What is it?

Blue/red light acne treatment is an acne treatment for mild/moderate acne where you shine bright 'blue' (actually it's violet) and red lights on your skin to prevent new acne spots. It's thought to be safe, and improves acne by ~75% for 80% of people over 3 months. Another 10% of people see some improvement. This is comparable or better to BP, and similar to other treatments like antibiotics.

The violet light kills a bacteria called P.Acnes- this is the bacteria that is killed by most acne treatment- removal of the bacteria greatly improves your skin and prevents most acne. The light activates a porphoryn in the bacteria that isn't present in human skin, and the bacteria cooks itself.

The red light is anti-inflammatory and improves healing and increases the rate of production of collagen (giving a handy gentle facelift/antiwrinkling effect that lasts as long as you keep treating). Skin tone ends up better than normal on this treatment, a nice side-effect. It also helps heal up red marks; >10% or more faster.

Does it work?

For pictures see: (managing director of Androv); he got pretty good clearance.

also http://www.caci.co.nz/imagelibrary/100060.pdf (they're a couple of people who have had only violet light treatment- blue/red light treatment gives slightly better clearance and results.)

There's been one major published study in the UK:

http://www.wasauna.com/bluelight/journal.pdf

This involved 120 people using the light everyday, at home. Also, quite a few people have tried this form of treatment to good success. Yes, it really works.

That study used fluorescent tubes, but LEDs seem to work just as well: LED study.
Also other studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum

How do I get this treatment?

You need *really* almost stupidly bright blue/red lights for this to work. To get intense enough light you need to buy special lamps. Or you could go to a dermatologist, but I do not recommend that, it's nearly always much more expensive, awkward to travel to, and works less well. Plus if you buy the lamps you can use them for years, for little or no extra cost. If your acne improves you can sell them on ebay or something.

Any of these products will probably work (note: light is light, don't expect expensive ones to work any better, they won't)

BeautySkin
http://www.acnelamp.com/
http://www.acnestar.co.uk/
http://www.lumiport.com
http://www.naturebright.com/products/skin_care_lamp.html
Verilux happyskin acne light

The more powerful the lights are, the less time you need to spend treating, but your acne won't be any better or worse.

n.b. small handheld LED lights that only cover a small area mean you can spend ages treating; I think most people are better off with lamps that can cover a large area.

Also:

http://www.kaliszincolor.com/A_natural_acne_treatment.htm
(Sci/Art Lamps- or it's cheaper to just buy the dichroic bulbs and holders: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/forums.html...5113)

They sell dichroic lamps these seem to work, or at least a few people here have claimed that they did.

They also ship LED lamps. But the LEDs that have been shipped are a deep blue, at 470nm. These should not work since it is incapable of killing the acne bacteria. The colour that works is a deep violet colour at 405-420nm; 470nm is too far off. They claim that they will be shipping a violet lamp later on, but until they do, avoid this type at all costs.

How quickly does it work?

You'll see some improvement in a few days; that's mainly the red light acting. However the violet light will kill the P.Acnes almost completely in the first few days or so.

It will then take a good 12 weeks for the pores to completely unblock themselves and the skin to grow and the red marks to fade. In the meantime you will continue to get acne; but at an ever slowing rate. Most people don't notice any effect for the first 6 weeks, because normal variation in acne covers the effect. Some people don't get good clearance till the 12th week. Under no circumstances give up!

How long should I use the lights for?

You should follow the instructions. Some people find that using the lights slightly less than indicated gives better results (e.g. 10 minutes instead of 15). It seems to be a bad idea to use the lights longer than the manufacturer says, it tends to irritate the skin slightly and if anything causes more acne.

You should use the lights once a day (everyday!) You can however use the lights up to twice a day. So, if you miss a day, you can top up with two treatments, several hours apart the following day. Try to average 7 treatments a week.

Once your acne clears, as with benzoyl peroxide or antibiotics you need to keep using the lamp at least a few times a week.

Is it safe?

None of these lamps produce dangerous amounts of ultraviolet. Scientific experiments indicate that neither blue nor red light causes cancer.

There is a report that some of the lamps might cause a slight tan in asian or mexican people. The fluorescent lamps produce small amounts of UV-A (about the same amount per day as standing outside in the sun for 1 minute). If that's a concern, choose one of the non fluorescent lamps.

It is very important to keep the violet light out of your eyes. It's thought that normal blue light even in sunlight gradually damages the retina, so 100% protection against the blue light is essential. Closing your eyes is probably not sufficient. The lamps generally come with goggles, but at a pinch painting some swimming goggles or wrap them in aluminium foil would be good.

It's really expensive isn't it?

No, it's cheaper than benzoyl peroxide including the washes and moisturisers you need to use for that.

Sure, if you were to go to a dermatologist to have blue/red treatment, then yes it's often really expensive.

But if you buy your lamp, it's reasonably cheap. If you add up the cost of BP, moisturisers and cleansers over a couple of years you will find it comes to more than the cost of the lamps, particularly the cheaper lamps.

Who has used it on Acne.org?

Worked (i.e. >75% clearance):

biochembabe (Sci/art dichroic), wolfkeeper (dermalux), GTO, seamus (Sci/art dichroic), delboy, Locked In Grace, stanno(beautyskin), DeeAgony, Ronin (beautyskin), Rupert (dermalux)

At least some improvement (e.g. 50%):

don't look, timmytim, kanmi

Failed:

Posh, B24K, Le Chiffre (dermalux)

(Posh didn't follow the instructions correctly, and gave up early, but I've still counted it as a failure; B24K saw some improvement but not enough to justify further treatment).

Anything else I need to know?
You can use it with most other treatments, except Accutane. It's important that you face is clean when you use it though. It may be a useful adjunct to tetracycline antibiotics- these antibiotics are 'bacteriostatic' in other words they don't kill the bacteria they just hold it at bay; whereas this treatment kills them. So the combination is likely to be a good one.

Overtreating:

Some people with very sensitive skin seem to get a slight irritation/redness from their lights. This doesn't seem harmful, but indicates that they need to reduce the time. People that fail to reduce the time if this happens seem to get much less improvement. However even then the lights don't seem to be harmful- people have fallen asleep in front of their lamps for over an hour without anything really bad happening (i.e. no 'sunburn' or peeling,) but it's not a way to calm skin. Used sensibly blue/red light calms skin down and this seems to give less acne.

Particular products:

- I personally do not recommend buying a dermastyle pen; the beam is very narrow and the manufacturers make IMHO misleading claims as to its effectiveness (Chu's study says that it takes about 3 months to clear acne, NOT a few days- there is absolutely no evidence of any noticeable reduction in acne in his study results that quickly.) These blue/red light products largely prevent new acne in a region, and that's difficult with a pen-size treatment. It might work if you only have acne in very, very limited regions; but the vast majority of people's acne isn't like that.

- Dermalux lamps work (they're the same as Dr. Chu's study). The Beautyskin is basically the same product, and uses essentially the same kind of bulbs. You can even swap the bulbs between the units.

I understand that this is a fairly new laser treatment that used radio frequency waves to stimulate the collagen in the skin while creating minimal damage to the outer dermis. I have white skin, so hyper/hypo pigmentation is not a serious concern for me.

I've done the whole AHA/Gylcolic acid peel/ microdermabrasion who-ha in the past w/ no improvement to my scars (about 8 icepick/enlarged pores and 2 depressed/rolling scars on a quarter sized patch on my right check, just above my smile line)

I had a 10 micron micr laser peel approx. 6 weeks ago. Despite an allergic reaction to the post-treatment application of Aquaphor, the only real difference w/ smooth skin. NO improvement on scars, though I do understand NOW, that it's b/c it was such a low grade peel. The tech that did it has only done the laser since Jan. 2010 and has NEVER gone higher than a 10 micron. Since reading other people's posts, I'm TERRIFIED of CO2 and pro-fractional treatments. YIKES, and from what I've read, I don't think it would work for my scars anyways

I've ordered 2 derma-rollers ( a .5mm and a 1.0 mm from Scienta) that have yet to arrive. I've also read about other people's efforts w/ TCA cross.

I'm kinda at my wits end and I can honestly say I'm pretty depressed at my outlook on scar revision.

My current skin care is pretty simple: I wash w/ Carly's clear and smooth bar soap, followed by a 2% salycylic acid pad and BP or Neutrogena's Rapid Clear treatment on any active breakouts. Followed up w/ Mary Kay oil-free moisturizer w/ spf 15.

Thanks for reading my LONG post!

Hi all,

Just wanted to share with you my experience with Isolaz. This is my first post at this site, but I've been reading messages for over 1.5 years now...

First, some background on me. I'm 31 years old, and have had mild/moderate acne ever since about my frosh year of college. I never really cared that much, figuring it was a phase and that it would go away. Finally I got sick of it and started on Proactiv, which worked great for a few years.

Ever since then, I've constantly battled acne. I might go a week or two with clear skin, but then the stuff would always come back. Nothing too major, but enough to increasingly get on my nerves, the longer it stuck around. I'd always have blackheads around my t-zone (which I would tediously try and unplug as best I could every week or so), and a few whiteheads on my forehead, cheeks, chin, and under my chin. Another bad thing is that I'm a habitual picker, so if I ever saw a zit that was ready to pop, I'd go for it.

I've tried everything -- Murad, Neutrogrena, AcneFree, Botchla's regimen (Clean & Clear products), some stuff from Origins, a load of different moisturizers, jojoba oil, etc. None of it really made a difference. I'd either have super dry/very oily skin...in addition to the same or increased breakouts.

The past year has been particuarly stressful for me. My acne has gotten a bit worse, to the point where I don't even have a day of clear skin. And for some reason, I've become more and more depressed, anxious, and self-conscious about it, and how others perceive it. I even caved in and bought a combination concealer/healing sulfur base, which I'd use to cover up the bad spots every day. It was getting to the point where daily, I'd look at people and see their clear skin, and be thinking, "Gosh...if I had ONE wish, it would be to just have to not worry about my skin anymore."

Anyway, last week, I saw an ad for Isolaz on my local news channel. After doing a couple hours of research on my own, I decided to give it a go. I know treatments are pretty expensive ($150 - 300 a pop), but I figured I'd try one or two and see how it went. After all, I'd already spent tons of cash on all those other products, right? So I set up an appointment at Renu Medspa here in DC, a very reputable place, to have a session done on Saturday.

The technician I had wasn't awesome or anything, but she made me feel comfortable and was knowledgeable -- she gave me all the necessary information and answered all the questions I had pretty well. She went on to say that she had a number of patients and all of them had had great results using a combination therapy of Isolaz and a microdermabrasion + mild peel. I was hesitant at first, but figured what the heck. I'm there anyway, let's just do this.

The entire three-step process took about 45 minutes or so (about 15 mins each). I'd never had a microdermabrasion or a chemical peel before, but those were fine. The Isolaz itself was relatively pain-free, as well. I had a few sensitive spots where I'd feel a very brief "shock" of sorts, almost like a very quick burning feeling, but that was it. I was more scared about the reports of bruising of the skin, since I tend to bruise and get red spots on my face rather easily. In fact, very early on during the Isolaz treatment, my tech actually got up and brought over a physician's assistant, asking her if my reaction to the laser was normal! That freaked me out a bit, as I couldn't see my skin at that point. But the PA said that was totally normal and said everything was fine.

Anyway, after all of that, my tech applied some soothing balm & sunscreen and I was done. I was scared to look in the mirror, but it turns out I was freaked for nothing. My face looked fine -- just a little bit flushed overall and maybe in a few very small areas where there was a bit more redness. But honestly, it was nothing compared to what I had normally. And after an hour or two, a lot of that had faded after my face calmed down a bit.

So that was Saturday (4/5) morning. It is now Monday (4/7) afternoon, and I am happy to say that I have ZERO active pimples on my face. Nada, zilch! (Well, I actually have a small one on the side of my hairline, around my right temple, but since that's an area that the Isolaz didn't treat, that doesn't count.) Not only has Isolaz flattened the active pimples I had before my treatment (and I counted at least a few that were flaring up), but it has noticeably made my pores smaller -- especially in the t-zone where I get those constant blackheads. And best of all, my skin just FEELS good. It's not overly oily, as it would always get during the day.

Oh, also...the PA and the tech there recommended I go on Clenziderm, which is a pharmaceutical acne skin care line. It is similar to Proactiv in that it has three steps, but two are salycilic acid, and one is benzoyl peroxide. I've been using this the past couple of days since my treatment and it seems to be working well. It does smell kind of funky, and it leaves my face very tingly for an hour or so after I use it, but nothing really out of the ordinary.

I am cautiously optimistic at this point. I have another treatment in two weeks, so I plan to report back on how things are going. I know this is long and rambly, but I just thought it'd be useful for others who are considering this treatment. I know vpm and some others have written about it, so I thought I'd add my experience as I go through it.

What the skin needs is a product that clears pores and kills bacteria, thus preventing hair follicles from clogging and turning into acne. This is what you should be looking for if you want to get rid of those ugly acne. Before trying any treatment,

Alot of dermatologist saw my face and they recommend fraxel, but fraxel i heard it gives you more hyper pigmentation is that true?

anybody that had hyperpigemenation that did a laser treatment and had a good result let me know please

Hi Everyone,
I want to try eMatrix for my acne scars. Any one know where I could get it in Toronto, Ontario?

Okay this is my first post, so here we go.

As a teen I struggled with acne, now as a young adult I'm struggling with acne scars. First and foremost, people tell me the it's "not that bad" kind of deal...and I appreciate that, but those of us who have scars and KNOW we do.... knowing that "not that bad" isn't good enough.

Anyway, I've finally decided to do something about this and am leaning towards light/laser treatments. Now, to be honest, I really don't know which is the better route......Profractional? Fraxel? All of it to me is just confusing.

As of now and all the personal research I've done...people have been saying Profractional is the better option. I'd say my biggest concern is....is it SAFE (I've seen the one or two nasty stories on here already about it where people's faces are beyond disturbing...is this actually true?). What are the odds!? From everything I've read on many professional cosmetic clinics that do this the risks are minimal. But obviously, I don't want anything to get WORSE. Also with Profractional is the recovery time...the lady doctor I went to said recovery might take up to a WEEK. Having starting a new job, asking for a week off every month now is not too good. What are the experiences with recovery time? If it's 2-3 days then that would be a blessing.

About a Fraxel treatment...is it effective? Is it worth the money? The lady I went to about this said that I'd have to lose my tan first and that they couldn't do my whole face...only above the bearded area (where most of the scars are anyway). But still, just wondering if Fraxel is worth it. I hear with it there is NO recovery time...is this also true? You could go to workt the next day?

Long post...but anybody with answers I'd REALLY appreciate any help!

the handheld yellow from LEdman, how long is each twice a week sessions suppose to be?

i have the omnilux clear -u the both the red and blue . each have to be twenty minutes sessions to reach effective total dose.

but i cant find what the effective total dose with yellow would be and thus how long each session shoudl be. any insight thanks

Hello everyone,

I just have these 3 very tiny depressed scars on my cheek. When I mean depressed I mean like BARELY depressed. I don't know what you'd call them because they don't seem to fit any of the "icepick" "boxscar" "rolling" scar descriptions. So I was just wondering what to use on them. Smooth beam? If you have used smooth beam what are your results? Is it possible that my nearly invisible scars could vanish completely since they are so insignificant? What are some other methods? I've tried to find a thread similar to this but I couldn't. Everyone else's problems on here seem to be way worse than mine.

Hi,

Just had my first Fraxel today, and my dermatologist (he's considered one of the best) prescribed me accutane as well for better healing. My question is, is it really worth taking? I'm reading the side effects, and one of the "common" side effects is hair loss. I was prescribed 40ml for a month (1 pill a day after dinner). Think that's only a short time period that it's ok? Is it worth the risk?

thanks

Hey I just wanted a place to track and share my experience with IPL laser treatment and the light treatments. The pictures below aren't very flattering but I wanted to share so here goes If anyone who has had these treatments, good or bad experience, wants to share- you are more than welcome to!! There are all kinds of skin types and I'm sure we could benefit from hearing your story! I will keep up with the log and as I make another appointment add more pictures.




Night of laser + light treatment
6 days after treatment.
[Sorry for the lighting change but what you see is very realistic in both pictures]

And the pictures are reversed! I don't know why, so the spot near my nose in the first picture is on the other side in the next! Sorry!

I came across this item white researching the BeautyLight product. It's sold by the same company.

The Caribbean Sunbox $185 + s/h, which is quite a bit cheaper than $279 + s/h for the BeautyLight.

Caribbean Sunbox uses LED lights while the BeautyLight uses fluorescent lamps.

Both have 90-day guarantees, minus a 20% restocking fee for BeautyLight and 15% restocking fee for Caribbean Sunbox.

Thanks in advance for any advice/insight on this!

I'm a realist and i understand that it wont completely clear them, but im going to start fraxel re store treatments and wanted to get some insight. I have ice pick scarring too but thats not my main concern because i think fraxel will help that to a point im happy with. I really just want effective treatment on my red marks and sun marks.

Any insight?

For those of us interested in Vbeam, I thought this poll would help us considerably. In my petty research of Vbeam, I have yet to find an instance where Vbeam actually broke the patient out in more acne. That would be counterproductive to the extreme. A laser treatment to help acne and redness, yet it can cause breakouts? If this IS the situation, I'm hesitant to use Vbeam.

Honesty in the polls is hoped for

I wondered what people thought of this at home light treatment for acne .I'm thinking of getting it although it's expensive.Is it worth it or should I look at cheaper systems like acnelamp?

http://www.britebox-led.co.uk/acne/index.php


andy

Hi!

I am thinking about taking another cure of accutane to treat my acne. However, recently a laser clinic opened in my hometown of Sweden. I've been reading some about the laser options that are available. I got some mild scarring from my acne along with active acne.

I have an appointment with my dermatologist in early September. She will offer me another shot at accutane (the first time I took it was a year ago, it really helped, cleared my face, however, everything did not go away). I am uncertain wether to try Er:YAG laser or go with accutane?


In that study it seems like the laser not only improve scarring, but also remove acne.
Er:YAG laser treatment - medical study



Could you help me, anyone here at acne.org who's had a laser treatment, and more specific a Er:YAG laser treatment for acne and scars?

Sorry for the messy post, I'm Swedish and tired from work.

Has anyone tried Blue LED light for Acne? I saw this one on You Tube. I really liked this model because it is quite large unlike some of the other home units. I just ordered it and really hope it helps. Here is the link *Moderator edit, URL removed - read the board rules that you agreed to when you signed up here. *

Anyone here has any information on pixel laser treatment? How effective it is? Is there any side effect?
Anyone who has anything good and bad about this treatment is welcome to reply

Hi! I'm using Retin-A Micro, 0.04%, and have been for about 7 weeks (I used the 0.1% formulation for the first month of treatment). I have been told to entirely stop using Retin-A for 6 months before laser hair removal, and yet I've also been told that I do not need to stop at all. Does anyone have experience with the combination on Retin-A Micro and facial laser hair removal? I'm removing my facial hair because I simply cannot shave without inducing acne.

I'm interested in trying blue/red light therapy but I am unsure which lamp would be best.

I'm considering the following lamp:
http://www.look-after-yourself.com/top-ten...-acne-lamp/0/0/

Or would you recommend a different lamp?

Also I would prefer to buy from a UK retailer if possible, but that's not too important.

hi all,
i would like to do a co2 laser treatment but would like to know what did you use 2 weeks before the treatment to prepare your skin for the laser session, i saw a dr. but he told me i should not use any product and instead i have to moisturize my skin which i think is crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!! because before i should do any laser treatment i should prepare my skin so can you pls tell me what is the name of the creams you have used 2 weeks before the session and after the session what was the name of the antibiotic you have used and the moisturizer, thanks

hi there can anyone help me i have fractional co2 laser 10 days ago for acne scars, the first few days was great couldnt see and scars, now the swelling has gone down scars have returned, will collagen start to work to improve the scars or is that it, how long before i can see the slightest resl

Pls help. I know i should not take Vit E.

But anyone know if i should take vitamin C after my CO2 laser?

Thank u

Does anyone have any experience with this product?
They have a different product for hair removal that seems to work really well so I was wondering if anyone have tried this with success.


I haven't been able to find reviews online, so I am trying here..
For $180, it seems really expensive but there isn't really anything out there to heal moderate scars.

I searched, but if this is a repost, please post link.
Thanks!

Hello to my fellow Acne sufferers Boots Electric here,



I have just bought the Dr. Kern Beautyskin Acne Lamp and i feel it's my duty to run a blog giving my progress and what not back to the Acne.org community, and all you lurkers out there who just googled Acne Lamp and found this.

The internet has given me so much advice in my life and this is my chance to give some back to some very needy people, people who can't decide whether to drop £200 on a left over prop from an 80's episode of Dr Who and blinding yourself with it for 15 minutes a day!?!?


Little history of my Acne;

had it since 15 probably, im 23 now, it clears up 100% on sunny holiday, i use Duac cream which helps it a little.

AND NOW

I have used the lamp for 5 days now.

Please god everyone who owns one put some duct tape over the timer so it is jammed in the on position and stops making that infernal ticking noise!!!!!

Also the goggles are crap and you end up making new ones yourself out of house hold objects, holding your hair back with a woolly hat and stumbling around your bedroom blindly looking for the plug socket.

I am using the lamp 15 minutes on one side of face at a 45 degree angle then 15 minutes covering the other side at a 45 degree angle, whilst listening to various radio 4 podcasts, awesome!

Nothing happened for first 2 days then day 4 i realised that i had been sitting far too close (about 1 inch from my nose, which has made my face really burnt red and dry, woops, i will stay back 15cms now.

Also as of day 4 i have had a pretty bad outbreak for me which the manual says can happen at the start. I have noticed that the spots coming up are kinda small yellow ones whereas i normally get deeper red ones, go figure.

I am uploading a photo as of today, day 5 i think, edited for internet anonymityness

Stay tuned folks, peace and love and stuff, could 3 people post below saying Hi so i know this is worth continuing please!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

it looks legit, right?

http://www.light-therapy-led.com/products.htm

Or I could just order some bulbs off of here.


Tell me what you think! I want to order something soon!

i had a few ipl treatments about a year ago and i have all this hair on my face where i didnt before. like not on my actual beard line but on my upper cheeks its getting pretty bad and people are starting to notice it
has anyone else experienced this?

hey all!
How many times have you tried any laser treatment on your skin? Don't you think its dangerous to apply it too many times? Is it really that safe?

please let me know, waiting for your feedback.

Hello everyone I'm new to the board and I just have a question that I can't seem to get an answer to. I already used the search forum and could not find a thread like this so can anyone tell me how deep laser resurfacing goes? Like in a matter of measurements? I really need to know because I have these really insignificant scars on my cheek that I want to get rid of, and since they're so shallow I thought resurfacing would take care of them, but I don't want to go through with it if it doesn't go deep enough. So can anyone help me?

I was wondering if anyone had any success with this product? I've been using it a few weeks and haven't noticed a difference. I searched but was only able to find posts from last year and haven't seen any updates from anyone.

Would I be better off with a different light that requires 10-15 minutes of use, or does this one actually work?