How You Can Use Blue Light Therapy for Acne Treatment
Whether you’re experiencing a breakout right before an important event or have struggled with acne all your life, no one likes to wake up with a fresh set of pimples on their face in the morning.
There’s something you can do for three minutes that can minimize existing breakouts and prevent future ones — blue light therapy!
Using blue light therapy as an acne treatment may sound too good to be true, but it’s not — it’s a natural treatment that destroys acne-causing bacteria and improves your skin’s overall appearance. Let’s get into how you can use blue light therapy to treat acne and how you can incorporate it into your skincare routine.
What is Blue Light Therapy, and How Does It Work?
Blue light therapy uses blue light from an LED (light emitting diode) bulb in a specific wavelength range to treat skin. Blue light targets and destroys bacteria that reside on or in the skin. As a result, blue light therapy provides many skincare benefits, including treating and preventing acne, reducing inflammation and discoloration and the skin, and also providing relief for certain skin conditions, such as psoriasis.
Does Blue Light Therapy Work For Acne?
Blue light therapy has shown to reduce acne across multiple studies and clinical trials. Here are some you can check out (listed by journal in which it was published):
- Journal of Dermatological Science
- Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology
- Journal of Drugs in Dermatology
In our in-house, 2-week consumer study, 100% of participants saw improvements in 3-4 of the following areas:
- Reduction of pores
- Improvement of skin tone
- Improvement of skin texture
- Overall skin condition
No, seriously — we mean 100%. We’re proud to provide best-in-class blue light therapy devices that actually work. We have reviews and before & after images from our customers that speak for themselves.
Why is Blue Light Therapy Effective for Acne?
Acne forms in the pores of your skin. Each pore has an oil-producing gland. This oil gland keeps your skin healthy; however, sometimes oil, dirt, and dead skin cells can become trapped inside your pores and clog them up. Bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) that live on your skin can get inside your pores, as well, making your clogged pores swell and turn into bumps called acne.
Blue light therapy is an effective treatment for acne because it destroys Propionibacterium. Blue light also causes the sebaceous glands to produce less oil, helps condition your skin and decreases other acne symptoms, including inflammation and redness.
Blue light therapy works best on traditional acne — those red, non-pussy pimples that are typical of a breakout. It can be used for spot treatments and flare-ups, as well as long-term treatment for larger areas of the face, back, or body. Devices that provide blue and red light therapy can be used to treat acne scarring.
Blue light therapy offers many advantages compared to other acne treatments, including:
- Blue light therapy is safe, gentle, natural, drug-free and painless
- Blue light therapy devices can be used anywhere on the body
- Blue light therapy can be combined with other acne treatments
- Blue light therapy does not cause scarring
Important note: When choosing your blue light therapy device, make sure that it’s been cleared by the FDA to ensure it is safe for use.
How Much Does Blue Light Therapy for Acne Cost?
The cost of blue light therapy for acne depends on if you choose to purchase an at-home light therapy device or if you go to a dermatologist clinic for treatment. At-home devices are overall more affordable than sessions at a clinic, and make it easier to treat acne on a consistent basis.
reVive Light Therapy™ acne treatment devices range from $19-$399, depending on the size and functionality of the device.
How Long Does Blue Light Therapy Take For Acne Results?
This is the ultimate question — we all want our zits to magically disappear. However, when you’ll see results depends on your acne and also on how consistently you use your blue light therapy device. Luckily, acne treatments using blue light therapy typically show results fairly quickly, sometimes even after a single treatment. Over time, you’ll see diminished breakouts, irritation, and redness of the skin due to acne.
How to Use Blue Light Therapy For Acne
Another great thing about blue light therapy is that it only takes three minutes out of your day!
You should use your blue light therapy acne treatment device for three minutes per treatment area. Once the three minutes has passed, you can move onto the next treatment area if needed. If you are treating an area near your eyes, you should avoid pointing the light at your eyes or wear goggles to ensure your eyes are protected.
How Often to Use Blue Light Therapy for Acne
You can use your blue light therapy device up to three times per day. We recommend making light therapy a part of your skincare routine so that you use your device at least twice a day — once in the morning, and once before bed. That way, consistent use is easy!
How To Make the Most of Treatment
Before you use your acne treatment device, make sure you have a clean face. Moisturizers and makeup may contain sunscreen, which blocks the range of light wavelengths and can reduce the effectiveness of light therapy.
Other ways to make sure your treatment is effective include using your light therapy device consistently and tracking your progress. For more tips, read our blog post on making the most of your light therapy device.
What to Use With Blue Light Therapy for Acne
There are several different skincare products you can use along with your blue light therapy treatment. For acne, products with BHAs, (beta hydroxy acids) can be used; however, many people choose blue light therapy because their skin is sensitive to BHAs. Read all about skincare products to use with light therapy on our blog.
Best Blue Light Therapy Devices for Acne
reVive Light Therapy™ offers top-notch, FDA-cleared, medical grade light therapy devices for acne treatment. By combining blue light with red light therapy, our devices destroy acne-causing bacteria, reduce inflammation and uneven skin tone, minimize sun damage, and promote healing. From spot treatment devices to panels that offer broader coverage, our acne treatment collection has solutions for your unique skincare needs.
Experience the power of light therapy at home
Specific wavelengths of light have different effects, and can be used for a variety of applications — from destroying acne-causing bacteria to killing harmful germs on your phone. Our light therapy devices allow you to harness the power of LEDs in the comfort of your own home.
See How It Works