“V-Beam on Cheeks to Get Rid of Intense Redness - San Jose, CA”

My dermatologist noticed the bright red mark on my left cheek. He said he could get rid of it with a zap of his v-beam laser for $150. He zapped it two times, and said it would be gone within 4 weeks. He said he didn't want to treat my red cheeks until he saw how I reacted to the zap he did. The red mark faded slightly immediately, and no more improvement after that. By no means did it disappear.

Three days ago I went back to another doctor at the same office, and had both cheeks done with the v-beam. The treatment was quite painful, though endurable if she zapped three times, then paused a few seconds before continuing. I left with a redder face than I went in with. The red spot on my left cheek was now a purple bruise 3 times larger than the original spot.

When I woke up in the morning, my face was so extremely swollen that I looked like a monster! I scare myself if I look in the mirror! It is ghastly! No one warned me of this happening. This treatment should not be advertised as "No down time"!

Today is the third day, and most of the redness from the treatment is greatly lessened. But I still had a red "flash" today in spite of the treatment. The swelling went down some yesterday using cold packs, but I still woke up horribly swollen this morning. Anyone know a way to reduce the swelling, especially under the eyes?

I had v-beam on my cheeks to get rid of intense redness. This is the third day following v-beam treatment, and I still have ghastly swelling of my cheeks and especially under the eyes, even though the undereye area was not treated with the v-beam! I look frightful, like some kind of monster! I scare myself by looking in the mirror! Can someone tell me what to do to make the swelling go down? Thanks.

Updated on 28 Jan 2011:
It is now about a year since my initial V-Beam laser treatment. That initial treatment, and the followup treatment, only slightly faded the red mark on my cheek and my overall red face. I would not recommend V-Beam because it is a very harsh treatment for delicate facial skin. It is an extremely painful laser treatment. And the tremendous swelling that occurred for the next 4 days is a lot of downtime and discomfort for so little results and high cost.

Two other cosmetic dermatologists recently told me they prefer the IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) laser instead because it is not so harsh on facial skin. In the past 6 months, I have had several IPL laser treatments on my face. IPL does not hurt anywhere near as much as the V-Beam. Also the Dr. used a gel on my face to help anesthetize it. The pain from the IPL is minimal to tolerable, depending how high the Dr. sets it. The higher he sets it, the more it hurts. A high setting could also cause scarring. I found it is not necessary to have it hurt to have it help. My red blotchy face has lost much of its blotchiness and looks more naturally rosy. The redness is more overall an even color after 7 treatments, and I use less makeup on it now. I have not had a flare-up of extreme redness and heat for the past couple months, so that is a relief. My face used to get reddish-purple when it flared up, which quickly melted the ice cubes I put on it for relief. Glad not to have the flare-ups anymore.

I recommend the IPL, several treatments at a lower setting to avoid discomfort and swelling. The IPL has never caused my face to swell or bruise. Cost varies greatly from Dr. to Dr. so call around to get best price. Some plastic surgeons throw in free IPL treatments if you have cosmetic surgery with them---don't be afraid to ask for this.