According to new research in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, a laser treatment for acne that is gaining popularity, known as pulsed dye laser therapy, actually fails to provide any benefit. While a previous study showed that this type of laser acne treatment does indeed work, this latest study shows the opposite.
But many, like acne patient Ellen Sherman, believe, or at least hope, that laser acne treatment does work. This is because it offers a safe alternative to what is currently available for acne that is difficult to treat. “Acne can make you self conscious. You can put on makeup to cover it up but you know it’s always there,” says Ellen. For 6 years, she suffered with facial acne. “It gets better, then it gets worse. Then it gets better and it gets worse again, so it’s a constant battle. I’ve been on various treatments, like antibiotics, face washes, and laser acne treatment was like a last resort. We heard about this laser acne treatment and Dr. Hale suggested that I should give it a chance, and it’s been great.”
Ellen has had three monthly treatments with the pulsed dye laser. Each treatment, which lasts about 10 minutes, involves moving a wand-like device across the person’s face to deliver nearly 400 laser pulses. Dr. Elizabeth Cayhill, a dermatologist at NYU Medical Center, says, “They’ve had just red spots on their face which aren’t responding to topical or oral antibiotics. This laser acne treatment can really help to shrink the blood vessels that are causing the red spots, and improve the acne.”
But the latest study found there was no significant improvement in acne between the beginning of the laser acne treatment and week twelve. In fact they counted the number of acne lesions on the face and the number of lesions really didn’t change much.
Dr. Cayhill argues the study was only done on 40 patients. She states, “They treated half the face with either one or two pulse dye treatments. I think it’s tough to make any great conclusion after one or two laser acne treatments in such a small sample size. I have been treating patients over a 6-month period, and I’ve been seeing some excellent results. So I think larger studies need to be done to prove anything.”
Interestingly, a study published last year in the journal Lancet reported positive results with laser acne treatment. The Lancet study was set up differently, and the argument of the current researchers is that those results are not as reliable. Both Dr. Cayhill and the current study’s authors are calling for more research to verify whether or not laser treatment does work for acne. But because the devices are cleared for use and because they generally don’t cause harm to patients, many dermatologists are using laser acne treatment in clinical practice based on the early studies and anecdotal reports of success.
Ellen herself will tell you she has seen an improvement. “It’s a good feeling after so many years, to finally see results. It’s great. Thanks to laser acne treatment I can go out without makeup on and I won’t be as self conscious.”