Acne has plagued the lives of most of us at one time or another, and we will do just about anything to get rid of it: skin peels, topical ointments, oral antibiotics. Now dermatologists are experimenting with lasers. Previous studies have indicated that light therapy and laser treatment can actually improve acne. Doctors like the idea of pulsed dye laser therapy (where bright bursts of light are applied to the skin) because it is easy to administer, relatively safe, and potentially able to reduce scarring.

What the researchers wanted to know: Can pulsed dye laser treatments improve acne?

What they did: Through fliers and online and newspaper ads, researchers at the University of Michigan recruited 40 volunteers. Participants were at least 13 years old and had relatively serious acne. Possible patients were eliminated if they had used certain acne medications recently. Using a random-number table, researchers assigned the participants to one of two groups. Doctors administered pulsed dye laser treatment to one half of each patient's face; one group had the treatment once, and the other group had treatments two weeks apart. The treated side of the face was also chosen randomly. (If they'd all been the same, the doctor who evaluated their acne might have been biased.) During the treatment, a doctor "painted" the patient's face with laser pulses. A physician who did not participate in the treatment evaluated the participants every other week for 12 weeks. The doctor counted the types of acne on each side of the patient's face. Because acne can vary from side to side, three physicians who weren't otherwise involved in the study evaluated photographs of the patients and graded the photos from the first week, the fourth week, and the 12th week using a scale that rates the severity of acne from 1 to 12.

What they found: The differences between the treated and the untreated sides were statistically insignificant. This study does not provide any evidence that pulsed dye lasers improve acne at all. The researchers note that just because they didn't find a connection between pulsed dye laser treatments and acne does not mean that one doesn't exist.

What this means to you: Acne is physically unattractive and can cause emotional distress. It is extremely common, and yet there is still no entirely effective and convenient way to treat it.

Caveats: Only 26 of the original 40 participants completed the study—a reduced sample size often decreases the statistical significance of test results. Lesions are very difficult to count accurately, and evaluators could possibly have distorted the results. Researchers excluded mild acne cases from the study, so there is no evidence that pulsed dye therapy won't work on less significant acne.

Find out more: NIH acne information page: http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/5

Read the article: Orringer, Jeffrey S., M.D., et al. "Treatment of Acne Vulgaris With a Pulsed Dye Laser." Journal of the American Medical Association. June 16, 2004. Vol. 291, No. 23, pp. 2834-2839.