Twilight app: a possible suggestion
 

I figured I'd share this idea with the board here in case it could be beneficial to anyone else.

I know one of the most frustrating things about dealing with concussion symptoms is that we can't do anything to help them. This is especially true concerning the fact that a lot of us are required to use screens in our daily lives, which I'm sure we've all heard is supposed to be limited as much as possible.

Well, when I first got my concussion over four months ago, I was talking to my brother-in-law about how hard it is for me to avoid being on screens because I need them for so many things in my daily life, but that too much exposure to them is harmful to the brain. So he told me about this app that you can download on your phone/tablet called Twilight.

What Twilight does is remove the blue light from your device and instead filter it with a red light. This makes it all a little less bright. The effect is supposed to help your circadian rhythms. I've been using it on my phone ever since I downloaded it, but I can't really say if I would have been doing any worse if I hadn't been using it.

I don't have any basis on whether it helps or not. On the app store, it says it's helpful for people that have trouble falling asleep at night, since the exposure to blue light is what keeps you awake. But who knows, if it helps soothe your circadian rhythms, maybe that could be beneficial for people recovering from concussions/PCS? I'm not really sure on the effects or benefits.

The obvious thing is to still limit use of electronic devices, but while you are using something like a phone or tablet, this could potentially help you out. And for those who have symptoms that make it difficult to fall asleep, this could especially be helpful.

Again, I'm not entirely sure if this is something that's actually helpful, but I figured I'd throw the suggestion out there in case anyone hasn't heard of it and thinks it might be useful to them. I know how any little thing you have the power to do to help your recovery can make you feel a lot better. Maybe someone that's a little more knowledgeable on the subject can give some further thoughts on the usefulness of this.

f-lux is available for your computer. Screen time does not damage the brain. It just is processing intense. It can fatigue it. Flat screens are much easier on the brain than the old tube type screens due to flicker/refresh rates. Somebody did some research and found that BenQ makes a display with lots of adjustable parameters that may be helpful.

I can spend hours with a computer display as long as there is not a lot of movement/animation to challenge my brain. Early in my recovery, I would need to step away from my tube based display every 20 to 30 minutes or so. When I replaced it with an LED display, my tolerance went way up.

A challenge I have when doing computer work is the layering of various windows. If I need to transfer info from one window to another, I tend to get fatigued. I solved this problem by getting a second screen. Most computers will work with two screens without any extra equipment/adapters other than a video cable adapter.

PM me if you need help with your specific system.

Is this app for android only? I can't seem to find it on the App Store with my iPhone.

I didn't know this until looking it up, but yes, it seems like Twilight is only available for Android. Sorry about that.

Although, the f.lux app does the exact same thing (and I wasn't aware that it could be downloaded for computers, thanks Mark), so if you're looking for something like this, try that out instead. I'm sure they both work the same way.