Blue LED Light Therapy Acne Treatment

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Acne is a persistent medical skin condition that can affect your face, chest, back, shoulders, and arms, and although it does not necessarily impact our physical health, it can absolutely take a mental toll. Acne can make us feel ugly and self-conscious, wanting to retreat in our homes and hide from the world. And although acne is totally normal and nothing to be ashamed of, it can still place unnecessary stress on everyday life. When a particularly extreme acne breakout happens, it can feel like nothing works fast enough to get us back in the clear. LED Light Therapy for acne is a tremendous treatment option for fast results.

Acne is an extremely common skin condition, and it affects approximately 50 million Americans every year. In fact, 3 out of 4 people aged 11-30 years old have experienced acne at least once in their lives. Acne develops when an abundance of dead skin cells and a naturally-produced oil called sebum plug tiny hair follicles, or pores. As sebum production continues to build under the plug in the skin’s surface, it becomes infected with P. acne bacteria, causing swelling, redness, and inflammation. Acne presents itself in many ways - whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, and cysts are all common forms of acne, and each type can require a different approach for treatment. Although acne is often considered a “teenage issue,” it can occur to any person at any age for a wide array of reasons.

Although acne is typically thought to only affect teenagers and people in their early 20s, acne is actually very common in adults, as well. Some people experience acne into their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and even if they never suffered from acne as a teenager, “adult-onset acne” is a thing, typically caused by pregnancy, menopause, and other hormonal imbalances. What’s worse, women are affected by adult-onset acne much more than men. So unfair, right?

There is not one clear answer as to what causes acne in adults, but it’s believed that a variety of factors such as hormones, genetics, diet, stress, makeup, poor skin care, and other underlying medical issues can cause adult acne, just to name just a few

If you suffer from acne, it’s more than likely you’ve tried your fair share of treatments. From over-the-counter cleansers, creams, masks, and serums to even more extreme measures like prescription antibiotics and even Accutane. The options go on.

Dermatologists recommend that people with acne take care to wash their face twice daily with a gentle yet effective cleanser. Touching your face, over-exfoliating, and applying heavy comedogenic creams are also serious no-no’s. But beyond that? There is no one-size-fits-all approach to tackling acne, and something that works for one person might not work for another. Some people require a more specialized acne treatment “cocktail” of sorts to finally eliminate the breakouts for good. The problem is, it can take months -- or years -- to figure out which treatment, or combination of treatments, will finally banish adult acne and keep it from coming back. What’s more, conventional chemical-based acne treatments can often dry out skin and cause even more irritation, exacerbating acne breakouts and their side effects.

If you suffer from acne, it’s likely you’ve heard of light therapy as a possible solution to your pimple woes. LED blue light therapy is the new wave of skin care for people who have tried other acne treatments, but still aren’t seeing the results they want. Light therapy used to only be available at a dermatologist’s or esthetician’s office, but with the advent of affordable, effective, at-home light therapy device design, blue light for acne is becoming a household treatment that’s non-toxic, non-invasive, and really, really effective.

LED light therapy works by killing acne-causing bacteria at the source, deep beneath the skin’s surface. As people across the nation are searching for more natural, chemical-free alternatives to traditional medical solutions, light therapy fits the bill perfectly. Blue LED light therapy emits specific, clinically-proven wavelengths of light to trigger an all-natural effect in human tissue, killing acne-causing bacteria, decreasing inflammation, and improving skin tone, texture, and clarity from the inside out. However, not all light therapy is created equal. 

Blue and red LED light light-therapy is widely used as an effective option for the treatment of inflammatory acne. One study concluded that “…blue light and red light may act synergistically in improving acne by combining antibacterial and anti-inflammatory action, rendering phototherapy with blue and/or red light an effective and safe treatment for acne vulgaris.₁

1.British Journal of Dermatology 2000; 142: 973±978.
Phototherapy with blue (415 nm) and red (660 nm) light in the treatment of acne vulgaris
P.PAPAGEORGIOU, A.KATSAMBAS* AND A.CHU
Unit of Dermatology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, DuCane Road, London W12 0NN, U.K. Adreas Sygros Hospital, Athens, Greece