I am considering laser resurfacing for my rhinophyma loose rosacea sebaceous nose?

Question

Is this procedure contra indicated? what are the complications? what is the "don't show your face in public" down time? What is the range of costs? Is this similar to Intense Light Pulse (I think) treatment offered by aestheticians ? Hx of PAH not resolved by liver transplant. i am 54, with what they used to call "sensitive skin", prone to flushing w vasodilators and easy to sunburn.

Richard O. Gregory, MD · Answer

You have a mild form of rhinohyma which can be treated with the laser.  I prefer the Ultrapulse laser but there are other lasers that would do a satisfactory job.  Out patient, local anesthesia (preferably with oral sedation) and a 2 week healing period.  You should consider a fractional laser treatment to the remainder of your face because of the weathering and benign lesions (One anesthesia and one recovery period).  Adjunctively, a pre and post op treatment with Tretinoin (Retin A or retinoic acid) would give a better result.  Because the pores are very deep with crypts filled with sebum a thorough treatment might leave a slight scar.  Alternatively, one could do a  conservative treatment but that might lead to the need for a second treatment.  This is one of the most satisfying laser treatments I do because of the dramatic improvement in the patient's self esteem.

Karen Stolman, MD · Answer

I specialize in this treatment among other laser skin treatments.  I use Erbium/CO2 laser mix in a single 45 minute treatment session with local anesthesia.  IPL is helpful for redness and telangiectasia but will not significantly improve the texture.  With the Erbium/CO2 treatment, you need minimum 10 days healing with crusting, peeling, swelling, redness.  By 10-14 days you may be fine in public, and it's possible to apply a tinted sunblock to mask areas that may still be pink and healing.  Swelling gradually goes down over two months.  We have people fly in from out of town for this treatment. In most states, aestheticians are not permitted to do this kind of ablative laser treatment.  Cost is approximately $1900 for one treatment session.  Occasionally, a second smaller touch-up treatment is needed.

Davin Lim, MBBS, FACD - Account Suspended · Answer

You have very mild phyma. In this case, I would use an Erbium Modulated laser as healing is faster. Expect a marked improvement with only one treatment, downtime of 8 -9 days at most. I would follow this up with 2-3 v beam lasers to reduce redness. For more severe cases I often combine surgical techniques and Co2 laser. The video below explains the procedure in depth. All the bestDr Davin LimLaser DermatologistBrisbane, Australia.

I am considering laser resurfacing for my rhinophyma loose rosacea sebaceous nose?

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I am considering laser resurfacing for my rhinophyma loose rosacea sebaceous nose?

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