According to new research the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, a treatment for acne that is gaining popularity known as pulsed dye laser therapy fails to provide any benefit. While a previous study which showed this one type of laser does indeed work, this one study shows the opposite. But many, like acne patient Ellen Sherman, believe--or at least hope--it does work, because it offers a safe alternative to what is currently available for difficult-to-treat acne. It can make you self conscious. You can put on makeup to cover it up but you know its always there, says Ellen. For 6 years, she suffered with facial acne. It gets better it gets worse it gets better it gets worse so its a constant battle. Ive been on antibiotics, face washes, this was almost a last resort this came out and Dr. Hale said lets try it lets give it a chance and its been great.

Ellen has had three monthly treatments with the pulsed dye laser. Each treatment, which lasts about 10 minutes, involves moving a wand-like device across the persons face to deliver nearly 400 laser pulses. Dr. Elizabeth Cayhill, a dermatologist at NYU Medical Center, says, Theyve had just red spots on their face which arent responding to topical or oral antibiotics and this laser can really help to shrink the blood vessels that are causing the red spots and improve the acne.

But this new study found there was no significant improvement in acne between the beginning of treatment and week twelve. In fact they counted the number of acne lesions on the face and that number really didnt change much.

Dr. Cayhill argues the study was only done on 40 patients. She states, They treated half the face with either one or two pulse dye treatments, and I think its tough to make any great conclusion after one or two treatments in such a small sample size, anecdotally I have been treating patients over about 6 months period and Ive been seeing some very nice results. So I think larger studies need to be done to prove anything.

A study published last year in the journal Lancet reported positive results with this type of laser therapy. The Lancet study was set up differently, and the argument of the current researchers is that those results are not as reliable. Both dr. Cayhill and the current studys authors are calling for more research to verify whether or not laser does work for acne. But because the devices are cleared for use and because most dont generally cause harm to patients, many dermatologists are using lasers in clinical practice based on the early studies and anecdotal reports of success.

Ellen herself will tell you she has seen an improvement. Its a good feeling after so many years, to finally see results. Its great. I can go out without makeup on and youre not as self conscious.