The Future is Bright for Red Skin and Rosacea
The Winter season brings all sorts of changes, some good, some bad. Across the world, people are gathering to spend more time with family, surprise each other with thoughtful gifts, and celebrate life. However, regardless of where you live, Winter also comes with its own set of trials, especially when it comes to our skin health. This season is marked by dryer, cooler, weather, with an increase of indoor convection heating. These effects combine to test our skin, often worsening symptoms of dry, cracked, or reddening skin. While this degradation of our skin can occur year round, it is common for the negatives to worsen in this Winter season.
When these inflammatory effects become chronic, the condition may be diagnosed as Rosacea. Rosacea is defined as a chronic, inflammatory skin condition, most common on the face, causing persistent redness, flushing, visible blood vessels, and sometimes acne-like bumps or pus-filled pimples, often mistaken for sunburn or acne. Today, Rosacea is estimated to affect roughly 5% of humans worldwide, meaning everyone likely knows something with chronic red skin.The condition of Rosacea especially affects adults with fair, pale, skin, causing the characteristic reddening, flushing, and sensitive skin.
While red skin is not a condition that is known to cause severe health concern, the discoloration serves as an important marker that something is indeed off in the skin environment. The potential causes of red skin (or Rosacea in chronic situations) can vary widely, from environmental toxins, wind, extreme temperature changes, dry air, sunburn, alcohol, and more. In short, if our skin does not have the proper bloodflow and cellular energy to maintain optimal health, the cells will remain in a state of chronic inflammation - essentially ringing their bodily alarm bells - until the issue is resolved. And while the causes can be varied widely, a new technique to reduce redness and resolve Rosacea has recently been demonstrated.
As we will soon see, a clinical research team out of the Nigrisoli Private Hospital, in Bologna, Italy has recently shown some stunning results in resolving Rosacea. This treatment used two wavelengths of Light Therapy, Blue (480nm) and Red (650m) Light was applied twice a week for five weeks, for a total of ten sessions. Following this study, we will examine a full clinical review on the effects of Light Therapy on Rosacea that provides us with the deep scientific analysis of the mechanisms, timelines, and outcomes. Let’s dive into the study and its results!
Coupled blue and red light-emitting diodes therapy efficacy in patients with rosacea: two case reports [Read Here]
At a glance:
Background: Rosacea is a common inflammatory skin condition affecting approximately 5% of the world population. Therapeutic approaches to rosacea are focused on symptom suppression by means of anti-inflammatory agents. More recently, photodynamic therapy, especially light-emitting diodes, has been introduced as a valid alternative to conventional therapy.
Case presentation: In the present work, we reported the efficacy and safety of
light-emitting diodes therapy combining blue (480 nm) and red (650 nm) light for the treatment of two patients with papulopustular rosacea: a 22-year-old Caucasian woman and a 68-year-old Caucasian man.
Conclusions: This kind of treatment could represent an effective, safer, and well-tolerated approach for the treatment of such conditions.
Figure 1: Papulopustular rosacea on the nose of case report 1 at the base time (a), after five sessions (b), and after ten sessions (c) with coupled blue (480 nm) and red (650 nm)
light-emitting diodes therapy
Figure 2: Papulopustular rosacea with erythema and telangiectasias on the glabella, forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin of case report 2 at the base time (a), after five sessions (b), and after ten sessions (c) with coupled blue (480 nm) and red (650 nm) light-emitting diodes therapy
Could photobiomodulation be used for treatment of rosacea? [Read Here]
At a glance:
Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by facial skin lesions, including flushing, persistent erythema, papules, telangiectasia, and phymatous changes, affecting 5.5% of the world's population. Rosacea causes disfigurement and emotional ramifications and affects quality of life. The pathophysiology of this disease has yet to be understood, and new therapies are necessary. Photobiomodulation has been used to treat dermatological diseases and various conditions, such as inflammatory processes and pain relief. Thus, this study aimed to review studies on PBM for rosacea treatment, summarizing the radiation sources and subject features and reporting the main results. Scientific articles were accessed by PubMed, using keywords related to rosacea and photobiomodulation. Data on irradiation conditions, patient features, experimental models, and results obtained were assessed. The data analysis allowed to list the conditions for applying photobiomodulation that could lead to therapeutic effects, safety, and efficacy in treating the rosacea. Based on clinical and experimental studies accessed, photobiomodulation could decrease rosacea hallmarks and symptoms by decreasing of pro-inflammatory factor expression, inflammatory infiltration and immune cells, and promoting extracellular matrix remodeling. However, due to few studies available on the application of photobiomodulation in the treatment of rosacea, studies based on experimental and clinical models are necessary to better understand the mechanisms of action of this therapy, efficacy, and validation in the treatment of rosacea.
The two present papers for our review this week cover Rosacea at the direct personnel case results level, and the 10,000 foot-view clinical review level. What we see in both cases is an emphatic support for the safety of Photobiomodulation (or Light Therapy) as foundational. This basis of safety without risk for side effects is crucial when examining methods of healing, especially when it comes to already sensitive skin. The most wondrous aspect of Light Therapy is this unmatched safety profile - wherever you are, whatever age and condition, Light Therapy is safe to at least try, and see the results yourself.
As we dig into the case report, we are first struck by the incredible imagery that documents the improvements of the skin. The striking visuals tell the story, in just 10 sessions of Red/Blue Light Therapy to the skin, a notable visual improvement was made. We read in the paper, “A good response was obtained for both patients after ten treatments with LEDs. Both patients reported a reduction of symptoms such as burning and itching.” [Rinaldi] The patients were satisfied and the results are manifest - especially when it comes to Rosacea, a condition notoriously hard to resolve. The authors denote, “Nowadays, the treatment of patients with rosacea still represents a challenge for dermatologists. Conventional treatment of rosacea is either ineffective or results in the dissatisfaction of patients due to the need for continuous treatment.” [Rinaldi] As Light Therapy becomes ever the more popular, dermatologists grow more & more capable of treating skin redness with safe & effective treatments. The future is bright for our skin health - let’s leave the red noses to Rudolph!
Until next time,
Peter Forhan
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