Everybody wants to have clear, youthful skin, and products for that purpose flood the market and are sometimes a dime a dozen. However, there are still facets in skin care that have been overlooked. One of these is blackheads. People rarely talk about it and companies most often do not make products that aid in the removal this dermal glitch. Yet, it is one of the most common skin problems people have. It is annoying and cumbersome, and it can sometimes feel that there is no end. Having smooth and clear skin is not just about treating and preventing acne, it also involves clearing blackheads.
Read on to know more on how one can limit the appearance of this infuriating irritation that not only afflicts the face, but can also be found at the back, neck, and shoulders. This article is not just for pimple poppers, but it is for everyone who wants to appear clean, healthy, and hygienic.
Blackheads, which is also scientifically termed as open comedo (plural, comedones), is practically clogged hair follicles or pores on the skin, which can occur with or without the inclusion of acne. Keratin or skin debris combines with oil to block the follicle. Blackheads gets its black discoloration (and its name) due to the changes undergone by the sebum once it becomes exposed outside of the skin.
The oil produced by sebaceous glands, which is known as sebum, is not bad at all, as it helps lubricate the skin and hair, preventing them from drying. Basically, blackheads is just a side effect of a normal function of one of the many things glands secrete to keep bodies clean and healthy.
Since blackheads is just an effect of a human body’s regular functions (much like sweating), this means that having it is does not reflect a person’s hygiene. Nevertheless, scrubbing, scratching, and picking blackheads would not totally remove or eliminate evidence of its existence. In the rare instance, doing so would cause infections, especially when done without medical supervision, exacerbating the situation. Still, a breakthrough method has been introduced to help treat this. And this is LED therapy.
Those who are following celebrities on Instagram could possibly be familiar with this as they usually post on their social media accounts their LED treatment procedures. These range from expensive and strange-looking masks to bright lights that can be found in a medispa or doctor’s office.
There are even handheld devices that can be used at home. According to renowned New York City-based aesthetic medicine specialist Dr Z Paul Lorenc, you can use an LED device from a pharmacy as a substitute to going to skin clinics. He also said studies have proven the efficacy of this method.
As mentioned, there are many types of LED facial treatments that can be found, with new features continuing to be innovated. Still, the basic idea of LED-based skin procedures is that they trigger various reactions beneath the skin, penetrating it at different depths depending on the color of light being used, whether it is blue or red.
There has been evidence that blue light has anti-bacterial properties and that it can help stabilize and regulate the oil glands in the body. It also kills bacteria-causing acne, providing relief not just for blackheads, but for whiteheads as well. Light therapy can significantly reduce open comedones, according to one medical research.
Red light therapy, meanwhile, lets infrared light deep into the skin, reaching the sebaceous glands. This procedure can shrink these glands as well and assist in limiting the sebum that is being produced by them. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, helping relieve the oil glands. In addition, it makes healing faster and encourages collagen production, while assisting in minimizing pores and loose skin.
These kinds of treatments are generally painless and non-invasive. According to a leading medispa official from Canada, LED-based procedures are good for treating parts which are not able to be fixed by Botox and other surgical processes, making skin firm while also diminishing the appearance of wrinkles.
The procedure itself lasts only a few minutes. Which means you can squeeze this in within a small window of a busy day. Still, keep in mind that light therapy works from within then out, which means that one can only notice the improvement after several weeks of regular use and treatment.
A leading expert in light-based surgery has stated that therapy via LED is now gradually getting recognized by other medical fields and different specialties. He adds that low-light level treatments are effective in stimulating and enhancing blood flow to the skin, which makes these procedures safe remedies for individuals who are patient enough to wait for the final outcome to unravel.
What can be considered a drawback on why this kind of procedure has not yet hit mainstream or critical mass is its price, with amounts ranging from 50 USD to 300 USD per treatment. In the same vein, home-based procedures, although more economical, requires more dedication and commitment. For those that lack the discipline of routine, cannot be tied down due to a tight schedule, or just who prefer a quicker result, opting for a more powerful and efficient machine that can be found in medispas and medical facilities might be a better, but dearer, option. As Dr Lorenc puts it, it all depends on the expectations of the patient.
Since the progress takes time before it becomes evident, one should need to attend, at the very least, four sessions before the effects become more pronounced and permanent. What is good to know is that the benefits accumulate. Thus, one can only have a single appointment per year for maintenance purposes.
All in all, LED light therapy is not a be-all, end-all solution. Nevertheless, it is able to do effectively what it is meant to do.