Doctors may have a new tool to help acne patients. A new study highlights the use of a pulsed-dye laser for acne sufferers. This is important because this skin disease can lead to social isolation, difficulty with getting a job and sometimes even suicide.
Doctors from London recruited 41 adults with mild to moderate facial acne. Thirty-one of the patients received one treatment of the pulsed-dye laser. The other 10 served as the control group. Researchers say, at three months, the acne scale scores for the laser patients dropped in half. The patients in the control group saw no change.Doctors say it is important to find new tools to treat acne, because they say the bacteria-causing acne is becoming resistant to antibiotics. Oral antibiotics are typically used for six to eight months. The researchers write, "At a time when prudent antibiotic prescription is being advocated in public-health initiatives to prevent the development of widespread global antibiotic resistance, the routine use of long courses of antibiotic treatment for acne should be re-assessed."
Authors of the study say this laser treatment may be developed as a new therapeutic approach to treating acne. They noted during the study, there was also an improvement in scarring. They speculate it will be able to accomplish two goals during one session. They believe further studies must be done to determine whether the lasers should be used alone or in conjunction with pharmacological treatment.
