Acne cleansing treatment prepares the skin for recovery.

Acne high intensity blue and red light therapy kills acne bacteria and promotes healing.

Acne protective moisturizer helps prevent blemish outbreaks.

Acne protective gel treats blemishes overnight.

Let's be perfectly clear.

LED LIGHT THERAPY (Photo Therapy) AND ACNE

Glossary of Key Terms

Acne – caused by the clogging of tiny hair follicles on the face and body, and is characterized by unsightly and often painful lesions on the surface of the skin and below

Apoptosis (natural cell death) – is a form of programmed cell death in mulitcellular organisms. It can be the last line of defense of the immune system, where cells severely damaged by stress, aging, infection, UV or other aggressors, are selectively killed off, or commit “cell suicide,” so as not to replicate more damaged cells.

Benzoyl Peroxide - Available in both over-the-counter solutions and prescription treatments, Benzoyl Peroxide works by destroying P. acnes, the bacteria that causes the condition acne. It acts as an antiseptic and oxidizing agent, reducing the number of blocked pores.

Blackhead (or open comedo ) - A blocked pore in which the "plug" enlarges and pushes through the surface of the skin. The plug's dark appearance is not due to dirt, but rather to a buildup of melanin, the skin's dark pigment.

Closed comedo (or whitehead ) - If the plug in the follicle stays below the surface of the skin, the lesion is called a closed comedo, or whitehead. These usually appear on the skin as small, whitish bumps.

Collagen – a high-strength, fibrous protein material found in abundance in skin, bones, tendons, and connective tissue. It is responsible for skin support and elasticity, and its degradation leads to the sagging and wrinkles that accompany aging.

Comedo (plural: comedones ) - When dead skin cells mix with sebum and get trapped in the opening of a follicle, this is a comedo — the raw material for every kind of acne lesion. It acts like cork in a bottle, trapping dirt, bacteria and sebum inside the follicle, eventually resulting in an acne lesion.

Comedogenic - Substances that are likely to clog your pores.

Continuous Light – Light that is emitted in a continuous, constant stream. This light is the most efficient way to stimulate cell receptors and mitochondria as well as activate photosensitive materials.

Dermis - The second layer of the skin, which serves as a foundation for the epidermis and makes up the principle mass of the skin. This layer produces collagen, elastin and reticulin, the substances that lend structure and support to your largest organ. The dermis also houses nerve endings, blood vessels, oil glands and sweat glands.

Follicle (or sebaceous follicle ) - Also called “pores,” these tiny holes house the fine hairs that cover our faces and bodies. Oil glands at the base of each follicle are working to produce sebum, which travels up the hair shaft and out onto the surface of the skin.

Isotretinoin (Accutane) - The "big gun" in acne therapy, Accutane is used to treat severe inflammatory acne when other treatments fail. The drug reduces sebum production by as much as 85–90% and has a high rate of success for improving acne. Side effect can include depression, excess drying of the skin and birth defects.

IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) – IPL is a light energy that is applied to certain parts of the body, so that the target structure - whether it be hair or blood vessel in the skin - absorbs the energy and is destroyed. IPL is not the same as laser, although it is similar. The main difference is that laser (Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a technique of producing light energy of only one wavelength. IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) uses white light which contains all the wavelengths of visible light from red to blue.

LED (Light emitting diode) – a small semiconductor chip about 1 mm2, in circumference that emits a selective, single wavelength of light when an electrical current is passed through it. The light is cool, focused and does not burn skin.

Mitochondria – the powerhouse of the cell that manufactures and regulates production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which powers cellular function and replication.

Nanometer (nm) – very small unit of measure equal to a billionth of a meter; used to measure wavelengths of light

Noncomedogenic - Substance that is not likely to clog the pores

Papule - The mildest form of inflammatory acne is the papule, which appears on the skin as a small, firm pink bump. These can be tender to the touch, and are often considered an intermediary step between non-inflammatory and clearly inflammatory lesions.

Propionibacterium acnes - The bacterium Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes for short) is a regular resident of all skin types; it’s part of the skin’s natural sebum maintenance system. Once a follicle is plugged, however, P. acnes bacteria multiply rapidly, creating the chemical reaction we know as inflammation in the follicle and surrounding skin.

PDT (Photodynamic Therapy) – is also called photoradiation therapy, or photochemotherapy. It was first used to treat cancer over 100 years ago. It is treatment that uses drugs, called photosensitizing agents, along with light to kill cancer cells. The drugs only work after they have been activated or "turned on" by certain kinds of light.

Phototherapy – consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, LEDs, fluorescent lamps, dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, for a prescribed amount of time. It has proven effective in treating Acne vulgaris, seasonal affective disorder, and is part of the standard treatment regimen for delayed sleep phase syndrome. Proponents claim demonstrable benefits for skin conditions such as psoriasis.

Photoacceptors – Part of a cell structure than can induce or regulate a metabolic reaction. Photoacceptors are selective in their ability to absorb a specific narrow band wavelength to produce cell changes.

Porphyrins – A group of naturally occurring pigmented photosensitisers that play an important part in various biological processes. They can be excited by certain selective wavelengths of light to initiate photodynamic therapy.

Salicylic acid - is a mild acid that works as a keratolytic agent — it encourages the sloughing of dead skin cells. It stimulates the peeling of the top layer of skin and the opening of plugged follicles, which helps reestablish the normal skin-cell replacement cycle. For milder acne, salicylic acid helps unclog pores to resolve and prevent lesions.

Sebaceous glands - Oil-producing glands at the base of every sebaceous hair follicle — the tiny holes commonly called pores. Found on the face, neck, back and chest, these follicles are the sites of acne lesions.

Sebum - The oily substance produced by sebaceous glands, composed of cholesterol and free fatty acids. Sebum travels up the hair shaft and is expelled onto the skin’s surface, keeping it soft and pliable

Singlet Oxygen - a highly toxic, yet short-lived species of free radical that efficiently destroys cells by urging them to shut down naturally (apoptosis).

Visible light spectra – wavelengths in the rage of 400 to 700 nm; Ultraviolet: < 400 nm; Infrared: > 700 nm

Whitehead - See closed comedo

Zit - Another common name for acne or a pimple.