Lasers for rosacea / telangiectasia? Tried KTP and VBeam pulsed dye.

Question

Is there a different laser that will work for telangiectasia? I have visible blood vessels, not just diffuse redness. I've tried VBeam pulsed dye, which caused severe purpura but did not improve the telangiectasia at all. Also tried 4 treatments of KTP (with a different doctor), which also made NO improvement. Is there some other laser that might actually work? It's so frustrating because everyone says lasers can just zap it away.

Harold J. Kaplan, MD · Answer

Hello Telangie.  Very sorry to hear about your situation.  Usually pulsed dye lasers are used to treat diffuse redness.  This means that the blood vessels are so small that they do not look like veins, they just look like general redness.  So, when done correctly, the Vbeam bruising treatments (purpura) should end up helping with general redness.

When we treat the small but visible blood vessels around the nose and cheeks, we use the long pulsed yag (1064) laser, but KTP is an excellent option and should work well.  We really don't have an answer for why the KTP did not yield results, but it's important to not blame the laser when a treatment doesn't work.  The settings used by the practitioner have everything to do with your results as the lasers cannot think for themselves and it takes the right spot size, energy, cooling, etc to get the right result.

We also use the BBL (IPL) in some cases where the blood vessels are visible but very fine.  Best of luck.

Nelson Lee Novick, MD · Answer

Because of the heavy marketing and advertising that surrounds them, and because of the innate attraction of people for whatever seems "the next big thing" in laser or light device to come along, people jump first to these relatively expensive bells and whistles, which, as in this case, often don't live up to the hype and certainly aren't worth the money spent. For decades, relatively inexpensive and simple electrodessication has been used with gratifying results to treat all forms of telangiectasias, including those associated associated with rosacea. Depending upon the number and the extent of the problem, a series of anywhere between two and six treatment sessions may required to achieve optimal results. Now, would be the time to look into the tried and true. Make sure to consult with a board certified aesthetic physican and ask to see his/her personal befores and afters before agreeing to proceed. Best of luck.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

there is no "cure" for redness and blood vessels, lasers need 2-3 times a yaer at least to maintain improvement after a series of treatments. excel V and BBL and aerolase are all other options for you and should be combined with non ablative lasers like clear and brilliant.

You need proper skincare with skincare lines like faith (specifically the essence serum clay mask and moisture enrich lotion), Restorsea liquid gold and 10x cream, Sente dermal repair cream and 24 hour bio complete serum.  At home peels like emerageskin AERIFY with LED light therapy like lightstim can make a big difference.

In office, redness is treated with

1. vascular lasers (excel v, vbeam, BBL, IPL, Aerolase, yellow laser)

2. Aquagold or micro ampule infusion (botox topically)

3. microsecond yag lasers (laser genesis, Aerolase)

4. proper medical grade skincare (faith, Restorsea, sente, emerageskin) and LED therapy (light stim)

5. non ablative, low level, low density lasers (clear and brilliant)

6. nano fractional RF (venus viva)

see an expert for a full workup.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Lasers for rosacea / telangiectasia? Tried KTP and VBeam pulsed dye.

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Lasers for rosacea / telangiectasia? Tried KTP and VBeam pulsed dye.

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Everything you need to know about Sclerotherapy

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.