As you’ve read, acne light therapy is effective for about 86% of people.  Why wouldn’t it work for everyone?  There are several possible reasons.

1. Blue light is effective against the acne bacteria p. acnes, not all acne is caused by that specific bacteria.

2. Some things that look like acne are not acne at all, for example, a yeast infection can look like acne.  Shining blue light on that could actually make the condition worse, because the blue light may be killing some of the bacteria that is trying to keep the yeast under control.

3. Light therapy works on a cellular level.  You’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat.”  Everything you put into your body effects your body chemistry, and therefore your individual reaction to light.   At the LLLT Symposium last weekend (Aug 7&8, 2009) it was brought out that the presence of NSAID medication (Advil, Alieve and others) decreased the effectiveness of light in one study.  Effects of different medications was given as a reason why light therapy may be effective for some and not for others.

Even though acne light therapy does not work for everyone for various, valid reasons, it is effective for most people and is certainly worth a try.    Most acne light companies offer a 12 week trial period and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

(notes on the LLLT Symposium, American Society for Photobiology, August 7 & 8, 2009)

Most of the parts on this thing were pretty dry, however, some of the scientists had a sense of humor.

This was my favorite line of the weekend:

“The only way a (low level) laser is going to hurt somebody is if they drop it on their foot.”

I’m sorry I didn’t get the speaker’s name to credit that to.   There was a chuckle through the audience, indicating agreement on the part of all.

It was mentioned over and over, there are zero adverse side effects to low level light therapy, be it low level laser or LED light therapy.

It was said that light only effects cells “under stress” and has no effect on healthy cells.

The last part of the weekend was specifically devoted to “Human Safety Evaluation of Light-based Devices for Home Use” and he was talking about things like the resistors inside the devices getting hot, so that if you took the thing apart and touched one of them, you might burn your fingers.  If there were any reported negative side effects of LED or low level laser light therapy, we’d have heard about them then.  There are none.

When it comes to light therapy for acne and other conditions, some websites throw around very scientific sounding terms that can be intimidating to normal people. A couple of these are 415nm and 660nm. Those terms simply define the color of the light as follows:

A little more explanation:

The sun emits an unthinkable amount of energy, generally called electromagnetic radiation or the electromagnetic spectrum. This energy travels to earth in waves, and the wavelengths are measured in meters.

Most of the sun’s energy (radiation) is harmful to us (gamma rays, x rays, most of the UV rays), and so is blocked by our atmosphere. But some of this tremendous energy reaches earth, and we call the visible portion of this energy “light.”

The wavelengths of visible light are tiny, ranging from 400 to 700 billionths of a meter. A billionth of a meter is called a nanometer, or nm.

White light, as you likely know, contains all the colors of the rainbow. And so a color can be defined by a range of tiny wavelengths, in nanometers, or nm, like this:

So “415nm irradiation” is very simply violet light, and that’s really all there is to it. Calling it “radiation” makes it sound potentially dangerous and expensive, but “radiation” is just energy, in this case light energy, and it’s not dangerous or expensive, in fact, it’s life sustaining and it’s free. If you step outside into the sunlight (always avoid sunburn), you will be bathed in 415nm and 660nm light. That may be one reason your acne improves in the spring and summer months. Another reason may be the Vitamin D produced when the sun bathes your skin.

Does this mean that any light that shines blue or violet contains 415nm light, and any light that shines red contains 660nm light? That will be a topic of another post.

Photos courtesy of Sci-ART-Global.com – Understanding Color Therapy

Despite earlier indications that persons with darker skin pigmentation might not respond as well to phototherapy as patients with lighter skin, new clinical research has suggests that this is simply not the case. Observation of over 100 patients undergoing the UT Southwestern Medical Center’s experimental phototherapy treatments for morphea, scleroderma, and other related skin conditions, has shown that these treatments are beneficial to the same percentage of patients regardless of skin color. The procedure currently in place uses light in the UVA1 wavelength.

More information can be found at Newswise.com.

Last week I got a call from a young woman who said she’d received “blue light therapy” from her dermatologist. As she described the treatment, it became clear that the treatment she actually had was PDT, or Photodynamic Therapy, with Omnilux blue as the light source.

Even though a blue light may be used in PDT, it is not the same as the original, “blue light” therapy for acne that was FDA approved in 2002 under the name ClearLight. Here are some differences you should know about when considering either of these two acne treatments for yourself or your child:

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

PDT was FDA approved for the treatment of actinic keratoses. It is being used ‘off-label’ successfully for acne treatment. PDT starts off with an application of a chemical (5-ALA) to the skin. The chemical is allowed to penetrate the skin for a while. Then the skin is exposed to bright light (not necessarily, but often it is blue light (415nm +/-) such as Omnilux blue or Blue-U.) The light causes a chemical reaction in the 5-ALA, which kills the cells it has penetrated. This may cause burning, stinging or tingling sensations. Over the next few days, the dead skin peels and falls off. PDT should only be done by a licensed dermatologist or aesthetician.

Blue Light Therapy

Blue Light Therapy begins with cleansing the skin with a mild, non-medicated soap and allowing it to dry for a while. Then the skin is illuminated with blue light (415nm +/-) for 10-20 minutes. This initiates a natural chemical reaction within the acne bacteria, causing it to self-destruct. No burning or stinging is felt. The body’s natural healing and detoxification processes eliminate the dead acne bacteria and, in it’s absence, skin naturally clears without peeling. This healing and detox process can be sped along by adding red light to the treatment regimen. Blue light acne therapy is safe for all ages and can be done conveniently in your own home.

ALA or Levulan is not necessary for effective blue light acne treatment. We promote the natural, non-invasive use of blue light. Our lights (currently enLux 415nm LEDs) are not to be used with ALA, Levulan or any other related topical application. You may want to consider PDT at your dermatologist’s office for severe cases of acne that do not respond to blue light alone.