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POSTED UNDER Photodynamic Therapy REVIEWS

Worst Pain I Have Ever Felt! - Fort Campbell, KY

ORIGINAL POST

My dr had me pretreat with retinA for 3 wks prior...

jovimom
my dr had me pretreat with retinA for 3 wks prior to the treatment.. went in today got the Levulan put on ...went home for 2 hrs and came back for the blue light... the tech got everything set up.. turned the light on and INSTANTLY above my lips felt like it was on fire within 30 seconds my whole face.. by the first minute I had my hands clenched and my legs were bouncing nonstop trying to manage the pain... there was a fan blowing on me, but it was pointless.. by 2 minutes I had tears rolling down my face, she asked if I would be able to continue I said I doubted it... she said lets try and turn the fan up and see if that helps at all.. she turned the fan on as high as it would go.. while the pain was still beyond intense it became bearable. I made it through the entire 16 min 40 seconds.... progressively through the day my face has gotten redder and more swollen... I showered and washed the vaseline off (they put that on when I was leaving the hospital) and a wet washcloth stored in the fridge has now become my best friend.. I have been putting a moisturizer on every hour or so.. it helps for a few minutes.. what it feels like now is. the worst sunburn I have ever had in my life..

Replies (1)

August 25, 2015
That was exactly what I felt today instant burning above my lip and then my whole face on fire the fans did nothing and it brought tears to my eyes. I had her stop after a minute into it to regroup and ask questions cause I was not expecting how painful it would be. Restarted only could go another minute had to STOP. I was disappointed in myself for quitting and consider myself to be able to withstand pain but maybe it was a good thing I stopped. I feel your pain hope you feel better very soon.
UPDATED FROM jovimom
4 days post

Day 2 had brought about pain.. swelling and crusty...

jovimom
day 2 had brought about pain.. swelling and crusty spots... now that I am sitting in my very dark room.. I am in a lil less pain... the crusting is def showing up more.... was just the corner of my chin this morning... right now its under my chin.. top of my chin 2 spot son 1 cheek.. 1 spot on my jaw.. 1 spot on my left temple... tmw should be interesting...
DAY3 ok so today my face has crusty spots randomly all over.. and feels like a dried mudd mask.. very tight and plastic-like .. pain is gone ( a weird sting once in a while) and that has now been replaced by ITCHING.. major itching.. can't scratch... so I am constantly poking at it.. the redness is STILL unreal!!
DAY 4 .. starting to peel... my chin is unbelievably red now
...and cracking despite how much moisturizer i put on
DAY5 this is for the birds!!.. my chin has blisters, major peeling going on.. around my nose and my temples are VERY tender... and very red.. my chin still looks like the worst sunburn you can imagine... and NOW my glands under my jaw are swollen and hurting very badly.. calling my dr in the morning... NEVER doing this again I had less pain and an easier time when I had surgery to remove a squamous cell on my cheek.. the scar goes from my ear to my chin....

Replies (3)

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May 15, 2013
Wow! I was told to avoid RetinA Before my treatments. If I had to guess that would make the pain a lot worse???
May 15, 2013

Ouch!!!  Oh my goodness this sounds horrible!   Keep posting the updates with pictures.  I really want to know what your final results turn out to be.

May 17, 2013
Well done you! It will be worth it I'm sure. I used RetinA for a 6 months and then stopped six days before treatment. One hour with cream and longer on the face.
UPDATED FROM jovimom
16 days post

May 26th

jovimom
it is now may 26th.... my chin is still healing.. the rest of my face is pretty much normal.. all the ak's are gone except 1 ... my skin is soooo smooth.. I'm updating a few pics so you can see how my chin is now... will post an updated pic of my face as soon as my chin is finally done healing

Replies (1)

May 27, 2013
How are you? The recovery?