I’m starting to plan a buyer’s guide to acne lights.  I’m going to include topics like this:

• Wavelength – what it means, why it matters.
• Intensity – don’t be fooled by the numbers.
• Hand-held or table top?
• It’s all about the service.  Warranties, risk-free trials, who’s there to help?
• Money, the bottom line.  What does it really cost in the long run?
• What’s the best light for YOUR acne?  Mild, moderate, severe, back, chest, body, other.
• UV or no UV?
• The “FDA Approved” line.

If you have an idea of what other topics should be included in a buyer’s guide to acne lights, please let me know by leaving a comment below.

Also, please let me know which topic you’d like to see first.

Thanks in advance for your input.  I will use your feedback now and as the parts are published to create an understandable, trustworthy guide through the growing BS of the acne light market.

As you’ve read, acne light therapy is effective for about 86% of people.  Why wouldn’t it work for everyone?  There are several possible reasons.

1. Blue light is effective against the acne bacteria p. acnes, not all acne is caused by that specific bacteria.

2. Some things that look like acne are not acne at all, for example, a yeast infection can look like acne.  Shining blue light on that could actually make the condition worse, because the blue light may be killing some of the bacteria that is trying to keep the yeast under control.

3. Light therapy works on a cellular level.  You’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat.”  Everything you put into your body effects your body chemistry, and therefore your individual reaction to light.   At the LLLT Symposium last weekend (Aug 7&8, 2009) it was brought out that the presence of NSAID medication (Advil, Alieve and others) decreased the effectiveness of light in one study.  Effects of different medications was given as a reason why light therapy may be effective for some and not for others.

Even though acne light therapy does not work for everyone for various, valid reasons, it is effective for most people and is certainly worth a try.    Most acne light companies offer a 12 week trial period and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Table top acne lights have been around for years. These lights are more affordable than the hand-held type, and they cover a much larger treatment area, making them more convenient for those with moderate-severe acne.

Table-top type acne lights are more affordable than their hand-held counterparts, however they lack the portability many people need today.

Like the hand-held chart, this is a “real-life” type of chart, designed to reveal things that are going to matter to you over time, such as warranty, cost of replacement bulbs, and return policy details.

The chart also assumes each product will be effective when used as directed and they should be, for about 86% of people.

Hand-held acne lights are becoming very popular for their sleek design and travelability. If you are treating the occasional zit or trouble spot, a hand-held acne light is perfect and wonderful. If you have acne more often, or over a larger area, a head-held acne light might become tedious and time consuming, and you might find a table-top model more convenient for daily treatments.

This chart compares the following hand-held acne lights: LightStim, Tanda, Evis MD, Baby Quasar & LightWave CS. This is a real-life type comparison, so you can see the things that really matter, such as how you are going to spend – not just your money, but your time – along with how long your investment is protected (warranty) and if you get your money back if it doesn’t work for you (return policy).

The  chart assumes every product will be effective when used as directed and, in fact, they all should be. Whatever the product, acne light therapy is effective for about 86% of people.

You can see that LightStim and LightWave are a single unit, where the others are red and blue separately. If you are looking to treat acne alone, an acne light that combines red and blue light would be most convenient for you. If you would like to use red light for other things too, such as to build collagen, then you might like having the red and blue lights separately.

If there is an aspect of the acne lights that you are interested in which is not included on this chart, let us know and we’ll add it.  Also, if you find anything about this chart to be inaccurate, please send us a quick email so we can fix it.

By the way, LightWave CS is our light, and so here’s a coupon should you decide to buy it.

Coupon Code: LTOHHCT – Save an additional $20 off current sale price.

(notes on the LLLT Symposium, American Society for Photobiology, August 7 & 8, 2009)

Most of the parts on this thing were pretty dry, however, some of the scientists had a sense of humor.

This was my favorite line of the weekend:

“The only way a (low level) laser is going to hurt somebody is if they drop it on their foot.”

I’m sorry I didn’t get the speaker’s name to credit that to.   There was a chuckle through the audience, indicating agreement on the part of all.

It was mentioned over and over, there are zero adverse side effects to low level light therapy, be it low level laser or LED light therapy.

It was said that light only effects cells “under stress” and has no effect on healthy cells.

The last part of the weekend was specifically devoted to “Human Safety Evaluation of Light-based Devices for Home Use” and he was talking about things like the resistors inside the devices getting hot, so that if you took the thing apart and touched one of them, you might burn your fingers.  If there were any reported negative side effects of LED or low level laser light therapy, we’d have heard about them then.  There are none.

This past weekend I went to a LLLT Symposium put on by the American Society for Photobiology.  It was awesome, and I’ll write more about it as soon as I get the chance, but I want to post this article while it’s still on the top of my email window:

Paralyzed Healdsburg teen regains some feeling

It’s a long read, but the point is a completely paralyzed kid has regained some movement in his fingers and arm after simple light therapy.

It was for real, and now, a week later, Ripa can move all four fingers and his thumb. If someone bends his right elbow to a 90-degree angle, he can move it back and forth a bit.

Medically, it means some motor nerves have managed to reconnect across the injured part of his spinal cord.

… It came after five days of an alternative and experimental treatment called photonic light therapy, which is supposed to stimulate the repair of injured tissue.

Over the weekend I saw very graphic slides of rat nerves (I never knew actual nerves were so big) being regenerated by red/infrared light.   The light was able to penetrate through fur, skin, fat, muscle and whatever else was between it and the spinal column.  They both crushed and severed the spinal cords of rats, and were able to achieve total or partial nerve regeneration with the aid of the light.  Even the researchers were throwing the word “miracle” around now and then.

I was thrilled to see the above article, and I can’t wait to see the outcome of his case.  It is encouraging that light therapy for nerve regeneration is already being tested in major hospitals, because that means it is much closer than I thought to being “approved” for general use, and people can start to benefit from the miracle of light.

“Photonic Light Therapy” is not as super technical as it sounds.  A photon is simply a particle of light, the source of the light does not matter much.  The researchers I listened to were using either red and/or infrared light in either low lever lasers or LEDs.