heliotherapy

[ hee-lee-oh-ther-uh-pee ]

noun

1. treatment of disease by means of sunlight.

heliotherapy

/ ˌhiːlɪəʊˈθɛrəpɪ /

noun

1. the therapeutic use of sunlight

Word History and Origins

Origin of heliotherapy¹

First recorded in 1885–90; helio- + therapy

Example Sentences

At the time, the medical community believed prolonged exposure to the sun, or heliotherapy, to be the best treatment for the two strains of tuberculosis most commonly found in children.

From Washington Times

Some doctors thought alpine air was the reason TB patients fared better, but others believed in “heliotherapy.”

From New York Times

The design of the home was meant to fulfill requirements of heliotherapy based on work by Dr. Nils Finsen, the 1903 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine.

From Scientific American

It has been found that tuberculous lesions tend to undergo cure when the infected tissues are exposed to the rays of the sun—heliotherapy—therefore whenever practicable this therapeutic measure should be had recourse to.

From Project Gutenberg

The operative surgical quality but that he was reluctant to shed human blood even when the end justified the means, preferring, in their natural order, heliotherapy, psychophysicotherapeutics, osteopathic surgery.

From Project Gutenberg