Blue and Red Light Phototherapy is suitable for the treatment of mild to moderate acne, affecting the face, chest, or back.  It is not suitable for treating nodular or cystic acne.

Treatments are given twice a week for 4 weeks. Ideally there should be 2 or 3 days in between treatments eg Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Saturday schedules.  Blue (420nm) and Red (615nm) treatments are alternated, with the first treatment being a Blue light treatment. In  other words there are 4 Blue treatments and 4 Red treatments.

Each treatment lasts 20 minutes. There is no discomfort. Some people will notice slight warmth during the Red treatment. There is no swelling or peeling or redness afterwards. There is no ultraviolet in the lamps used, and so no sunburn or photoaging occurs. In fact Red Light can be used as a treatment (photo-rejuvenation) for sun-accelerated aging changes.

You can use normal skin care following the treatment, however we usually advise against using acne washes and gels in conjunction with light treatment.

Acne is primarily a disorder of keratinisation of the pilosebaceous (hair follicle/sebaceous gland) units. Bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes get trapped in the blocked pilosebaceous units and promote inflammation. P acnes produce porphyrins, which can be activated by light, which results in the bacteria being killed by their own products. Blue light works best to do this, but Red light penetrates deeper into the skin. It is likely that other mechanisms are at work also, since Red light can be beneficial in acne without altering bacterial populations.

At the completion of 4 weeks of treatment 50% of patients have a marked improvement; 8 weeks later (without further treatment) about 75% of patients have a marked improvement. In other words, the greatest benefit is seen 2 months after the treatment is completed. This improvement is usually maintained for a further 2 or 3 months.

Patients may refer themselves directly to our therapists for this treatment.