V Beam Reviews
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“V Beam For Facial Redness”
Shaunelle
Worth It
Spent: $350 in Charlotte, NC
Spent: $350 in Charlotte, NC
The flushing and redness on my entire body increasingly gets worse, so I opted for V Beam laser treatments for both aesthetic and lifestyle comfort purposes.
Updated on 12 Aug 2011:
I had a second VBeam treatment today with Sue at The Laser and Skin Center in Virginia Beach. I am very pleased with her aggressive treatment, although I have a lot more swelling this go around.
This review is the subjective opinion of a RealSelf member and not of RealSelf, Inc.
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My Doctor: Elizabeth F. Rostan, MD
My rating:
Dr. R and her staff were amazingly informative and was the first dermatologist to actually spend time and explain options for my keratosis pilaris and rosacea. I live almost 90 minutes from her office, and I am willing to make the drive for superb quality of skin care.
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Comments (39)
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“Wouldn't Do It Again - Omaha”
3 comments
“vbeam for venous lake-Houston, Texas”
1 comment
Hi Shaunelle,
Thanks so much for the review. Am I correct to assume that since you gave the procedure a "worth it" rating it worked for the redness? Also, did you have any pain or downtime? Please keep us updated.
Thanks,
-Britt
Dr. Rostan's laser technician, Leigh Anne, suggested 3-5 fairly aggressive V Beam treatments that would leave bruising. I was also told not to expect much with only one treatment.
Immediately after my first treatment, my skin was raised and bumpy with blotches and bruising. The nickle sized bruising intensified over the next 24 hours and remained for about 1 week. When the bruising disappeared, I was left with noticeably clearer skin.
While parts of my face are quite a few shades lighter of pink, I have not noticed a huge difference with the uncomfortable sensations of flushing. But given I was told not to expect results with just one treatment, I am very impressed and plan on a second V Beam treatment soon!
So in other words it was worth it, that's awesome :) Please let us know how your second appointment goes. And if you have pictures to share we would love to see them.
Thanks,
-Britt
Hi Shaunelle, I had V Beam for severe flushing on the left side of my cheek. (The 'before' photo I posted doesn't do it justice because it looked okay with lots of natural light, but looked horrible with artifical light.)
I was also told it would take 2+ treatments, yet the results from the first treatment surprised even me. My cheek doesn't flush like it did before.
One tip I got from the doctor was to stop using topical medications a few days before the treatment, and then actively encourage flushing right before the treatment so there are more red blood cells to hit. Hot coffee was a big trigger, so I brought a thermos to the doctor and drank 8 oz of drip coffee minutes before the treatment. Hitting more blood vessels made the brusing and swelling worse, but the results were worth it.
There's still a bit of background redness, so I'm going to do at least 1 more treatment in a few weeks. I hope your treatments go well and you get the results you want.
Some people may not prefer an aggressive V Beam treatment, but like you, it was worth it in the long run! I will use your suggestion about drinking coffee before my next treatment, too. Inducing a flush before a treatment makes perfect sense!
Keep us posted on your progress!
Shaunelle
At first I thought I just had an outbreak of acne, but when I realized that the acne on my cheek didn't get better with the salicylic acid toner that worked so well on my forehead, I started doing my own investigation on this site (since I work for RealSelf). In fact, the alcohol in the toner made the rosacea flare more.
I was pretty certain I had rosacea by the time I scheduled the V Beam appointent, so we didn't look for other conditions such as facial keratosis pilaris. But I have certainly had bumpy skin with blocked pores on my arm, and I routinely get ezcema on my legs if I take really hot showers and forget to moisturize.
Do you use Finacea? It's a 15% azelaic acid cream that I find helps prevent clogged pores that seem to aggrevate the rosacea (and would probabl help for keratosis pilaris.). The one tip I've learned is to put a moisturizer on first and then put on Finacea because 15% acid is too strong by itself and can easily burn your skin. Don't get the gel because it has alcohol in the base that will make your skin flare.
Another tip is to take a really low dose of doxycycline (20 mg twice a day) because doxycycline has anti-angiogenic properties (meaning it tells the body to prune excess capilaries), and those small blood vessels are what makes flushing worse. There was a great TED talk on anti-angiogenesis. It's mostly about cancer, but rosacea is another problem that is fed by too many capilaries.
I am sure you and many others find it equally as frustrating wondering why with all of the medical advancements we have today, why a skin condition that seems so less complicated compared to open heart surgery has so many unsuccessful treatments? Perhaps I need to learn to be less vain, lol.
Finacea seems to work well at keeping pores clear, since mine get clogged up and turn into whiteheads. Salicyclic acid worked really well for me before I got rosacea, but I haven't found a formulation that works on my rosacea.
Finacea (15% acid) is definitely strong stuff if you don't dilute it. I got small chemical peel-style burns on other parts of my face when I didn't use a moisturizer with it.
I don't know if it helps with the redness part of rosacea, but I'm just happy to avoid the acne rosacea. The V Beam really helped with the flushing that could cause acne rosacea to form almost immediately.
Are you considering V Beam as well?
Thanks for the update, Shaunelle. I had my 3rd and most aggressive V beam treatment 9 days ago, and there is still some remaining red/black bruising. (The 2nd treatment was right before a really stressful time, and that stress seems to have muted the benefit of the treatment.) It does look like V beam helps but isn't a miracle cure, and I need to be religious about using topicals (Finacea/azelaic acid or alcohol-free salicylic acid) to keep the pores clean and low-dose doxycycline to prune excessive blood vessels (anti-angiogenic effect). I take 20mg of doxycycline hyclate twice a day, which is equivalent to the Oracea dose but available as a generic drug.
I quit drinking coffee and switched to matcha green tea and cut back on red wine to minimize flushing. I also bought a juicer and have been adding juiced kale and other vegetables to my diet. There's a great movie on Netflix called "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" where the main character had a rash-like skin condition and had to radically switch his diet to fix it and get off prednisone. I'm not suggesting you go on a juice fast (I haven't so far), but it's worth considering whether there are other dietary changes that could help reduce your flushing.
so are the results from your first two vbeams not lasting? your pics make it look like there was a lot of improvement. good call on the juicing!
There was lasting improvement from the first two V beams (the painfull flushing is gone), but I was told it usually takes 3-4 treatments to resolve rosacea that has painfull flushing. Also, most of the benefit of the 2nd treatment was negated because I had a very stressful period right after and that caused a lot of anxiety-driven flushing. Taking it easy in the first 2 weeks after the treatment is important for best results.
It's looking good now (4 weeks later). I was using a "sensitive skin" soap whose 2nd ingredient was Sodium Laureth Sulfate, and that was really irritating the recently treated skin. Now I only use Avveno Ultra Calming Cleanser on my face, and that has helped tremendously. I will probably go back for a 4th treatment eventually, although I might wait a while for that. Mostly I am trying to avoid the triggers: hot liquids, spicy foods, and wine without food.