The enLux Hybrid is custom designed to peak both at 415nm blue and 630nm red. It is actually made up of 1/2 Blue LEDs to kill acne bacteria naturally, and 1/2 Red LEDs, to speed healing and prevent scarring. When the colors mix, the light appears pink.
Specs:
Average Life: 50,000 hours. For 15- 20 minute daily treatments you should see approx 400 years of lamp life
Energy Usage: 15 watts
Power Source: avialable in 120 volt and 220 volt AC
Ventilation: use only in open face fixtures
Socket: standard medium screw base socket (E27) Not for use in 3-way sockets or dimmers.
Beam Angle: 80 degrees flood
Weight: .5lbs
100% recyclable and sustainable
Blue/red light treatment:
Sunlight was long known to improve acne, and this was thought to be due to antibacterial and other effects of the ultraviolet spectrum; which cannot be used as a treatment due to the likelihood of skin damage in the long term. However, artificial UV didn't work as well as sunlight.
It was found that some of the visible violet light, present in sunlight, in the range 405-420 nm activates a porphyrin (Coproporphyrin III) in Propionibacterium acnes which damages and ultimately kills the bacteria by releasing singlet oxygen. A total of 320 J/cm2 of light within this range renders the bacteria non viable[1] . This part of the spectrum is just outside the ultraviolet and produces little if any tanning or sunburn.
Application of the light for 3 consecutive days has been shown to reduce the bacteria in the pores by 99.9%. Since there are few porphyrins naturally found in the skin, the treatment is believed safe except in patients with porphyria;[2] although eye protection is necessary due to light sensitive chemicals in the retina. The light is usually created by fluorescent lamps, bright LEDs or dichroic filament bulbs.
Treatment is often accompanied with application of red light which has been shown to activate ATP in human skin cells (essentially a photobiomodulation effect), and seems to improve response rates.
Overall improvements of on average 76% for 80% of patients occurs over 3 months; most studies show that it performs better than benzoyl peroxide and the treatment is far better tolerated. However, approximately 10% of users see no improvement.[1]
Home use light boxes usually work well, are effective for people with long-term acne, are likely to be cheaper than dermatologist office light treatments, and can be repeated over several years for negligible cost, as opposed to once weekly or fortnightly. The light at a dermatology clinic may be of a higher intensity, however, possibly negating the disadvantage of infrequent use.
