BrightPad FAQ
What is the BrightPad L84 Acne Lamp?
The BrightPad L84 is a Blue, Red, and Infrared LED skin treatment light. Most commonly used for acne and skin treatment for mild/moderate acne where you shine bright BLUE (415nm Monochromatic Blue) and RED / INFRARED lights on your skin to prevent new acne spots and heal the existing acne. It's safe, and improves acne dramatically by 75% for 80% of people over 3 months. Another 10% of people see moderate improvement. This is better than BP, and similar to other treatments like antibiotics. It is noninvasive and safe.
The Blue light kills a bacteria called P.Acnes- this is the bacteria that is killed by most acne treatment- removal of the bacteria greatly improves your skin and prevents most acne. The light activates a porphoryn in the bacteria that isn't present in human skin, and the bacteria cook itself.
The red light is anti-inflammatory and improves healing and increases the rate of production of collagen (giving a handy gentle facelift/anti-wrinkling effect that lasts as long as you keep treating). Skin tone ends up better than normal on this treatment, a nice side-effect. It also helps heal up red marks 2 to 3 times faster.
How does the BrightPad Acne Light Therapy work?
Put simply, Light Therapy stimulates the cells to produce more collage, elastin, and reproduce faster while killing acne causing bacteria. The cells essentially act as younger cells.
All light therapy works on the same principle: Bio Stimulation, also known as Photo –stimulation, photo effect, Light Therapy, Photo-biological effect, etc. All these terms refer to the effect mono-chromatic light has on the energy state of cells. LEDs and Lasers produce light in a single frequency (Mono-Chromatic ) and it is the properties of this single frequency light that energizes the mitochondria in the cells. Energized cells increase collagen & elastin production as well as increase cellular reproduction and blood circulation causing faster healing times, and healthier skin.
The most famouse study was done by Nasa and is often refered to as the Nasa LED Study
Please refer to our “About LED Light Therapy” for much more detailed explanation
How is the BrightPad L84 different from a plain red or blue light?
You need really, really, bright and mono-chromatic blue/red/infrared lights for this to work. To get intense enough light you need to buy special lamps. The BrightPad uses medical grade extra High Output LEDs making it one of the brightest Light Therapy lamps on the market. You could go to a dermatologist but it's nearly always much more expensive, awkward to travel to, and works less well as you cannot treat every day. Plus if you buy the L84 BrightPad you can use it for years, for little or no extra cost. It also can be used for anti-aging, hair growth, and healing.
Remember the more powerful the lights are, the less time you need to spend treating, and the BrightPad is one of the brightest available.Please consider that small cheap handheld LED lights that only cover a small area mean you can spend ages treating. You are much better off with lamps that can cover a large area like the BrightPad.
Please keep in mind that any old Blue LEDs will not be effect as some that are used in cheaper lamps are 470nm. These should not work since it is incapable of killing the acne bacteria. The color that works is a deep blue/violet color at 405-420nm The BrightPad uses 415nm Acne Killing Blue LEDs. They cost a lot more but these are the only frequencies that are effective.
How quickly does the BrightPad L84 Acne Light work?
You'll see some improvement in a few days; that's mainly the red light acting. However the violet light will kill the P.Acnes almost completely in the first few days or so.
It will then take a good 12 weeks for the pores to completely unblock themselves and the skin to grow and the red marks to fade. In the meantime you will continue to get acne; but at an ever slowing rate. Most people don't notice any effect for the first 6 weeks, because normal variation in acne covers the effect. Some people don't get good clearance till the 12th week. Under no circumstances give up!
How long should I use the lights for?
You should follow the instructions. Some people find that using the lights slightly less than indicated gives better results (e.g. 10 minutes instead of 15) It seems that using the light 2 times a day, once in the morning for 15 minutes and again in the evening for 15 minutes is better than using it for a long period of time.
You should use the lights at least once a day for the first 30 days. You can however use the lights up to twice a day. So, if you miss a day, you can top up with two treatments, several hours apart the following day. Try to average 7 treatments a week.
Once your acne clears, as with benzoyl peroxide or antibiotics you need to keep using the lamp at least a few times a week. (every other day seem adequate)
Is it safe?
Yes is it completely safe, does not give off heat, and cannot burn. The BrightPad does not produce any dangerous amounts of ultraviolet. Scientific experiments indicate that neither blue nor red light causes cancer.
While incidental viewing of the light is not a problem, prolonged viewing of directly light (any light) into the eyes is not healthy for the eye. The BrightPad comes with goggles, which should be used if you plan to point the light directly towards the eyes.
Is it expensive?
No, it's cheaper than benzoyl peroxide including the washes and moisturizers you need to use for that.
Sure, if you were to go to a dermatologist to have blue/red treatment, then yes it's often really expensive.
Comparably the Brightpad is reasonably cheap. If you add up the cost of BP, moisturizers and cleansers over a couple of years you will find it comes to more than the cost of the BrightPad.
Anything else I need to know about the BrightPad?
You can use it with most other treatments. It's important that you face is clean when you use it though. Uses any creams or treatments after using the Acne Lamp. It may be a useful adjunct to tetracycline antibiotics- these antibiotics are 'bacteriostatic' in other words they don't kill the bacteria they just hold it at bay; whereas this treatment kills them. So the combination is likely to be a good one.
Overtreating a problem?
About 1% of people with very sensitive skin seem to get a slight irritation/redness from their lights. This is not harmful, but indicates that they need to reduce the time. People that fail to reduce the time if this happens seem to get much less improvement. However even then the lights don't seem to be harmful- people have fallen asleep in front of their lamps for over an hour without any bad effects. (i.e. no 'sunburn' or peeling,)
