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Photodynamic Therapy for Fordyce Spots?

steevo deevoJun 22, 2009
Is Photodynamic therapy effective against fordyce spots on the upper lip? I saw a dermatologist about white bumps on my upper lip and she suggested Photodynamic therapy but she has only tried it on a few patients and said only half were effective?

Answers (3)

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Dr. William Ting, MD
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Dr. William Ting, MD
Dermatologic Surgeon, Board Certified in Dermatology
4.3 | 16 Reviews
Answered on Aug 31, 2010
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Dr. Kavita Mariwalla, MD
Dr. Kavita Mariwalla, MD
Dermatologic Surgeon, Board Certified in Dermatology
Answered on Nov 2, 2010
Answer
Dr. Benjamin Barankin, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Benjamin Barankin, MD, FRCPC
Dermatologic Surgeon, Certified in Dermatology
Answered on Aug 17, 2009
Answer

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Francis X. Fleming, MD

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a great choice to treat your problem. It will not only treat pre-malignant lesions such asactinic keratoses, including those that are not visible, but also can improveage related wrinkles. 

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William Ting, MD

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves application of Levulan for a specified duration followed by exposure to the blue light as prescribed by your board-certified dermatologist. Its major effect on the skin is the photochemical reaction where precancerous lesions get preferentially inflamed and...

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William Ting, MD

You have experienced post-inflammatory erythema from PDT-ALA. This may occur when the protocol involved is aggressive. Unfortunately, conservative protocol (e.g. abbreviated incubation time and blue light exposure time) used in PDT-ALA may not be as efficacious as a more aggressive protocol. IPL...

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William Ting, MD

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is FDA indicated for actinic keratosis and should be covered by MediCare and most PPO insurance carriers. However, PDT performed for acne would involve out-of-pocket expense between $300 to $400 in most clinics run by board-certified dermatologists. However, this may...

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William Ting, MD

While photodynamic therapy (PDT) does not do much for pore size reduction, PDT can be a very useful adjunctive therapy for acne. The temporary oxidative stress brought to the skin by PDT can be helpful to eradicate bacteria responsible for acne exacerbation and faciliate sebaceous glands on the...

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William Ting, MD

One should expect to have some post-inflammatory redness and sometimes pigmentation after fractionated laser resurfacing such as the old Fraxel or Fractional CO2 Laser. You should wait until the post-inflammatory redness or pigmentation has faded almost completely before PDT. That usually takes...

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