What to Do with Bruised Skin After Pulse Dye Laser?

Excellent question.  Thank you for sharing.  Please ice the area regularly.  Try Anica Forte.  Photoprotect vigilantly to reduce the risk of the bruise becoming hyperpigmented.  This will all settle, and in the meantime use a foundation with SPF 50+. The next time you have PDL your laser doctor can use a lower setting to reduce the risk of bruising.

After pulsed dye laser, the skin will appear dark purple.  It is important to keep is very moist.  I suggest Bacitracin application about four times per day.  The purple skin is also very sensitive to sunlight and exposure to sunlight can cause the skin to significantly darken and delay healing and the final result.  I suggest using both a barrier (sunhat) and Zinc based sunblocking cream.  Once the skin has returned to baseline, the sun can be more easily tolerated.  This takes about  2 to 4 weeks after treatment. 

Unless the skin has open blisters, you need not apply any kind of antibiotic ointment for bruising. Do not use Neosporin or Mycitracin (they both contain neomycin) as these antibiotic ointments can cause an allergic or hypersensitivity reaction with repeated application in as many as 10% of users!

The bruises will resolve on their own, can be covered by camouflage makeup if desired, and may go away quicker with oral and topical arnica montana, which are homeopathic remedies which I have found to be helpful. (I use arnica for my facelift and eyelid lift patients!) Your color changes indicate the bruising is already reabsorbing.

You should not frostbite your treated skin; protect the treated areas with a scarf or face mask, and do not sunburn the area either.

Like a black eye, the bruising is usually gone by 1-3 weeks, 2 weeks being the "average." Everyone is different. It's just that the bruising from pulsed dye laser can be so dramatic in appearance; I understand what your girls think! Safe skiing!