BroadBand Light Therapy: Treatments, Benefits, and Effectiveness

Did you know that individuals that struggle with skin diseases like acne, rosacea, and other visible skin conditions are at an increased risk of anxiety, depression, feelings of stigmatization, body dysmorphic disorder, and self-harm ideation?

If you’ve struggled with skin conditions for years, it can begin to feel overwhelming. Maybe, you’ve tried every treatment you can find.

But have you talked to your dermatologist about BroadBand Light treatment? If not, keep reading to find out the basics and whether this treatment could be right for you.

What Is BroadBand Light Treatment? 

One important thing to note is that BroadBand Light (BBL) treatment is not a laser treatment. BBL treatment uses intense pulsed light. That light can get filtered in several ways to help address different skin conditions.

This type of therapy is also called phototherapy.

While this type of treatment most commonly gets used on the neck, face, hands, and chest, it can also treat other areas of your body, like your legs.

How Does BroadBand Light Treatment Work?  

During treatment, the BroadBand Light treatment device emits broad-spectrum photothermal energy. That light gets absorbed by the melanin in your skin that causes dark spots and by the hemoglobin in your blood vessels that cause redness. 

Beyond targeting the hemoglobin and melanin, this therapy helps to stimulate collagen and elastin. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. You can find it in your skin, bones, muscles, and tendons. As you get older, your body produces less collagen. When that happens, you begin to see the structural integrity of your skin decline. This is why you begin to get wrinkles as you age. 

Elastin is an extracellular matrix protein. It also plays a significant role in your body, but when it comes to your skin, it helps your skin remain elastic. When damage or disease occurs to elastin, it can cause your skin to break down or cause skin disease. 

What Conditions Does BroadBand Light Treatment Treat? 

BroadBand Light treatment can help to treat various skin conditions and enhance and brighten your complexion. 

Some of the skin concerns it can help with include:

• Acne
• Rosacea
• Age spots
• Sunspots
• Fine lines
• Wrinkles
• Uneven texture
• Spider veins
• Vascular lesions
• Broken capillaries

When you undergo BroadBand Light treatment, it can help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, sun damage, scars, large pores, loose or sagging skin, freckles, age spots, dull skin, redness, uneven skin tone and texture, and melasma and hyperpigmentation. 

Is BroadBand Light Treatment Right for You? 

Are you wondering if BroadBand Light treatment is the right choice for you? There are many benefits to this procedure that can help to answer that question. 

Decrease the Appearance of Redness or Rosacea

Rosacea is a very common skin disease. It affects between one to 20 percent of the population. 

This condition affects the face. You’ll primarily see it on the nose, forehead, cheeks, and chin. 

Rosacea can cause the following symptoms:

• Facial blushing or flushing
• Eye problems
• Burning sensation
• Swollen bumps
• Visible veins
• Enlarged nose

Beyond causing pain and problems with your health, rosacea can have an impact on your mental health. It can lead to emotional distress, embarrassment, low self-esteem, and cause individuals to avoid social situations. 

These factors can ultimately play into an eventual diagnosis of depression or anxiety. Using BroadBand Light treatment can help decrease the redness and appearance of rosacea. 

This can help boost your confidence and combat feelings of embarrassment and low self-esteem. 

Eliminate Vascular Lesions

Vascular lesions can commonly occur in your head and neck. You may have also heard of vascular lesions getting called birthmarks. Vascular lesions fall into three major categories: 

• Hemangiomas
• Vascular Malformations
• Pyogenic Granulomas

Many of these lesions are, in fact, congenital and benign. But, it’s possible for some to be acquired and malignant. 

It’s important to talk to your dermatologist about what type of vascular lesion you have and appropriate treatment. Research shows that vascular birthmarks that appear on the head and neck can impact mental health, as individuals with those marks could feel stigmatized. 

Using BroadBand Light treatment, you can eliminate vascular lesions. 

Decrease Signs of Aging

Did you know that 30 percent of women under the age of 35 use anti-wrinkle skincare products regularly? This includes one in five women under 24 as well. 

People often stress over signs of aging, and it makes sense. We live in a society that teaches us to fear those signs of aging. 

Because of that, you might find yourself in a vicious cycle where you’re getting wrinkles because of stress (yes, stress can cause wrinkles), but you’re also stressed because of signs of aging you’ve been trying to avoid. Here’s the excellent news BroadBand Light treatment can help. 

Because BroadBand Light treatment stimulates the production of collagen and elastin, it can help to reduce the signs of aging. 

Reduce Acne

Most people tend to believe that as they grow older, they’ll grow out of their awkward teenage years and stop getting acne. Unfortunately, that’s not always true; you can keep getting acne as an adult. 

One study looked at adults with acne and saw that 35 percent of women and 20 percent of men continued getting acne in their thirties. In addition, beyond their fifties, 15 percent of women and seven percent of men still stated they struggle with acne. 

The emotional toll of acne as an adult can lead to anxiety, depression, and social isolation. You might try every cure you can find, and still not be able to get rid of your acne. 

However, BroadBand Light treatment could help reduce acne and make you feel confident about your appearance. 

Improve Hyperpigmented or Sun-Damaged Skin

Whether your skin is hyperpigmented from an excess amount of melanin or sunspots, it can affect how you feel about your appearance. Hyperpigmentation can also be caused by certain medications, melasma, or post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. 

Researchers have looked at mental health and hyperpigmentation and found that more severe skin diseases come with a higher likelihood that patients will have anxiety or depression. 

If you’re struggling with hyperpigmentation or sun-damaged skin, BroadBand Light treatment can help. 

How Do You Prepare For BroadBand Light Treatment? 

Do you believe that BroadBand Light treatment can help you? If you’re interested in BroadBand Light Therapy, there are a few things that can help you prepare. 

Request a Consultation

The first step in the process is to make an appointment. During your appointment, you’ll have the opportunity to discuss your concerns with your dermatologist. 

They can determine if you’re a good candidate for BroadBand Light treatment and work with you to create a treatment plan. 

Before Your Appointment

If you and your provider decide that BroadBand Light treatment is a good choice for you, the next step is to set up your first appointment. At this time, you will be given instructions for how to prepare. 

Before your treatment, it is important that you do not have a tan. You’ll also want to stay out of the sun for a few weeks after treatment. 

Let your doctor know if you get cold sores a lot. If so, your dermatologist might prescribe an antiviral. This can help to make any flare-ups less severe. 

Make sure you follow all instructions given to help you prepare for your appointment. 

What Happens During BroadBand Light Treatment? 

You’ve decided to take the leap and get BroadBand Light treatment, but what’s going to happen during your treatment? The process starts at your consultation. 

Consultation

When you go to your first consultation, your dermatologist is going to examine your skin. This will help them determine what areas they need to target and create your treatment plan. 

Your treatment plan will include multiple sessions. The number of sessions is dependent on your current skin type, skin condition, and your desired results. 

At Your Appointment

When you go to your BroadBand Light treatment appointment, you can expect it to last for around 30 minutes. The length of time ultimately is dependent on the size of the area getting treated. 

During treatment, you’ll wear eye protection like dark glasses or goggles. You might still see flashes of lights, but the glasses will help to protect your eyes from damage. 

Your dermatologist will begin by applying a cooling gel to the area getting treated. They might also apply a topical anesthetic. 

They will then use a handheld device that exposes your skin to quick blasts of high-intensity light. If sensitive areas are getting treated, it’s possible you’ll feel some discomfort; other than that, most patients describe only a mild warm sensation. 

At the end of your treatment, moisturizer and sunscreen will get applied to help soothe your skin and protect it. 

Recovery

Many people go back to their regular routine immediately after their procedure. It’s possible your skin can feel sunburned and appear pink for a few hours afterward. 

For some, it’s possible they can experience swelling around their eyes for several days. If your treatment was for vascular issues, you might have some bruising. 

If you’re experiencing any discomfort, use cool compresses and an OTC pain reliever to help. Pigmented lesions can become darker over the first three days. 

It might look like the color of coffee grounds. Be sure to not pick at or scrub at these spots. You want to allow them to come off on their own. Picking at them or scrubbing at them can create scarring. 

These spots will generally disappear in one to two weeks. 

You will be more sensitive to sunlight for around two weeks after. So it’s important to wear at least SPF 30 when you go in the sun. And, if possible, avoid spending long periods of time in the sun for four weeks after your treatment.

While you can use moisturizer to soothe your skin, avoid products with retinol, glycolic acid, or salicylic acid following your treatment. 

How Effective Is BroadBand Light Therapy? 

Is BroadBand Light treatment worth it? How effective is it? 

Multiple studies have been done to answer that question. 

One study in 2019 showed that BroadBand Light treatment is not only safe but effective for decreasing enlarged facial pores. In the study, participants received five total treatments spaced two weeks apart. The study found that there were no long-term side effects for participants. 

Another study in 2019 found that BroadBand Light was effective in tightening the skin. In this study, 27 participants underwent three sessions of treatment. 

Finally, a study in 2020 looked at the appearance of senile purpura in patients. It found that BroadBand Light treatment can help reduce the appearance and prevent new lesions. The treatments did this by increasing the thickness of the epidermis and improving the amount of collagen and elastin present.  

How Do You Choose the Best BBL Treatment? 

When you’re choosing a provider, make sure you choose one with experience. If you go to an inexperienced provider, you can end up with permanent scarring. 

Don’t just visit a med spa; find a dermatologist with the experience you need. 

Schedule Your Consultation

BroadBand Light treatment can improve your appearance and leave you feeling confident. Are you ready to find out more?  Kirsch Dermatology is an experienced provider that’s ready to help you meet your goals for your skin. Schedule a consultation today to start creating a treatment plan. 

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