Red Light Therapy Reduces Acne Lesions with Enhanced Severity Improvement: Study
Researchers have found in a new study that daily at-home red light therapy (RBL) significantly reduced inflammatory and total acne lesions at 4 and 8 weeks. While outcomes were largely comparable to blue light (BL), RBL showed a greater reduction in median ISGA scores, indicating superior improvement in acne severity.
A study was done to evaluate the efficacy and safety of at-home treatment of mild-to-moderate inflammatory acne with an investigational combination 660-nm red/415-nm blue light-emitting diode device (RBL) compared with a commercially available 415-nm blue light-emitting diode device (BL). This was an open-label randomized-controlled trial with a 30-subject goal (n = 20 RBL, n = 10 BL). Subjects performed once-daily at-home treatments for 8 weeks, with 4-week (4W) and 8-week (8W) follow-ups.
Twenty-three subjects completed the study (n = 14 RBL, n = 9 BL). Total lesions were significantly reduced at 4W (p = .028) and 8W (p = .015) with RBL but at neither timepoint with BL. Inflammatory lesions were significantly reduced at 4W (p = .010 and p = .008) and 8W (p = .005 and p = .02) with both RBL and BL, respectively. Noninflammatory lesion reduction was not significant in either group.
No significant between-group difference in total, inflammatory, or noninflammatory lesion reduction occurred at any timepoint. Median investigator static global assessment was significantly lower with RBL at 8W (p = .015).Daily at-home treatment with RBL led to significantly reduced inflammatory and total acne lesions at 4W and 8W. Although equivalent to BL in most outcomes, RBL demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in median ISGA.
Friedmann, Daniel P. MD*; Verma, Kritin K. MBA†; Gidwani, Karan A. BS‡; Nguyen, Megan BS†; Gharibvand, Lida PhD, MS§. Comparing a Red and Blue Light-Emitting Diode Light Device With an Existing Blue Light Device for At-Home Treatment of Inflammatory Acne: An Open-Label Randomized-Controlled Trial. Dermatologic Surgery ():10.1097/DSS.0000000000005061, March 24, 2026. | DOI: 10.1097/DSS.0000000000005061
