Acne Light Therapy

When I was a teenager, dealing with my worst acne, I always had the most breakouts during the winter months. In the summer, my acne was pretty much no more than a minor concern. I didn’t need a medical study to tell me that the sun had something to do with it. All summer long I would be out in it playing sports, doing chores, and going to the beach. I was pretty much tanned for three solid months and mostly acne free. It was terrific.

Well, as it turns out, medical studies have validated my teenage observations several times over – sunlight can indeed improve acne. There are certain antibacterial properties carried by the ultraviolet wavelengths found in sunlight that impair the P. acnes bacterium found in our skin that’s linked to acne. And it also turns out that there are some visible wavelengths found in sunlight that do the same job. Those are the wavelengths used today in acne light therapy.

Light therapy for acne takes advantage of an inherent weakness found in the P. acnes bacterium (also known as “Propionibacterium acnes”). There are certain chemicals within the bacterium that are sensitive to specific wavelengths of blue light. When they’re exposed to those wavelengths the chemicals become over stimulated and that over stimulation first breaks down and then kills the bacterium itself.  With the bacterium greatly reduced or completely gone, acne breakouts are reduced or eliminated.

Light therapy and acne are a natural combination. The light is able to reach into the skin where acne lives without any harsh side-effects. Light therapy does not produce noticeable heat – most devices use LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights so your skin needs no recovery time after a treatment and it isn’t dried out. It’s painless, gentle, and totally non-invasive.

And acne blue light therapy has been around for awhile now too. Dermatologists have used it in conjunction with other treatments and therapies for years. For instance, IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatments, which reach deeper levels of the skin and PDT (Photodynamic Therapy) treatments which team up light with topical photosensitizer creams are mainstays in many Dermatologist practices. What’s different today is that blue light therapy for acne has reached beyond the doctor’s office – it’s now available in many over-the-counter products.

Pronounced “answer”, this little device, which is shaped a bit like a makeup compact, is a combination blue and red light therapy tool. Think blue for anti-acne and red for anti-aging. The blue light penetrates the skin to get at the acne bacteria and smack it down. The red light works as a skin rejuvenator to stimulate collagen growth in the skin and improve skin tightness and texture. The blue and red lights together form a great combination. 

Priced in the $120.00 to $150.00 range, the ANSR Beam is completely portable. It will fit in a purse or briefcase easily. It’s cordless and charges just like a cell phone. It also has a timer setting so you don’t have to actively keep track of a treatment. And it has a vibration setting to gently soothe your skin while you’re treating it.

This is another “dual-light” system – it has both blue and red light treatment modules. But unlike the ANSR, the Tanda product has two different light “heads.” One for blue and one for red so there’s a little switching back and forth if you use both. The Tanda device is also cordless and rechargeable but a little less portable than the ANSR because it is bigger too. It won’t fit into a purse very easily so you can’t take it everywhere you go.

The Tanda system costs more too. It generally runs between $270.00 and $400.00. The price can be rationalized a bit though when you consider that it has a larger treatment surface area and therefore can cover more area faster. Recommended treatments vary from three minutes per skin area to 18 minutes. 

The Baby Quasar product is a single-light product. You can buy either a blue or a red device but not one device with both lights. It’s a sleek looking wand that requires a plugged in power source – it is not cordless and therefore not quite as portable as other products. It comes with an internal timer and a very precise set of directions for a complete treatment in around 28 minutes.

This product is a little on the pricey side, especially when you consider you only get one light source and not two. It will cost between $300.00 and $400.00. Of course, as with all acne light therapy devices the initial cost is offset a bit by the savings you experience by not needing to buy the monthly creams and gels.

These hand-held LED devices are getting some good reviews and testimonials from acne sufferers. They’re certainly convenient – they can fit into your schedule on your terms whenever you want. They are however not as powerful as the devices Dermatologists routinely use in their offices. So while they can produce some nice results, those results will take longer to achieve and may not be as dramatic as what a full-fledged dermatological treatment can produce.

Light therapy in general is producing some very interesting and promising research results in several different areas of medicine. Interesting healing connections between light frequencies and mood disorders, pain problems, and memory functioning are being discovered. Anti-acne and anti-aging light products are just the tip of the iceberg. 

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