The Combination of Red and Blue Light, Radiofrequency and Intense Pulsed Light for the Treatment of Facial Postacne Erythema

Abstract

Postacne erythema, also referred to as postinflammatory erythema, is a common sequela in acne patients. At present, there is no specific treatment for postacne erythema, and some treatment drugs can even aggravate facial erythema. Our research sought to evaluate the efficacy of a combination therapy of LED red and blue light, radiofrequency (RF) and intense pulsed light (IPL) for the treatment of postacne erythema. Patients were treated with red and blue light for 2 weeks, followed by RF for 4 treatments over 8 weeks. Finally, patients were treated with intense pulsed light for 16 weeks. Therapeutic outcomes were evaluated by erythema index, postacne erythema severity grading and clinical photography. After 3 stages of treatment, the percentage of excellent subjects was 79.2%, the percentage of good subjects was 17.2%, and the total effective rate was 96.4%. The mean erythema index decreased from 496.17±79.11 to 89.32±81.58 (p<0.01) after treatment. The postacne erythema lesions were rated clear in 22.4%, faint erythema in 74.4%, dull red in 2.8% and deep red only in 0.4% of subjects after three-stage treatments. Our results show that the combination of red and blue light therapy, RF therapy and IPL therapy is more effective than other treatments reported for facial postacne erythema.