Light therapy: a new hope for chronic pain sufferers?
NCT ID NCT05956067
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study explores whether shining specific colors of light into the eyes can help people with chronic low back pain or fibromyalgia feel less pain. Sixty adults will use a portable light device for 2 hours daily over 5 days. The goal is to see if this approach is practical and worth studying further for pain relief.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- colored light (green, white, or S-cone modulating) delivered via a portable light display device
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a simple, drug-free way to ease chronic pain using light therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early, small feasibility study (60 people) that is currently suspended. It only tests if the method is practical, not whether it truly reduces pain, so results may not lead to a proven treatment.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 60 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2023
- Expected to finish
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Jul 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 65 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Adults greater than or equal to 18 and less than or equal to 65. * Individuals who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic low back pain by their physician. * Individuals who experience an average pain severity greater than 4/10 in intensity at baseline. * Willingness to wear a battery-operated portable ganzfeld light stimulator device for 2 hours per day at the same time each day (ideally complete the light therapy session between 5 am-10 am each morning) for 5 days. * Alert and oriented, and able to provide informed consent * Ability to read and speak English to complete validated questionnaires. Exclusion Criteria: * Vision disorders or conditions resulting in severe vision impairment or blindness * Individuals with self-report of color blindness * Prisoner Status * Pregnancy * No other history or condition that would, in the investigator's judgment, indicate that the patient would very likely be non-compliant with the study or unsuitable for the study (e.g., might interfere with the study, confound interpretation, or endanger the patient). * History of seizure disorder
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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University Of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27517, United States
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