Acne vulgaris

Home-use blue and red LED phototherapy for mild-to-moderate acne RCT

Kwon HH, Lee JB, Yoon JY, et al. British Journal of Dermatology. 2013.

Source

A double-blind randomized home-use trial tested combination blue and red LED phototherapy for mild-to-moderate acne.

Evidence grade

low

Effect direction

positive

Panel relevance

partially-replicable

Key findings

  • The protocol used 420 nm blue and 660 nm red light for 2.5 minutes twice daily for 4 weeks.
  • Inflammatory and noninflammatory lesion counts improved in the active treatment group.
  • No severe adverse events were reported.

Protocol details

Wavelengths420, 660 nm
IrradianceNot reported mW/cm2
FluenceNot reported J/cm2
Session time2.5 minutes
FrequencyTwice daily
Duration4 weeks, with follow-up to 12 weeks
Treatment areaAcne-affected facial skin
Device typeHome-use blue and red LED acne device

Caveats

  • This is combination blue/red phototherapy, not red light alone.
  • Twice-daily treatment is device-specific and should not be generalized to all panels.