The same author Adebamowo et al (2) also examined the association between intake of milk products and acne among 4,273 teenage boys. Results indicated that young men were more likely to experience severe acne if they consumed ≥2 servings of milk per day when compared with boys who consumed ≤1 serving of milk per week. Researchers again found a positive association between skim milk and acne. Adebamowo et al (3) also looked at 6,094 girls aged 9 to 15 years who were followed for up to 3 years. An acne outbreak was found to be positively associated with the consumption of total, whole, low-fat and skim milk. Again, this reinforces the avoidance of dairy products as one of several beneficial acne treatment home remedies.
Acne and Phototherapy:
There is home blue light therapy equipment which uses LEDs for acne treatment home remedies. The blue light therapy and some other light therapies can be effective for inflammatory acne. Participants (n=30) received blue-light therapy on a lesion on one side of the face and then placebo on another lesion on the opposite side of the face. Compared to placebo, lesions receiving blue-light therapy had a significant better response in terms of size reduction, redness of the skin (erythema), and overall skin condition. Benefits of blue-light therapy were reported after just 2 treatments. Signs of improvement were observed as early as post 2 treatments. Blue-light therapy was also associated with a shorter time to clearance of acne lesions than placebo. (4)
Home-use of Light Plus Heat
In a placebo controlled study by Sadick NS et al, home light and heat therapy was shown to be one of the effective and safe acne treatment home remedies. It may be used for mild-to-moderate inflammatory acne. Participants received either light plus heat treatment (n=29) or placebo (n=32). In patients receiving treatment, an improvement was reported in 92.24% of lesions in a median time of 1 day. In the placebo group only 75.78% of lesions improved in a median time of 2 days. After 24 hours, improvement rates were at 76.72% and 15.63% for treatment and placebo, respectively. Lesions were reported to be resolved in 51.7% in the treatment arm compared to 36% in the placebo group.
Systematic Review on Light Therapy
A systematic review is a research study typically done using the findings of multiple randomized control trials. A systematic review on treating acne by using light therapy and/or topical cream activated by light (known as photodynamic therapy) was done by Hamilton FL et al (6) on 25 randomized controlled trials. These trials including over 600 subjects using light and laser therapies for acne vulgaris concluded that some forms were beneficial for treating acne. The authors compared the results from trials of light therapy alone, trials of blue light and trials of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Red-blue light was found to achieve better results in the near term over 5% benzoyl peroxide. According to the author, most trials of PDT showed some benefit especially in those suffering from non-inflammatory acne lesions. However, when compared to topical 1% adapalene gel (a topical retinoid prescription medication), no significant difference in improvement of acne lesions was reported for PDT. Additionally, side-effects of PDT therapy were not well tolerated.
