Blue Light Treatment - For Moderate Acne (Available In Red Deer, Kelowna & Penticton)
Blue Light moderate acne treatments are available at our Kelowna, Penticton and Red Deer clinics.
Blue Light Treatment is used to treat moderate acne (acne vulgaris), as well as Actinic Keratoses (AKs) caused by excessive exposure to the sun.
Blue Light for Acne
For the treatment of acne vulgaris, the BLU-U Blue Light Photodynamic Therapy Illuminator Model 4170 is used.
The BLU-U is a very special blue light that can kill the p. acnes bacteria in your skin. Treatments are simple you simply sit with your face close to the light for a short time, usually once or twice a week in 15-minute sessions.
Treatments may last for five weeks or so.
It's very safe, not hot, and not painful at all. After some weeks, the blue light can control your acne, or clear it up for a very long period of time.
How Blue Light Treats Acne Vulgaris
In the treatment of acne vulgaris 417 nanometer (nm) blue light activates endogenous photosensitizers within the P. acnes bacteria. This creates a toxic bacteriocidal environment in the sebaceous gland that inhibits the obstruction of the sebaceous follicle and formation of the acne lesions
Eradication Of P. Acnes By 417 nm Narrow Band Light
Acne
Blue-U Therapy
P. Acnes Absent
Before
After
Blue Light and Levulan PDT
Unique photodynamic therapy combines topical photosensitizer – Levulan – with blue light – Blu-U – a therapeutic treatment for nonhyperkeratotic actinic keratosis of the face or scalp. Aminolevulinic acid is a substance that occurs naturally in the body; the active ingredient is converted to a photosensitizer, protoporphyrin IX; Blue light illumination produces singlet oxygen that destroys damaged and unhealthy cells only.
Dosage and administration
Step 1: the face or area to be treated is prepared with either acetone or Microdermabrasion
Step2: solution is applied to the target lesions by dabbing gently with Alpha Levulinic Acid. The patient waits for a required time to allow the solution to soak into the tissue;
Step 3: after rinsing the treated area with water, the affected area is then treated with Blu-U or a combination of Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Blu-U.
Application of solution and
absorption by treated cells
Blue light illumination and
destruction of treated cells
Patients should avoid exposure of the photosensitive treatment site to sunlight or bright indoor light prior to blue light treatment. Exposure may result in a stinging and / or burning sensation and may cause erythema or edema of the lesions. Patients should protect treated lesions from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat or similar head covering of light-opaque material. Sunscreens will not protect against photosensitivity reactions caused by visible light.
Transient local symptoms of stinging and/or burning, itching, erythema, and edema were observed in all clinical studies. Severe stinging and/or burning at one or more lesions being treated was reported by at least 50% of patients at some time during treatment. However, less than 3% of patients discontinued light treatment due to stinging and/or burning.
**Patients should avoid light exposure for 24 hours following ALA Photodynamic Therapy.**
