Accutane and light therapy

When you listen to the world as seen through the eyes of inventors, everything will be better so long as you buy this wonderful new machine. Think the car — so much better than horses; the airplane — so much better than the zeppelin. The fact that both contribute significantly to climate change can be overlooked because there’s no longer piles of manure on our streets and there’s less chance of toasting passengers when the hydrogen catches fire. It was in this spirit that we approached the news that there were “apps” for the iPhone that were supposed to “cure” acne. This was a magnificent joke, ranking alongside the idea that the internal application of oysters improves your sex life. So, wonder upon wonders, we have the appropriately named AcneApp (real creativity with the name) and Atomic Red which not only claims the power to dismiss zits, but also to relieve pain in muscles and joints. There’s also Atomic Blue to treat seasonal affective disorder — that’s SAD. They all work on the same principle. The iPhone has an LED screen and, with a clever piece of programming, it can be persuaded to emit wavelengths of light that have healing properties. So here’s the brilliance of the marketing strategy. While you have your iPhone clamped to your ear, the LED can be bombarding your skin and, over time, your acne will just, well, disappear (or you will be less SAD if using the Atomic Blue).

But such mockery is not justified. All three Apps are exploiting Light Therapy. This is available at the offices of your board-certified dermatologist at a not completely outrageous hourly rate. You get to sit in a room with a machine that shines red and blue light on your skin and makes you better (and slows your aging — as if the lure of such a fountain of youth miracle cure could possibly encourage you to spend large amounts of money). So here comes the scientific pitch. Since we emerged blinking into the sunlight from our caves, we noticed that being in the light improved our acne. There were problems like too much sun causes skin cancer, but if the light cured our acne before the malignant bits came, we were ahead of the game. Research suggests that light around 410 nm kills the bacteria responsible for causing the zits. In small-scale clinical trials, people exposed to light over a three month period showed improvement.

Back to the iPhone. In reality, these Apps are a low-level scam. The LED screen on the iPhone could not possibly emit radiation at sufficient power to have any effect on the skin, let alone the muscles and joints. You can amuse and entertain your friends. Perhaps more importantly, it is entirely safe and only costs a nominal amount of money. As to the high-powered light boxes, remember the bacteria that live on your skin have been living in sunlight for as long as we have been around. They will probably enjoy tanning sessions. Any improvement will be due to the placebo effect and/or the passage of time. People who spend silly amounts of money must believe strongly enough that the treatment will work. For everyone else, there’s accutane. This is the drug you turn to when your life seems dark and threatening and, without any impressive fanfare of technology, it cures your acne. There are rules to be followed when you take accutane but, overall, the benefits outweigh the costs.