Both LED Red light and Blue Light effective in treatment of mild-to-moderate acne: Study

Red and blue light therapies are safe and effective treatments for mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris. However, very few previous studies have directly compared the characteristics of these two methods.

A group of researchers conducted a study to compare the efficacy and side effects of red light (RL) and blue light (BL) for acne vulgaris and to assess these two therapies in different types of lesions.

A total of 28 subjects with mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris were randomized into the red light (RL) group or the blue light (BL) group. Subjects in each group received different light treatments, and they were followed up regularly until 2 weeks after the last treatment. The improvement rates of different types of acne lesions were compared between the 2 groups, as well as the incidence of adverse reactions.

The Results of the study are:

At the 2-week follow-up, the average improvement rate of total acne lesions was 36.2% in the red light (RL) group and 30.7% in the blue light (BL) group (p > .05). The average improvement rate of inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions was 51.5% and 17.3% in the red light (RL) group, compared with 26.4% and 10.0% in the blue light (BL) group (all p > .05). Treatment-related adverse reactions were observed distinctly in the BL group.

Thus, the researchers concluded that red light (RL) and blue light (BL) therapies have similar efficacy in mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris, especially for inflammatory lesions. Red light (RL) had advantages with fewer adverse reactions compared with blue light (BL).

Reference:

Comparison of red light and blue light therapies for mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris: A randomized controlled clinical study by Jiahua Li et al. published in the Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34981580/