Laser treatment for acne is having the most dramatic effect on the battle against spots for 30 years.
A pilot study of forty-one volunteers found that a single five-minutes dose was enough to clear up half the spots treated.
Ten of the patients who took part in the trial at the Hammersmith Hospital in West London were free from acne in weeks.
The trial was carried out by Dr Tony Chu, a consultants dermatologist at the hospital and founder of the Acne Support Group. “The results were stunning” he said. “I was a complete sceptic but now I’m completely converted. This really is the first major advance in acne treatment in 30 years”. “The effect of a single treatment lasts three months.”
The NLite laser was developed at the University of Wales as a way of removing wrinkles. Doctors noticed that it also cleared up pimples.
It is now being used at about 25 private clinics, where a single facial session costs around £300.
Acne is the most common skin disease in the worlds, affecting 90 per cent of adolescents and many people in their forties and fifties.
For about 70 per cent of teenagers, the condition clears up of its own accord after four to five years, although it may leave permanent scarring. For 30 per cent of sufferers, the condition continues long into adult life.
Antibiotics can help for some people, while hormone treatment can be prescribed for some women. Past studies have shown that light treatment can be beneficial by promoting the production of collagen and encouraging the skin’s natural healing process.
Dr Chu gave a single dose of NLite to 31 men and women with mild to moderate acne who failed to respond to conventional drugs and compared the results with a control group of 10 people given a sham treatment.
After 12 weeks, 81 per cent of the laser group showed significant improvement.
Eighteen patients lost at least half their spots and 10 lost them altogether.
Dr Chu acknowledged that more work and larger studies were needed to confirm the findings.
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