Medical research is constantly revealing new things, but not everything can be fixed with pills and scans. Skin repair from psoriasis is one such area, and while ointment can help, technology can come to the rescue as well.
October 30 is World Psoriasis Day, and given that’s the date this article has gone live, Philips has seen it the perfect time to launch a product designed to help people suffering from that very problem, as it refreshes its blue light technology and gives it the benefit of technological change, making the product reliant on this concept larger, thinner, and longer lasting.
The technology we’re talking about is an ultraviolet-free bed of blue LEDs that, when switched on together, are tuned in such a way that helps damaged skin regenerate by slowing the process of skin reproduction.
For sufferers of psoriasis, that’s a big deal, because their skin is regenerating a little too quickly, resulting in scaling and inflammation, and it doesn’t go away. Topical treatments are the more common treatments, with Omega-3 also said to help out, but it’s a long term thing, and it’s just treatment, not a cure.
The Philips approach to treatment is to rely on the company’s investment in blue LEDs which — when worn for stints — apparently helps out with symptoms by reducing them dramatically.
We first wrote about this last year when the technology popped up on our grid, and while Philips has yet to release the technology in Australia, the latest generation is now ready, giving us a heads up on what locals can expect when Philips decides to release the product.
That will be the second generation Philips BlueControl, relying on 40 ultra-bright blue LEDs designed in a 25 percent larger (compared to the original) space, with a thinner body, a reworked fixation strap (because you need to strap it to your body to get it to work), and a longer battery life capable of lasting four treatments in a row before needing to be recharged.
Controlling the device happens with the simple press of a button, and you only need to strap the block of LEDs a portion of your body, exposing the affected skin for quantities of time for it to work.
According to at least one clinical study by Philips, 84 percent of patients showed an improvement in symptoms after using the technology for 12 weeks compared to before when they had started.
Unfortunately, local availability isn’t something Philips is talking up for this second generation, either, though with enough prodding, you never know. We’ll start, though, because we’re sure people with psoriasis in this country would love to try a technological solution as well as everything else they’re doing.
