EFFICACY TREATMENT OF ACNE VULGARIS 101 Table III Acne Dressing® or Skin Tapes Used to Examine the Effect on Acne Conditions (n = 20) Acne Dressing® Skin tapes Baseline Day 7 Baseline Day 7 Significance Severity of acne by patients 1 1.18 0.43 1.08 0.80 .000* Severity of acne by physician 1 0.90 0.16 0.65 0.41 .000* Scale of redness 2 4.1 1.2 4.4 2.7 .000* Scale of oiliness 2 3.9 1.5 4.0 2.4 .000* Scale of dark pigmentation2 3.9 1.8 3.7 2.3 .000* Sebum casual level (µg/cm2) 217.6 186.9 240.8 241.8 .000* * p 0.05. 1 Severity of acne was assessed and performed by using Dr. Cunliffe's grading system. 2 Scales of redness, oiliness, and dark pigmentation were assessed by five-point Likert scale. surface covered by the dressing. However, the ratio of transmission in skin tapes during the period of UVB exposure (280 mm-320 mm) is 38%. DISCUSSION Acne vulgaris is a common skin disorder that poses significant social and psychological problems to the patient (10). It is most prevalent during adolescence, which is a· time of significant physical, emotional, and interpersonal relational development (11). Negative self-perceptions of one's face can have a lifelong consequence. Therefore, the develop- ment of a safer, more convenient, and more effective treatment for acne is highly desirable. Results from clinical assessments show that Acne Dressing® compared with skin tapes was more effective in improving local mild and moderately inflamed acne. Most patients have reported improvement (a reduction in size and redness and less oily skin) after seven days of treatment with Acne Dressing®. The mean percentage decrease in severity of acne after seven days of Acne Dressing® treatment was 82.2% compared with 37% for skin tapes. Ninety percent of patients in the treatment group indicated that the Acne Dressing® absorbed the secretions from the acne, and then reduced the inflammation and pain. Moreover, 95% of patients indicated that the color of this kind of Acne Dressing® was similar to that of skin and that the circular formulary form was very easy to use and enhanced cosmetic appearance. Many studies of acne emphasize that treatment of acne is needed to reduce inflammation and avoid scarring (1,3,12,13). Measures of efficacy in the study show that the mean percentage decrease in redness after seven days of Acne Dressing® treatment was 71 % , as compared with 38.6% for skin tapes. It is also clear that comparison of the pre- and post-Acne Dressing® states shows a significant reduction in redness. All patients treated by Acne Dressing® felt their inflamed acne was much better, and there was a decrease in the number of days of healing (mean = 3.20 ± 0.79) over the skin tapes group (mean = 4.30 ± 0.79). From this viewpoint, Acne Dressing® therapy was more effective in alleviating the acne. All patients treated by Acne Dressing® reported moderate or good improvement. Moreover, there were no adverse effects or patient discomfort noted in any of the patients.

102 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE Redness ■ group 1 □ group2 5 4 3 0 a 2 0 Baseline day3 day5 day7 Days of treatment Oily ■ group l □ group2 5 4 II,) 3 0 � 2 ::E 0 Baseline day3 day5 day7 Days of treatment Dark pigmentation ■ group 1 D group2 5 4 3 0 II,) ::E 0 Baseline day3 day5 day7 Days of treatment Figure 2. Improvement in the mean of scale assessed by patients after treatment with Acne Dressing® (group 1) or skin tapes (group 2).