A company-sponsored study of the Tria device in 33 adults showed significant reductions in inflammatory acne lesions after 3 weeks of treatments (J. Drugs Dermatol. 2011;6:596-602).
"Just clearing P. acnes isn’t enough a lot of time because the antigens are still there," Dr. Chapas said. The Tria system comes with washes and topical creams, or patients can use the device with whatever prescription regimen they are on.
Several devices use heat shock proteins to reduce P. acnes, but these too are not enough when used alone because they do not reduce inflammation or comedones. "They do seem to work, but you have to do it frequently and you have to put it on every single acne spot," she said. Heat devices by ThermaClear, Zeno, and No! No! cost approximately $149-$180.
The Claro home device by Sephora combines heat and blue and red light to clear P. acnes and costs approximately $195.
Rejuvenation
The PaloVia fractionated laser (Palomar Medical Technologies) is approved for home treatment of periorbital rhytids. A blinded study of 34 subjects presented at the 2010 meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery reported a 1-point improvement on the 9-point Fitzpatrick wrinkle scale in 90% of patients after 4 weeks of daily use and in 79% after 4 weeks of twice-weekly maintenance treatments, Dr. Chapas said.
Phototherapy
The Levia UVB device (Lerner Medical Devices) is approved for home use to treat psoriasis, vitiligo, and atopic dermatitis. Dr. Chapas said she likes to prescribe it for children with vitiligo who have to travel a significant distance to her office and find it difficult to get time off from school for in-office excimer laser treatments.
"It’s something you can write a prescription for and you can program" to the desired settings, she said. Multiple studies have shown that home UVB therapy is as effective as office treatments.
Dr. Chapas said she has been a consultant for Tria, Phillips, and Solta.