in dentistry and to widen the scope of chromotherapy in dentistry. It is a multidisciplinary field that includes biophysics, medicine and psychology. These chromotherapy constituent areas would broaden the reach of this significant discipline of alternative and complementary medicine and may be utilised as a supplement to traditional treatment. Chromotherapy, undoubtedly, has a bright future ahead of it, since it has the potential to emerge as new technology."
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Comments:
The editors of The Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care have been negligent in publishing this collection of pseudoscientific nonsense.
The authors do not even hint at the idea that their claims are rejected by scientific medicine, or even that they might be controversial.
Here are a couple examples of the absurdities:
The seven chakras (which are mystical "energy points" in the body), numbered from bottom to top of the human body, are said to correspond to seven colors in the same order as the colors appear in the electromagnetic spectrum. This shows that the system was a human invention, not anything based on scientific reality.
Yellow light is said to carry "inspirational and stimulating positive magnetic currents." What is a "positive magnetic current"?
It is irresponsible to suggest that serious diseases such as hepatitis, diabetes, and cancer can be treated with "chromotherapy." If patients believe such ideas it may distract them from getting genuine effective medical treatments.
Finally, the article was poorly edited. In addition to punctuation errors, there are references cited in the text that do not appear in the reference list (Walker 1991, Wills 1993). The former is cited in support of the effects of blue color on metabolism and other functions, while the latter is the citation for the claim about "positive magnetic currents.".
