Physiotherapy for acne

  For acne patients who cannot tolerate medication or do not want to accept medication, physical therapy is the best option. Currently. Commonly used physical therapies to effectively treat acne include photodynamic therapy, laser therapy, and fruit acid therapy.  (1) Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses specific wavelengths of light to activate the porphyrins metabolized by Propionibacterium acnes, and achieves acne treatment through phototoxic reactions, induction of cell death, and stimulation of macrophages to release cytokines and promote self-healing of lesions. Currently, blue light alone (415 nm), blue light combined with red light (630 nm), and red light + 5-Aminoketovaleric acid (5ALA) are used to treat various types of acne vulgaris. Treatment protocol: 1-2 times per week.  Blue light energy is 48 J/cm2, red light is 126 J/cm2, 4-8 times for a course of treatment. There was slight itching during the treatment, and some patients showed slight flaking after the treatment, but no significant adverse effects were found. The experiment proved that photodynamic therapy can inhibit sebaceous gland secretion, reduce the number of acne and inflammatory lesions, and promote tissue repair to varying degrees.  (2) Fruit acid therapy Fruit acid is widely found in fruits, sugar cane and yogurt in nature, with simple molecular structure, small molecular mass, non-toxic and odorless, strong permeability, safe action, and does not damage the epidermal barrier function. The mechanism of action of fruit acids is to reduce the adhesion of keratinocytes by interfering with the binding force of cell surface, accelerate the shedding and renewal of epidermal cells, and stimulate the synthesis of dermal collagen to enhance moisturizing function. The higher the concentration of fruit acid, the longer the action time, the better its effect, but the relative adverse effects are also greater. Treatment protocol: Application of fruit acids (hydroxyacetic acid) at concentrations of 20%, 35%, 50%, and 70% is used to treat acne once every 2-4 weeks, with 4 times being a course of treatment. Inflammatory lesions and non-inflammatory lesions had varying degrees of regression. The regression rate is 30% to 61%. Increase the number of treatments can improve the efficacy.  (3) Laser therapy 1450 nm laser, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), pulsed dye laser and fractional laser are among the effective methods to treat acne and acne scarring. The 1450 nm laser is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of acne. Intense pulsed light can help fade the red marks in the later stages of inflammatory acne. Fractional lasers have shown some improvement in acne scarring.