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*Treatment results may vary
I just had the procedure on my face yesterday. So...
I just had the procedure on my face yesterday. So follow along if you want to see how it all turns out. I'll do my best to give an update every couple of days.
My background:
I turn 42 in a month. I'm fair skinned red head. I grew up in Corpus Christi Texas so the beach was a part of my life in my high school years and early college years. I also served in the Navy for 20 years on submarines. The good part is I got to stay out of the sun (big steel tube). However in my 20's I frequently stood an in port watch that required me to stand in the sun for 4 hours at a time. A few times in my live I got rather burned. Some beach times and some Navy watch standing times too. The wort burn I've ever had was when I was a teenager and we were on vacation in another beach town. I when for a walk for about an hour on the beach. No sunblock in the early 80's. Since about 1995 I've been very careful of my sun exposure. Sunburns have been rare after 1995.
My reasoning:
I want to take advantage of any preventative treatments I can, in hopes that I will avoid any brushes with skin cancer. About two years ago I did a chemical cream treatment that did improve my skin tone and addressed a few spots. It was a daily cream application for 10 days in a row. Each day got progressively worse. By the last day I didn't want to put it on. The difference between that cream treatment and the blue light treatment is that the cream appeared to be more target specific. Meaning, there were areas that got irritated instead of my whole face. The blue light has affected my whole face.
My Arm Treatment:
Two weeks ago I had my arms done. Basic procedure was:
1. Clean arms with alcohol
2. Rub on the chemical that does the work.
3. Sit and wait for 1 hour for it to soak in
4. Sit under a blue light lamp for about 15 minutes
During the blue light exposure the skin on my arms got a little itchy and very light burning feel. I rated it a 1-2 out of 10. No big deal. The nurse told me to stay out of the sun for 48 hours because I would be very sensitive. No kidding. I wore long sleeved shirts for a few weeks (actually I normally wear long sleeved shirts to protect my arms anyway). However, I notice while driving the tops of my hands began to burn when they were in direct sunlight. So I repositioned my hands to stay out of the sun. There was never any significant prolonged burning feeling in my arms. Maybe some light sunburn feeling, but nothing serious enough to disturb my normal day-to-day routine. After about a week it began to peal like recovering from a sunburn. I did not put much lotion or cream on my arms so they pealed quite a bit.
My Face Treatment:
I had a totally different after treatment experience on my face. My arms; no big deal. My face......IT IS ON FIRE!!!!!!
The procedure was the same as the one on my arms (see above). During the blue light exposure I felt a little itchiness and light burning but nothing significant. Again I rated it at a 1-2 out of 10. Procedure was complete at about 11:00 a.m. By 7:00 p.m. my face was becoming increasingly red and looked like I had a sunburn. It had been raining for the last two days in my town so everyone was wondering where I got the sun exposure from. I was home by 8:00 p.m. and began putting aloe on it every 30 minutes. My skin just soaked it up as fast as I could put it on. By 11:00 p.m. my face was cooking real good. I ended up sleeping the night with a cold damp cloth on my face with an ice pack on top of that. I slept o.k. other than trying to not move so the cloth would stay on. I also took Tylenol.
In the morning my face felt like a lobster. It was very red, tight, sensitive, hot, etc. Basically felt like the worst sunburn I had ever experienced. I took the day off work because I could not concentrate on anything other than the paid. I would rate it at a 7-8 out of 10. At 4:00 p.m. I called my dermatologist and ask told them I was having trouble managing the pain. They had me come in and get a steroid shot. The nurse told me the shot basically reduces swelling which is what is causing the pain and redness in my face. They also gave me a hydrocortisone cream prescription. About 30 min after the shot I started to feel some relief. An hour after the shot I was home with the cream and applied it liberally (a.k.a. super thick) to my face. The attached picture is right before I put the cream on. I posted it on Facebook with the title "My dermatologist is trying to kill me."
Now I'm at a pain level of about 4. So, while it is still hurting some, I can stand it now. I'll post more in a couple of days to let you know how my progress is going.
My background:
I turn 42 in a month. I'm fair skinned red head. I grew up in Corpus Christi Texas so the beach was a part of my life in my high school years and early college years. I also served in the Navy for 20 years on submarines. The good part is I got to stay out of the sun (big steel tube). However in my 20's I frequently stood an in port watch that required me to stand in the sun for 4 hours at a time. A few times in my live I got rather burned. Some beach times and some Navy watch standing times too. The wort burn I've ever had was when I was a teenager and we were on vacation in another beach town. I when for a walk for about an hour on the beach. No sunblock in the early 80's. Since about 1995 I've been very careful of my sun exposure. Sunburns have been rare after 1995.
My reasoning:
I want to take advantage of any preventative treatments I can, in hopes that I will avoid any brushes with skin cancer. About two years ago I did a chemical cream treatment that did improve my skin tone and addressed a few spots. It was a daily cream application for 10 days in a row. Each day got progressively worse. By the last day I didn't want to put it on. The difference between that cream treatment and the blue light treatment is that the cream appeared to be more target specific. Meaning, there were areas that got irritated instead of my whole face. The blue light has affected my whole face.
My Arm Treatment:
Two weeks ago I had my arms done. Basic procedure was:
1. Clean arms with alcohol
2. Rub on the chemical that does the work.
3. Sit and wait for 1 hour for it to soak in
4. Sit under a blue light lamp for about 15 minutes
During the blue light exposure the skin on my arms got a little itchy and very light burning feel. I rated it a 1-2 out of 10. No big deal. The nurse told me to stay out of the sun for 48 hours because I would be very sensitive. No kidding. I wore long sleeved shirts for a few weeks (actually I normally wear long sleeved shirts to protect my arms anyway). However, I notice while driving the tops of my hands began to burn when they were in direct sunlight. So I repositioned my hands to stay out of the sun. There was never any significant prolonged burning feeling in my arms. Maybe some light sunburn feeling, but nothing serious enough to disturb my normal day-to-day routine. After about a week it began to peal like recovering from a sunburn. I did not put much lotion or cream on my arms so they pealed quite a bit.
My Face Treatment:
I had a totally different after treatment experience on my face. My arms; no big deal. My face......IT IS ON FIRE!!!!!!
The procedure was the same as the one on my arms (see above). During the blue light exposure I felt a little itchiness and light burning but nothing significant. Again I rated it at a 1-2 out of 10. Procedure was complete at about 11:00 a.m. By 7:00 p.m. my face was becoming increasingly red and looked like I had a sunburn. It had been raining for the last two days in my town so everyone was wondering where I got the sun exposure from. I was home by 8:00 p.m. and began putting aloe on it every 30 minutes. My skin just soaked it up as fast as I could put it on. By 11:00 p.m. my face was cooking real good. I ended up sleeping the night with a cold damp cloth on my face with an ice pack on top of that. I slept o.k. other than trying to not move so the cloth would stay on. I also took Tylenol.
In the morning my face felt like a lobster. It was very red, tight, sensitive, hot, etc. Basically felt like the worst sunburn I had ever experienced. I took the day off work because I could not concentrate on anything other than the paid. I would rate it at a 7-8 out of 10. At 4:00 p.m. I called my dermatologist and ask told them I was having trouble managing the pain. They had me come in and get a steroid shot. The nurse told me the shot basically reduces swelling which is what is causing the pain and redness in my face. They also gave me a hydrocortisone cream prescription. About 30 min after the shot I started to feel some relief. An hour after the shot I was home with the cream and applied it liberally (a.k.a. super thick) to my face. The attached picture is right before I put the cream on. I posted it on Facebook with the title "My dermatologist is trying to kill me."
Now I'm at a pain level of about 4. So, while it is still hurting some, I can stand it now. I'll post more in a couple of days to let you know how my progress is going.
Provider Review
Only provider in my town that takes Tricare (Military Insurance).