Let’s sing the blues!
Well, not the typical blues you may be thinking of…blue LED!
If you’ve clicked to read this article, you are probably interested in serious skin rejuvenation and have heard of LED Therapy before. If you haven’t heard of LED Therapy, I encourage you to read LED Therapy, Part 1: Unlocking Your Skin’s Potential.
All right, everybody caught up? Sweet! I love it when we all start on the same page!
As we explored in Part I, LED Therapy is one of the few treatments that directly affect your skin cells. We know that different wavelengths penetrate to different depths in the skin causing different reactions in the skin cells. So what are the different treatment wavelengths and what do they do? I’m so glad you asked!
First, let’s look again at the visible light spectrum:
As you can see, the lower end of the visible light spectrum is violet. Multiple studies have shown that certain wavelengths cause the most beneficial changes to the skin. For this article, let’s focus on blue LED Therapy.
How is Blue LED beneficial for skin?
Blue LED is FDA cleared to treat Inflammatory Acne Vulgaris.
Though acne can be caused by a few different things, it is often exacerbated by the presence of bacteria (most commonly known as P. acnes) when it finds its way into the follicles. These bacteria thrive in anaerobic (oxygen deprived) environments, which occurs in the follicles when dirt, oils and dead skin block the opening of the follicle. As the bacteria multiples, it releases porphyrins, which cause inflammation and lead to those annoying, and sometimes painful, pustules and lesions.
So how does blue LED treat acne? The blue light, with a wavelength between 405nm and 450nm) stimulates these porphyrins, which causes them to produce an oxygen molecule. Remember when we said that the P. acnes bacteria thrive in anaerobic environments? Causing the porphyrins to create oxygen basically kills the bacteria from the inside.
Please tell me I am not the only one that finds this absolutely fascinating!
Incorporating Blue LED in your treatment
If you or anyone you know suffer from acne, getting a blue LED treatment in conjunction with a Deep Cleansing Facial is not only safe, but also incredibly effective. Facials used to be thought of as something one does when she wants to treat herself or take a break, but I am proud to say that the skin care industry is growing rapidly and *finally* getting the recognition that it deserves. Estheticians don’t just slap creams on the face to make it glow, we go through continuous training to help provide effective treatments for a variety of skin conditions. Of course, it’s important to remember that as amazing as facials and LED Therapy can be, they are not miracles and more than one treatment is required. How many treatments needed is based on many things: the severity of acne, how many treatments per week, home care regimen, as well as diet.
Now that you understand what LED Therapy is and how blue LED Therapy works, are you ready for red LED Therapy?! For those interested in a superior anti-aging treatment, you may want to keep your eyes open for our next LED article!
