Objective To investigate the effect of glycolic acid combined with intensive pulsed light (IPL) in the treatment of acne patients and its effect on transepidermal water loss rate and acne severity. Methods A total of 88 patients with acne admitted to Binzhou Central Hospital from May 2023 to February 2024 were selected and divided into control group (n =44) and observation group (n =44) by random number table method. The control group was treated with IPL, and the observation group was treated with glycolic acid combined with IPL. The clinical efficacy, transepidermal water loss rate (TEWL), acne severity, quality of life and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of treatment in the observation group (95.45%) was higher than that in the control group (79.55%) (P <0.05). After treatment, TEWL in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P <0.05). After treatment, the GAGS score of the observation group was lower than that of the control group (P <0.05). After treatment, the scores of acne symptoms, self-perception, emotional function and social function in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P <0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 18.18%, which was lower than 27.27% in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P >0.05). Conclusion The application of glycolic acid combined with IPL in acne patients is effective, which can improve the total effective rate of treatment, improve TEWL and acne severity, improve the quality of life of patients, and will not increase the incidence of adverse reactions. It is worthy of clinical application.