Handheld LED array device in the treatment of acne vulgaris

The successful treatment of acne still remains problematic. Conventional therapies often prove inconsistent with unacceptable side effects and recurrence rates, leading to patient noncompliance. A thermal phototherapy treatment using a combination of blue light and red light has recently attracted much attention and seems to offer an effective alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of blue light (415 nm) in combination with red light (633 nm) in the reduction of inflammatory lesions on the face of subjects (n=21) with mild to moderate acne vulgaris after a course of 8 20-minute (blue) or 30-minute (red) alternated light treatments, self-administered by a handheld unit over a period of 4 weeks. Lesion counts progressively reduced throughout the 4-week light therapy period and continued to reduce up to 8 weeks posttherapy, with a final average reduction of 69% seen 8 weeks after the treatment course (P>.001). This pattern is similar to previously reported studies.