Safety and Effectiveness of a New Blue Light Device for the Self-treatment of Mild-to-moderate Acne.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the safety and effectiveness of treating acne for eight weeks using a new blue light device at a dose of ˜2J/cm(2)/day (representing typical full-face treatment) or ˜29J/cm(2)/day (representing the typical dose after localized spot treatment of acne).

DESIGN

Prospective, single-center, open-label study evaluating two levels of blue light in each subject.

SETTING

Subjects were recruited from the local community for self-treatment at home.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirty-two subjects with mild or moderate facial acne vulgaris.

MEASUREMENTS

Inflammatory lesion count; number, severity, and redness of flares; improvement in skin characteristics (overall appearance, clarity, radiance, tone, texture, and smoothness); tolerability; subject satisfaction.

RESULTS

The blue light treatment was associated with significant reductions from baseline in inflammatory lesion count as early as Week 1 with ˜29J/cm(2)/day and Week 3 with ˜2J/cm(2)/day (P≤ 0.01). It was also associated with significant reductions in the number, severity, and redness of flares and with improvements in the skin's appearance, clarity, radiance, tone, texture, and smoothness. Overall, 53 percent of subjects considered the treatment much gentler than traditional acne treatments and 61 percent were satisfied. Three adverse events were probably related to treatment-minimal transient skin dryness (2) and minimal transient hyperpigmentation (1).

CONCLUSION

The blue light treatment is effective and well tolerated, offering rapid, gentle, and convenient treatment of inflammatory acne. The blue light device offers a valuable alternative to antibiotics and potentially irritating topical treatments and can also be used adjunctively to complement other therapies.