levulan for moderate acne & scarring

Nov 3, 2012 - I just got back from the laser clinic where I they have applied the kerastick to my face. I am going to be incubating for about 6 hours in total. I left with a towel over my face as they had told me that lights can activate or cause damage during incubation period. I am being treated for mild acne & acne scarring. I have oily skin and have occasional breakouts that have bothered me for years. I did a PCA peel & a session of microdermabrasion, my skin was glowing for two weeks then it went back to same uneven texture and breakout skin. I am not patient enough to do treatments over a long time to see minimal results so I opted for the Levulan with PDT treatment to hopefully reach my goal faster.

I have some sun damage but she said that this procedure does not help that. I have heard different so I am awaiting to see the results. My face is slightly tight, but not uncomfortable at all. Im just going to sit around the house today and do nothing until I have to go back, they do not recommend going out into any direct sunlight, or bright indoor lighting at all. I have booked off work until nov 8th so I am hoping that my skin will be ok to when its time to go back to work.

I will be posting pics and daily updates as I go along so stay tuned. I found the info on this site to help me actually go through this procedure. Wish me luck!

Day 3 - I see more tiny pimples coming out today, my skin is rough but still no peeling. My skin is a bit rough, and seems to be purging which I hear is normal. I am having some breakouts in the chin area. It seems as if the pimples that where there prior to the levulan treatment have gone down but have not disappeared. I was expecting alot worse, I am not peeling at all and I am afraid that this treatment may not have given me the results that I was looking for. This is really strange....I hope I peel, at least that means that im shedding some old skin off to give me a fresher look in the end. My pimples are still red, my skin is pinkish today and my old blemishes are still visibly present. I hope that the end result is a good one. So far, nothing different except new redness & a mild breakout. Will keep you all posted.


Day 2 - Today is Monday and I had my levulan activated Saturday afternoon, i was extremely red and and a little swollen in the face. The lady at the clinic activated it with 2 passes of laser, it was extremely hot and to my experience felt like hot stings each time. I did not like this feeling at all - before I had left she put on moisturizer, SPF & Vaseline. I looked horrible and was the color of a lobster. I stayed in indoors under low lighting and was still red when I had woken up Sunday, swelling had gone done drastically. Today - I could have gone to work, redness has gone away quite a bit. A little bit of makeup would be able to cover it up. I am peeling ever so slightly, was expecting it to be alot worse, but very very mild peeling. I dont see a difference in texture or in the acne scars or pimples that I had. I hope over the next little big I see some sort of result from the pain that I had gone through with the laser. Will keep you all posted for tomorrow

Day 5 - Today my face seem to breakout pretty badly around my lower cheek and chin area. It's red and not small pimples like before, its quite large zits at that. I dont see any difference and I am still hoping to see if this will clear up and go down. It looks really bad right now and im due back to work tomorrow. I don't have any peeling at all, the redness is just around my pimple area. I am almost tempted to use a spot treatment for it but im just going to leave it to see if it goes down.

The lady at the clinic said that this should be normal, and that my skin would be purging however I wasnt expecting a full breakout. My skin actually looks worse than how I came in. I will be posting pics, feel free to ask my any questions.