subject: How To Deal With Acne Safely And Quickly [print this page] Light therapy was once regarded as the best solution to acne problem in BBC news. It is no doubt an alternative solution for those people who get tired of applying acne lotion every day on their faces. There are many types of therapy available. To shed the readers some light on these therapies, this article briefly introduces blue-light therapy, pulsed light and heat energy (LHE) therapy, ALA + light therapy, diode laser and pulsed dye laser.
1) Blue-light therapy:
This is the best-known acne therapy which employs narrow-band and high intensity blue light as its light source. It is mainly used to treat acne-causing bacteria especially inflammatory acne vulgaris which is strongly immune to other therapies. It is not suitable for patients who have nodulocystic acne lesions.
2) Pulsed light and heat energy (LHE) therapy:
As what the name tells, this therapy combines pulses of light and heat. It can kill acne-causing bacteria such as P.acnes and decrease the production of skin oil. The outcome is most significant two months after treatment when patients can observe a significant reduction of acne breakouts.
3) 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) + light therapy:
This therapy uses ALA, a medication that makes the skin sensitive to light. Firstly, ALA will be applied to skin for a certain period of time depending on the acne condition. Next, ALA will be removed and patients will be treated with light therapy.
4) Diode laser:
This therapy has been proven to be effective in curing inflammatory acne both at the back and facial acnes. Side effects of this treatment are redness and swelling at targeted sites.
5) Pulsed dye laser:
Studies have been done on the therapy but the results show contradiction. Some patients show significant reduction in acne lesions but some do not. Further studies are needed to conclude the influence of this therapy in treating acne problem.
