Light Therapy and Acne Treatment
Filed under Light Therapy
Many dermatologists have taken to using blue light or red light therapies to treat acne. Besides these two types of light, sunlight is the best acne treatment; but the UVA and UVB rays in sunlight are extremely damaging to the skin, especially during prolonged exposure. Since artificial UV didn’t work as well as real sunlight, blue and red visible rays were found to be effective and safer.
These two lights actually have the ability to destroy the bacteria that cause acne in the skin. The prescribed therapy is generally 3 days of exposure; this can get rid of almost all (99.9%) of the bacteria in the skin. The only real precaution dermatologists need to take with this treatment is appropriate eye protection.
Acne Light Therapy
The most common types of acne affect approximately 17 million teens and young adults in the United States, with the rare acne conglobata occurring in young men and acne fulminans–a severe form of acne conglobata–occurring in teen boys. And with this high of statistics, it is no wonder that Acne Light Therapy is becoming a top choice for safe alternative acne health treatments.
It has been proven in several studies that blue and red light working together through Acne Light Therapy, in specific wavelengths, have an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect upon acne. The blue light at 415nm has an antibacterial effect, while the red light at 660nm acts as an effective anti-inflammatory. But so far, the USDA has approved only the narrow-band, high intensity blue-light therapy for acne treatments with results. And today, it is the best treatment so far, as the blue-light products being developed now do not contain ultraviolet light, or UV rays. The blue-light treatments consist of eight sessions in increments over four-weeks with each one being about 15 minutes long. About 55% of the patients state they saw noticeable improvements.
The reason Acne Light Therapy is so popular as a treatment for acne, as compared to the traditional antibiotics, is because if taken for a prolonged period of time the antibiotics can damage the lining of the gastrointestinal area of the body, in addition to exacerbating the very condition being treated. One study did an Acne Light Therapy testing, showing that 50% of those who had severe acne problems demonstrated higher levels of toxins in the bloodstream. If this has occurred, attempt to replenish the microflora that has been wiped out due to the excessive use of antibiotics with a probiotic supplement, such as eating bananas.
Additionally, a UK-led study of approximately 10,000 acne sufferers had excellent results with 70% participants reporting they had significant acne improvements with red-blue light therapy. Dr. Tony Chu from London, England, the doctor in charge of the Acne Light Therapy, has made it is his entire career to find a treatment for acne, and is quoted as saying that light therapy is the “most significant advance in the treatment of acne for two decades.”
Dr. Tony’s Chu’s treatment for Acne Light Therapy is a device called the DermaLux, a light therapy box that the acne inflicted individuals can sit in front of for 15 minutes per day. How the treatment works is the acne-causing bacteria is killed by the correct mixture of red and blue light. Recent studies have also applied benzoyl peroxide cream twice daily.
