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The jury is still out on whether lasers are an effective treatment for acne. The bane of many teenagers' lives is acne. There aren't many effective therapies and some have side effects, which is why people have been attracted to lasers. The theory is lasers may kill the bacteria in acne spots and damage the fat-producing glands in the skin, which make it greasy and become blocked in acne. In addition, some believe lasers reduce scarring. In a trial of pulsed dye lasers, researchers treated only one side of the face in a group of people aged 13 and above, using the other side of the face as a control. They were then repeatedly assessed by an independent doctor over three months to see whether the numbers of acne lesions had fallen and whether one or other side of the face looked better. Photos were taken for verification by a panel of three skin specialists. There weren't many side effects - some bruising, inflammation and discomfort - but there weren't many benefits either: no differences in either the acne or the grease production in the skin. The authors said this doesn't mean lasers don't help acne, it's just that good studies are needed to show that they do.
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