Efficacy of Bio Oil in improving the appearance of facial acne scars on Chinese subjects, 2012.
Objective: Assess the efficacy of Bio-Oil in improving the appearance of facial acne scars on Chinese subjects.
Sample: 44 Chinese subjects with newly formed acne scars on the face (-1 year old). Bio-Oil treatment cell included 32 subjects and the no treatment cell included 12 subjects. Age of participants: 14 to 30.
Methodology: Randomised, controlled, efficacy grader-blinded. Subjects participated in an initial screening evaluation followed by a 1-week washout period. Product applied twice daily for 10 weeks. Application performed under supervision at regular intervals. Assessments conducted at 0, 4, 8 and 10 weeks included the following: Global scarring score (GSS) assessment by the investigator, measurement of acne scar colour / redness using a chromameter, measurement of sebum levels using a sebumeter, documentation of number of comedones and inflammatory lesions by a dermatologist. Subjects also completed self-assessment questionnaires at each visit.
Result: The best result of the clinical grading was in Bio Oil’s ability to reduce the erythema or redness of macular (flat) acne scars, with the overall skin becoming brighter. Results of the self-assessment questionnaire showed that more than 84% of subjects experienced an improvement in the overall condition of their acne scars and more than 90% experienced an improvement in scar colour. Acne count and sebum measurement results showed that using Bio-Oil does not cause or aggravate acne, or increase sebum secretion.