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Cortisone Injection vs LED Light Therapy

Cortisone Injection: A tiny shot of diluted steroid into one inflamed acne cyst. It flattens that spot in a few days. It treats the bump, not the acne.

LED Light Therapy: Panels, masks, and handhelds that shine red, near-infrared, or blue light on the skin. No ultraviolet and no downtime. The science is real, the marketing runs far ahead of it, and most of the studies are small and funded by device makers.

Reviewed by Dr. Schwarz, Board-Certified Dermatologist
Last updated: 10/22/2026
Editorial illustration for Cortisone Injection, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.Editorial illustration for LED Light Therapy, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.
Choose ifKey differencesWhat is it?What it treatsTreatment areasSkin tonesHow it worksBefore your treatmentDay of treatmentAfter your treatmentRisksCostQuestionsRelated

Choose Cortisone Injection if…

Choose for one painful acne cyst that needs to flatten fast, or for keloids and patchy hair loss.

  • A single painful cyst before an event
  • A raised keloid
  • A patch of alopecia areata

Choose LED Light Therapy if…

Choose as a gentle, painless add-on for mild acne or fine lines — the marketing runs well ahead of the evidence.

  • Mild acne alongside skincare
  • You want no downtime or pain
  • You'll use it several times a week
Fine together

Can you have both?

LED sessions and a cortisone injection for a single cyst can share an acne plan without problems.

Key differences

● Cortisone Injection
● LED Light Therapy
DowntimeNone → 2+ weeks
None
None
PainMinimal → Needs anesthesia or sedation
Mild
Minimal
Results showImmediately → 3+ months
Within days
1–3 months
How long it lastsWeeks → Years or permanent
Weeks
Weeks
Visits neededOne → Every few months
Every few months
Every few months
Cost per visit$ → $$$$$
$
$
ReversibleYes, can be undone → No, permanent
No, permanent
No, wears off

What is it?

Cortisone Injection

LED Light Therapy

What is it?

It is injected into a lesion.

An intralesional steroid calms local inflammation or scarring.

It differs from joint injections.

It is not a systemic steroid treatment.

The diagnosis matters.

Infected or uncertain lesions should not be injected.

Side effects can last.

Skin thinning, fat loss and pigment change may persist.

It uses light-emitting diodes.

LEDs expose skin to visible or near-infrared light.

Effects depend on the setup.

Wavelength, device and indication all matter.

It is not phototherapy.

It differs from UV treatment and photodynamic therapy.

Clearance is not proof.

A home-device clearance does not prove every claim.

What it treats

Evidence level
Cortisone Injection
LED Light Therapy
Strong evidenceMost established uses
Inflamed acne on light skin. The spots sit in a patch of pink, and the ring of redness around each one is easy to see. A few have a yellow-white head, and the skin between them is dry and flaking.

Acne

Flattens a painful cyst within days.

A raised, smooth, firm scar on the upper chest on light skin. It is shiny pink-red and hairless, and its edges spread well past the small mark it grew from.

Keloids

Softens and flattens raised scars.

A round smooth bald patch on the scalp.

Alopecia Areata

Regrows hair in patches.

—
Moderate evidenceSome supportive research
A smooth, dome-shaped lump about two centimetres across on the upper back on pale skin, with a tiny dark pore at its center and faintly pink skin over it.

Epidermal Inclusion Cyst

Calms an inflamed cyst.

—
Limited evidenceEarly or small studies
—
Inflamed acne on light skin. The spots sit in a patch of pink, and the ring of redness around each one is easy to see. A few have a yellow-white head, and the skin between them is dry and flaking.

Acne

Blue light modestly reduces spots.

A relaxed forehead with faint shallow horizontal fine lines.

Wrinkles and Fine Lines

Red light may slightly smooth.

Not effective
dark keratin plugs in dilated pores on the nose and adjacent left cheek, with the face turned to the person’s right on light skin.

Blackheads

Not for clogged pores.

Acne scarring on light skin. Small sharply cut pits and broad shallow dips across a cheek, several sitting inside faint flat pink marks, with no active spots.

Acne Scarring

Doesn't change scars.

Can make it worse
Acne scarring on light skin. Small sharply cut pits and broad shallow dips across a cheek, several sitting inside faint flat pink marks, with no active spots.

Acne Scarring

Can cause dents in skin.

Flat tan patches with soft irregular edges across the forehead and upper cheek of an adult with light skin, the surface completely smooth.

Melasma

Light can darken patches.

Treatment areas

Treatment areas

The specific lesion, scar or affected patch determines the treatment site; there is no fixed body distribution.

Face; the selected area depends on the concern and treatment plan.

Skin tones

Skin tone
● Cortisone Injection
● LED Light Therapy
Lighter skin
Low risk
A small dent is possible.
Low risk
No ultraviolet.
Medium skin
Some risk
Lighter patches can show.
Low risk
No ultraviolet.
Deeper skin
Some risk
Lightening and dents are more visible; low doses help.
Some risk
Visible light can darken melasma-prone skin.

How it works

Cortisone Injection

LED Light Therapy

How it works
Cortisone Injection mechanism diagram. Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.
LED Light Therapy mechanism diagram. LEDs deliver selected wavelengths: The device exposes skin to a planned light regimen. Light is absorbed by its targets: Effects depend on wavelength, device, and treatment goal. Response builds over a course: Some regimens may help selected skin concerns; results vary.
Diagram explanation

Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

LEDs deliver selected wavelengths: The device exposes skin to a planned light regimen. Light is absorbed by its targets: Effects depend on wavelength, device, and treatment goal. Response builds over a course: Some regimens may help selected skin concerns; results vary.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Before your treatment

Cortisone Injection
LED Light Therapy
The week before

Do not pick: Do not pick, squeeze or heat the spot.

Ask your provider: Conditions and medicines: Ask first about lupus, porphyria, another light-sensitive condition, a retinal condition, past eye surgery or seizures.

Day of treatment

Cortisone Injection
LED Light Therapy
Before you arrive

Clean skin: Wash your face and skip makeup on the area.

Before each session: Clean skin: Sunscreen, makeup and thick moisturizer block visible light, mineral sunscreens especially, so a session over sunscreen does little.

Before session one: Baseline photo: Photograph your face in daylight, same spot, no makeup.

Shields and dose: Have the eye shields to hand before you start.

Arrival & prep

The provider checks that the spot is an inflamed acne cyst and not a boil.

In a clinic, skin is cleansed.

Treatment

The skin is wiped with alcohol.

A very fine needle goes just into the bump and a small amount of fluid goes in, under 10 seconds per spot. The sting is sharp for a few seconds, worse if the cyst is already tender, but most people rate it lower than they expect. Numbing does not help much — the needle stick is the whole procedure.

The panel or mask sits close to the skin and runs for 10 to 20 minutes.

Red light is a strong glow even through closed eyes; near-infrared is invisible but feels warm. Shields stay on the whole session. It does not hurt. Expect mild warmth, and sometimes a headache after, usually from light without shields.

Before you leave

A tiny red dot, sometimes a small raised bleb that flattens within an hour.

Skin looks unchanged, maybe flushed for a few minutes.

After your treatment

Cortisone Injection
LED Light Therapy
First 24 hours

Days 1 to 2: The bump softens and the ache fades.

Days 1 to 2: Dryness or a headache are uncommon and mild.

Days 2–7

First few days: A pinprick mark, sometimes a small bruise, fading over a few days.

Days 3 to 7: Most cysts are flat.

Not specified
Weeks 2–4
Not specified

Weeks 1 to 4: Little visible change.

Beyond 1 month
Not specified

Weeks 8 to 12: If a photograph in the same light shows nothing by now, more weeks will not change the answer.

Time to results

24–48 hours for a cyst

8–12 weeks of regular use

How long results last

Treats only that spot

Only while used

Risks

Risks
  • Dent in the skin
  • Lighter patch of skin
  • Visible small vessels
  • Darkening or worsening melasma
  • Headaches or eye discomfort after sessions
  • A rash or unusual redness after sessions
  • Burns from a device
  • Skin cancer

Cost

Per session

Roughly $50 to $250 per office visit in the US, usually billed as an office visit plus a procedure charge rather than per spot.

Home devices are the main market, from roughly $50 for a handheld wand to several hundred dollars for a full-face mask, and higher.

Insurance

Insurance often covers it, since acne cysts count as medical rather than cosmetic.

Insurance does not cover it.

Questions

Cortisone Injection

LED Light Therapy

Individual Questions
How fast does a cortisone shot work on a cyst?

Softening begins within 24 to 48 hours and most spots are flat by day three to five. That figure traces back to one small 1983 trial — it matches what dermatologists see but has never been tested at scale. The mark left behind takes weeks longer, and the injection does not speed that up.

Will it leave a dent?

It can. A shallow depression happens when the dose is too strong, so a lower concentration is the main protection. It is uncommon — most dermatologists see it in well under one patient in a hundred — and it often fills in over several months. But it is not reliably temporary. About half the clinicians who do see it report it lasting more than six months, and occasionally it is permanent. That is why you ask what concentration is being used.

Can I get one before an event?

Yes, the most common reason people ask. Aim for three to five days ahead so the swelling has time to drop. A same-day injection rarely looks better by that evening.

Does it stop acne from coming back?

No. It treats only the spot it is injected into. Preventing the next cyst needs a daily treatment plan, and the guidelines call this an add-on.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

Yes. The risk is a lighter patch at the site, more noticeable and slower to fade on deeper skin tones. A lower concentration reduces it, so ask.

Is this approved for acne?

Not in the United States, strictly speaking. The FDA labeling lists intralesional use for keloids, alopecia areata, discoid lupus and others. Acne is not on it. Off-label use for an acne cyst is routine, legal and recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology, but almost nobody says it out loud. In the UK, NICE withdrew its recommendation in 2026 after UK-licensed triamcinolone injections stopped being available — a supply and licensing decision, not a safety one.

Does LED light therapy actually work?

Partly, and modestly. The best-supported uses are blue light for mild inflammatory acne and red or near-infrared light for wound healing. For fine lines and redness there are small positive trials, usually 8 to 12 weeks long. The literature is limited by small numbers, short follow-up, devices that differ from each other, few comparisons against proven treatments, and a lot of manufacturer involvement.

Are home masks as good as the panels in a clinic?

They generally put out less light per minute, which is why home instructions ask for several sessions a week. Over three months a consistently used home device may deliver more total exposure than occasional clinic add-ons. What is not true is that a trial of a clinic panel tells you what a particular mask will do.

Does FDA clearance mean it is proven?

No — most are cleared as substantially equivalent to a device already on the market. That is a judgment about similarity and basic safety, not evidence of a useful result.

Do I need eye protection?

Yes, and it is the one safety point worth being strict about. These devices are bright, they sit close to the face, and blue wavelengths carry a recognized photochemical hazard to the retina with prolonged exposure. Keep the shields on for the whole session, and ask your doctor first if you have a retinal condition or have had eye surgery.

How long before I know if it is doing anything?

Give it 8 to 12 weeks of consistent use, then compare a photograph taken on day one in the same light and without makeup. Judging by memory in the mirror is how people persuade themselves either way.

Can it replace a retinoid, or sunscreen, or treatment for my acne?

No — it sits on top of those, and the gain from adding it to a good routine is small. Using it instead of treatment for a condition that scars is the one way a low-risk device causes harm.

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