60 Years Old, PDT on Face, 2 Days into It, So Far No Big Deal - Long Beach, CA

Hi Karen, for my treatment the pain was minimal if non-existent. What really helped was having my iPod during the 16-minute treatment. I said, "ok it will be about 4 songs worth." At the beginning I felt the "rubber band snapping" feeling but not bad. Luckily some good songs played and I just concentrated on that. Seriously the procedure, for me, was not a big deal. I also had no pain after - I know some people have burning and stinging but it just felt like a sunburn for the first couple days, nothing I haven't had before. My biggest concentration of redness is on my cheeks and above my lip. One week later there is still redness on one cheek but overall fading. To me the scariest part is the biopsy on a suspicious bump, still waiting to hear back on that. Also take a book because you have to wait an hour for the med to absorb. Get some Aquaphor and Cetaphil cream to keep your face moisturized afterwards. The Aquaphor is really greasy but supposedly has healing properties. (So the label says.) The Cetaphil (I bought a jar of the cream) feels good and absorbs nicely. Good luck. Overall mine not as bad as expected or the photos I saw!

Thank you for your comments! Hopefully the experience will be similar for me. Good idea about the iPod! I will have the treatment on Thursday - I will post my experience.

Hi Karen, I was surprised at how I went from "bad" to "good" so fast. My face looked horrible on Monday after the Wednesday procedure, and by Wednesday night I ventured out to play tennis, Thursday I went out during the day (with lots of sunblock) and Friday night I went out with my friends to a bar and they told me how good I looked. I hope you have the same experience. I'm almost looking forward to doing it again to finish what I started!!! Looking forward to reading your posts.

Hi,Debi! I had the therapy this morning and it wasn't bad at all! Glad to have music during the light treatment - made the time go by so much faster - thanks for the tip! I purchased in the office the recommended ointments, CeraVe and Biafine. Have only used the Biafine so far as I have not really had any discomfort. My skin feels tight with a slight burning sensation and moderately red. Glad to have the first treatment behind me. I am glad to hear of your rapid return to normal!

Hi Karen, are you living like a mole in the dark now LOL? That's really important, I didn't even turn on the lights, and I used candles in the evening. I just pretended I was camping ;-). Yes it's good to get it behind you and glad the music helped. I used Cetaphil cream instead of the Cerave as well as Aquaphor but that's pretty greasy. I never really had bad cracking but I did keep the cream on consistently. In fact I still put Cetaphil lotion on at night because it feels good and absorbs well. Good luck and keep me posted. I'm not afraid now for the second time. My skin looks better than it did before!

Deb- I am about to have this procedure and I'm wondering do you think that some technician/doctors do a better job than others? How do I know that the one that I'm going to will do a good job? Any help or advice I would surely appreciate mine I have put off until February 20.

First, are you really in Bora Bora? I am reading a book about there right now! I can't say whether one technician is better than the other, except that in reading comments on this webpage I've seen people say they felt they were left under the light too long or something...are you doing your face? I did a lot of web research and here's a link to something that has lots of FAQs: http://www.medicinenet.com/photodynamic_therapy/article.htm It seems like the average time to leave the Levulan on is about an hour and the average time under the light is about 15-20 minutes. I'm due to have it done for the second time (normal) and I'm not nearly as worried as I was the first time. Just an issue with scheduling time off to hide for a week. Good luck and let me know how it goes! People tell me my face looks better. I'm bummed that I can't lie in the sun like I used to, this is the whitest I've ever been, but I guess it's my future. Darn, I really wanted to go to Bora Bora!

Yes and day three and four looked worse for me. Let's see I did it Wednesday, Sat-Sun-Mon looked the worst then Tuesday it took a turn for the better. Like they say everyone is different...I didn't really have swelling...I'm rooting for you to get better soon. On the plus side, my skin does look better now than it did prior.

Hi Karen, Yes they want me to do more but while I was there they did a biopsy on a little spot that I thought looked like nothing. They said it's basal cell carcinoma and want to do Mohs surgery - you probably know what that is, and they said that takes priority over the PDT. So that will be a couple thousand dollars (since I have a high deductible) and I have to figure that out first. I almost WANT to do PDT again because they say your skin looks better each time. Glad day 3 is better - keep going!! (don't have much choice do we?) NOT looking foward to a hole in my face, stitches... :-(

Sorry you are having to have surgery. I have had that procedure on my chest. I had an allergic reaction to the topical antibacterial ointment I was using so I had rather a longer than normal recovery. I have two scars on my nose from previous basal cancers and with foundation they are only noticeable to me. Good luck with your procedure. If we only knew then what we know now.

Not yet, let's give it another day or two...

Sounds good.

Its now been 20+ years after having the treatment.

Just wondering, did you spend a lot of time in the water? I know I did.