Phototherapies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A range of therapeutic techniques that utilize light to treat medical conditions or skin disorders
2. The application of light in various wavelengths for the treatment of physical ailments and enhancing skin health
3. Methods involving the use of light exposure to promote healing and alleviate symptoms in patients suffering from certain conditions

Etymology: "Phototherapies" is the plural of "phototherapy," a compound built from two Greek elements. "Phōs" (genitive "phōtos") means light and gives the "photo-" part, while "therapeia" means healing or medical care. Both elements are ancient, but the combination is modern. The Greeks had no word for treating illness with light, so the term was assembled from their vocabulary to name a newer medical practice. The "-therapy" ending has its own route. "Therapeia" passed into Latin and then into the modern European languages, and English adopted "therapy" for the treatment of disease. Attaching it to "photo-" produces a label for any healing method that uses light, from early skin treatments to today's devices that emit specific wavelengths. The plural reflects the variety of those methods, each using a different kind of light for a different purpose.

Synonyms: light therapies