The term "acne vulgaris" is Latin for "common acne"--ordinary pimples that many people get on their face, chest and back. However, when many people see a pimple, the words they may be thinking are quite vulgar indeed. And while over-the-counter medications and dermatologist-prescribed antibiotics can help clear up common acne, some studies indicate that a more effective treatment may be deep-penetrating light therapy.
Background
According to the website Acne.net, an old folk remedy for acne is spending time in the sun. Because of this, some patients have felt that UV light can help to clear up acne by killing the bacteria that causes it. However, dermatologists discourage this because of the damaging effects that UV light is proven to have on skin. Nevertheless, according to a study executed by doctors at Hammersmith Hospital in London and reported in the British Journal of Dermatology, patients treated with red and blue light therapy seem to recover from acne better than patients who have been treated with benzoyl peroxide.
Studies
Although there have been a number of small studies on the effects of various light treatments on acne, most of these studies aren't large enough to make a statistical impact. Another study, "Topical ALA-photodynamic therapy for the treatment of acne vulgaris," cited by the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, seemed to indicate that red light alone may clear up acne, but eventually lead to folliculitis, an acne-like infection of the hair follicles. Combining red and blue light, and possibly treating the face with a solution of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) to increase light sensitivity, as this study did, seems to produce the most significant results.
Data
In the British study, patients were exposed to blue and red light from a light box for 15 minutes a day. At the end of a 12-week period, doctors reported that these patients showed a 75 percent decrease in acne lesions. The study that combined light and ALA exposed patients to red or blue light for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes daily, depending on the severity of the patient's acne. While the patients had an adverse reaction to red-light therapy, the blue-light therapy significantly reduced the subject's acne.
Tags: blue light, that light, acne vulgaris, clear acne, common acne, have been