Light Therapy Red/Blue/Yellow etc

[flying_er]

There was a time on this forum when light therapy was talked about on a regular basis. I've often wondered how it's working out for those who have tried it and continue to use it. Any light users out there who are willing to give us an update?

Thanks,
Dave

[IowaDavid]

I use my RLT unit several times a week and as I have said in the past, it's simply the best therapy I've found to treat my subtype 1 (hardcore flusher/blusher) rosacea.

I use red light. I haven't seen any good evidence that yellow light is of any benefit for us. I don't trust infrared light for rosacea, either, as it can exacerbate our symptoms in ways visible red doesn't.

PM me if you like, but I'd encourage anyone who's "stuck" on this pathetic merry-go-round of oral antibiotics and topical creams to give RLT a try. We just don't have any very good, selective medications, at the moment, to stop flushing. And that's what's at the heart of most rosacea cases. Red light therapy has substantially reduced my flushing, redness and pain symptoms and I haven't found this level of symptom control in other therapies. There's no comparison.

If you search through some reports of negative experiences, it's important to find out a) what device a person was using, b) what kind of light it produced, c) what their subtype of rosacea is, d) if they have any unusually sensitive skin symptoms (as to light, fluorescent lights, etc.). There appears to still be a lot of confusion out there about how best to use low-level light therapy and also confusion because people are comparing apples to oranges (for light therapies and devices) and are, understandably, reluctant to try something they think will harm their skin. (RLT, by the way, has been nothing but extremely gentle to my skin.)

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

Best,

David

[solutionquest]

I have made so much improvement over the last year I feel and there for a while the red light was one of my best buds. It got stolen/misplaced in November and since then I have not replaced it-but-will do so this week. I don't know why I have put off replacing it for 7 months. I do miss it and think it can be helpful. I sometimes got the feeling-directly after using it-that bugs were crawling out of my skin. I know that sounds absolutely crazy. But I got that feeling a few times.

[IowaDavid]

There is a distinct feeling I sometimes get when I'm using my red light, and I think it has something to do with stimulation of microcellular processes (mitochondrial stimulation, for one) that tells me my light is working. PLEASE NOTE: I don't want to scare anyone who reads this and who might, understandably, equate this "tingle" to the sort of itch/burn/tingle you get from a mildly irritating skin product. Quite the contrary, this "tingle" I'm talking about feels as though it's "in" my skin rather than "on" my skin, which would make sense if we approximate that red light in the far end of the visible spectrum will penetrate ~ 1 cm into the skin. This is a great feature of RLT with a device that produces long-wavelength visible red light: deep penetration beyond superficial tissue through the water and skin that can scatter shorter wavelength (like yellow or shorter wavelength red/orange light @ 630nm). This feeling is like a reassurance to me: it means efficacy.

Best,

David

[GaryxG]

I've been using RLT for just over a month now. I took it really carefully in the early days with 1 or 2 minute sessions every other day. I'm up to 10 minutes a day now. So whilst it's been a month, due to the very gradual build up, you could argue that it's been a shorter period of time with the necessary exposures.

I suffer from mild sub type one. I have permanent redness, occasional tiny pimples and ocular rosacea.

My results so far?

A slight reduction in Permanent redness, say 15%.

My ocular Rosacea is significantly improved. I used to get really sore eyes in the evening and was religious about cleaning my eyes twice a day. Now I get a little irritation but nothing more, and I often don't bother to clean my lids now as I don't feel the need.

The occasional tiny pimples have gone, or at least I haven't had one for a few weeks now. This was never a big issue for me, as they were really tiny, only maybe one or two at a time.

Overall then after a relatively short period of time, I'd say it is proving an effective treatment.

The key measure for me is how often I come to this forum! It used to be every day, now it's once a week.

I was on Rozex, but it made my skin worse, so I've been off it a few weeks now. RLT is the only treatment I have, alongside raw Honey masks/washes to control my seb derm.

[IowaDavid]

Hi Gary,

Glad to hear you're seeing results! For some, it's better to start slowly and gradually build up their treatment times as you've done. It can be frustrating at times, but patience and consistency are key.

Hope you're well.

David

[GaryxG]

Hi Gary,

Glad to hear you're seeing results! For some, it's better to start slowly and gradually build up their treatment times as you've done. It can be frustrating at times, but patience and consistency are key.

Hope you're well.

David

Hi David,

I'm good thanks. You are spot on about patience. Some days I think it's just not having a quick enough or big enough impact. But I know with RLT that it takes many months to build up the benefits. I just need to remind myself that I have seen some improvement, so it should only get better.

Cheers,

Gary

[flying_er]

Thanks for the info, glad to see people are still using light therapy with good results. Do you find it helps more with the flushing type of rosacea rather than the P&P type?

[GaryxG]

I don't suffer badly from either flushing or P&P, so can't comment. My biggest issue is permanent redness, which has marginally improved with RLT, but I'm only 1.5 months in which is probably not enough time to really judge it.

[tustin7]

I've been using RLT for just over a month now. I took it really carefully in the early days with 1 or 2 minute sessions every other day. I'm up to 10 minutes a day now. So whilst it's been a month, due to the very gradual build up, you could argue that it's been a shorter period of time with the necessary exposures.

I suffer from mild sub type one. I have permanent redness, occasional tiny pimples and ocular rosacea.

My results so far?

A slight reduction in Permanent redness, say 15%.

My ocular Rosacea is significantly improved. I used to get really sore eyes in the evening and was religious about cleaning my eyes twice a day. Now I get a little irritation but nothing more, and I often don't bother to clean my lids now as I don't feel the need.

The occasional tiny pimples have gone, or at least I haven't had one for a few weeks now. This was never a big issue for me, as they were really tiny, only maybe one or two at a time.

Overall then after a relatively short period of time, I'd say it is proving an effective treatment.

The key measure for me is how often I come to this forum! It used to be every day, now it's once a week.

I was on Rozex, but it made my skin worse, so I've been off it a few weeks now. RLT is the only treatment I have, alongside raw Honey masks/washes to control my seb derm.

In regards to the RLT, was there a specific brand you would recommend? I recently broke out with acne rosacea in February after having a predominantly clear face for years with minimal problems. I also have ocular rosacea. I had 2 blue light treatments along with using liquid silver hydrosol and a gel silver hydrosol and I cleared up within a week but the dermatologist wanted me to do 2 more blue light treatments. They said they never saw anyone clear up as quick as I did. I have had subsequent outbreaks from being in the sun for a short period of time, aloe vera, and sunscreen, the last 2 weeks. I am still doing the silver but had stopped the blue light treatments. I started the blue light again in an attempt to keep from breaking out when I am in the sun. For the first week I was on the metro gel but it was so drying to my skin. I am very interested in relieving my ocular rosacea. I am using lubricating drops. I am noticing I am getting redness and bumps around my eyes now. I have heard of using Johnson's baby shampoo to clean your eyelids - what are the specifics?? Are you supposed to clean on top of the eyelids or is it supposed to be more of an eyewash you use to clean the inside of your lids??