"Do Blue- And Red-Light Acne Treatments Actually Work?" - Lori Keong
Light-emitting-diode (more commonly known as LED) light therapy devices have been all the rage in skin care recently. They’re billed as skin-enhancing devices with the potential to improve acne, decrease oil production, and even soothe inflammation, but how effective are they actually? “There is science to support it, so it’s not voodoo,” said Angela Lamb, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and director of the Westside Mount Sinai Dermatology Faculty Practice, “but it’s important to know its limitations.” Exposing your skin to different forms of low-level LED light does have anti-bacterial inflammatory benefits, which is why they’re commonly used for treating redness or acne. Blue light is a shorter wavelength that destroys acne-causing bacteria on the skin’s surface, while red light penetrates deeper to help with inflammation, but Hooman Khorasani, MD, the chief of the division of Dermatologic and Cosmetic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, says that both blue- and red-light therapy “may reduce the size of the sebaceous glands, so you don’t produce as much oil.”
- Angela Lamb, MD, Assistant Professor, Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, Westside Mount Sinai Dermatology Faculty Practice
- Hooman Khorasani, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Dermatology, Chief, Division of Dermatologic and Cosmetic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai