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The biggest breakthrough for many years in the treatment of acne is the NLite laser. This laser was introduced as a collagen building laser, designed for erasing lines and wrinkles and treating the general signs of skin aging. However, it rapidly became apparent to laser users that it was also possible to achieve very good results on pitted acne scarring, as well as lines and wrinkles. While treating clients with a mixture of pitted scarring, from old breakouts, as well as fresh problem areas, it became obvious that active breakouts settled very rapidly following the laser treatment. Within a short time, we had a number of clients who were actually controlling their acne by using laser treatment, in conjunction with the correct non-laser treatment regimes. Since this time, there has been a full clinical trial carried out on the use of this laser for live acne. The work has been done by a specialist Acne Dermatologist, Dr Tony Chu of Imperial College Dermatology Department and the results were published in The Lancet Journal in October 2003. The trial showed that, over a twelve week period, the number of active lesions dropped dramatically and the activity of these lesions was reduced, even after only one laser treatment.
The conclusion of a recent presentation of Dr Chu's work states that: ‘Nlite is an effective treatment in Acne Vulgaris providing a reduction in both the severity and number of inflammatory lesions.' Further work will now be carried out to determine the optimum treatment regime (the protocol) and the best adjunct treatments to complement the effect of the laser. The way in which the laser works is two-fold. Firstly, the laser light kills the acne bacteria that cause the infection and which leads to the formation of spots. Because the whole face is usually treated, the bacteria are killed over a wide area, reducing breakouts and stopping the infection spreading. Secondly, the formation of large amounts of new collagen below and around the spots gives a huge boost to the healing process, causing the spots to disappear with a decreased likelihood of acne scars developing. The treatment is painless and the potential side effects are minimal and very short lived. Certainly, in comparison to the use of Roaccutane and long term antibiotics, this is a treatment solution that is very well tolerated and far superior to any other acne treatment that we know of.
The treatment is also highly effective in managing limited break-outs in a generally controlled situation. We have many clients who will come in to treat break-outs, or single lesions even before they have fully expressed; the laser will destroy proliferating bacteria even if the lesions are not yet visible on the surface. Adjunct treatments and products can enhance the effect of the Nlite.
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