V Beam on Face Prodiced Awful Dark Purple Spots! - Ohio
I had Vbeam (candela laser) on my cheeks and nose...
I had Vbeam (candela laser) on my cheeks and nose and around the sides of my nose. I look like a dark purple marker was applied to my face. I can't go out in public. I pray this goes away. One side of my nose is so swollen where the laser was applied a great deal in that area. There are very dark areas in the middle of many of the puple spots that look like they are going to scab. I hope there is no scarring. The purple color looks like a dark eggplan color. It's hard to imagine it ever going away since it is so dark.
I am scared and in a panic just thinking that if may not go away in 7-14 days because it looks so awful. Nothing can cover it becase it is so dark and I am afraid to traumatize the skin any more as it looks like it is going to open up as a scab. Please tell me it will go away...
Replies (2)
Thanks Britt. Ther have been no open areas as of...
Has anyone had this experience? Did all the deep purple areas go away completely!? Please let me know. I can wait it out if I now there is a happy ending. Thanks so much.
Replies (5)
I had exactly the same experience. The purple spots were so severe it did indeed look like a black marker was used all over my face. I sort of thought at first this extreme look was trauma that would go away after a day or so but when I saw after two days there was virtually no change I did start to panic.
I did not leave the house for 5 days. At 5 days the bruising was still very severe but I was tired of being stuck in the house and had to go shopping for food.
I decided to have the treatment because I have red hair, fair skin and a redness to my face that seems to be increasing with age. I suppose it is rosacea but not an infected kind. Just general flushing that cannot be hidden with makeup. I was told by the highly respected dermatologist that to treat this kind of general redness the only option is to treat 2-3 times with a setting used for Port wine Stains. He said the bruising would be severe, and could last a week. He provided no description of the bruising or pictures however. I suppose I could have researched but I have had bruising in the past and expected something similar again with slight swelling and a purple/ yellow hue to the healing bruise that could be covered by makeup. That was not the case. The brusing consisted of dark purple spots all over my face and some nearly black where the skin burned a bit. I returned to work 1 week later still unable to cover the spots and presented with the need to provide an awkward explaination to my coworkers for my strange appearance. One person asked if I had chicken pox.
In 3 days it will be 3 weeks and while the bruising is gone there are still residual brown spots where the bruising was and my face is still red, just like before. From what I have read the brown spots may be hemosiderin collection under the skin, a byproduct of hemoglobin breakdown that occurs when the blood vessels are ruptured and blood is releasedd into the surrounding tissues. I have also read that they should go away on their own. None of this was explained to me as a possibility when I had the procedure. I will have corrective laser treatments procedures if the spots do not resolve soon.
So far I have seen no benefit to this type of V-beam treatment, only draw backs and I will certainly not return for this sort of V-beam treatment again. The down time was that I could expect from a surgical procedure. I support and have had good results with laser previously and will have more but not at this setting level.
I would appreciate any recommendations from others who have had successful treatment of generalized redness.
My first V beam treatment had much more bruising and swelling than my second one, even though the setting was actually higher on the 2nd one. I had painful flushing from hot coffee and stress and the V beam finally cured that. I do still have some remaining redness, so I can see how it wouldn't work for less severe redness. One thing I took in advance to minimize the bruising was Biotin Arnica, and you should try taking that and avoiding any painkillers except Tylenol (asprin and ipuprofen promote bruising) before any other laser treatments for your redness.
If your redness is still bothering you and you don't want to try a different V Beam setting, you could try IPL. I've had IPL before for a red spot on my face. Most of the doctor answers here say a pulsed dye laser like V Beam is better than IPL, so keep that in mind.
I will do V-beam again, just at a lesser setting. I understand it is the best for redness of all the lasers. I need to know what setting is recommended to treat the redness without causing such severe discoloration though. I can share that with my normal provider with whom I have not seen significant results and as such is why I went to another Dermatologist.
Hi coffee,
Thanks for the added info. Super helpful for the community.
Thanks,
-Britt
Hi anne,
So I check our Dr Q&A and it sounds like your VBeam was done on the bruising setting. There was a question on whether bruising was necessary to see results in the Dr. Q&A you might want to check out the answers. When did you have the peel done? Please keep us updated to how the bruising goes.
Thanks so much for the review,
-Britt