Downtime after PDT treatment It's very important to avoid sun exposure in the first few days after treatment. We recommend staying home for 3-4 days. As the skin heals, it may peel or develop crusts. The peeling and crusts are sometimes unsightly and may affect your ability to work or go out for a while.
Immediately after your PDT
If you're feeling any discomfort after your PDT, we recommend that you keep the treatment area cool with ice packs and cold compresses and take over-the-counter medications like Advil® or Tylenol® as needed.
For at least 40 hours after treatment, you must protect the treated area from sun exposure and bright lights. This is critical, as your skin is still sensitive to light and any additional light exposure can cause further damage and burns.
Photodynamic therapy has associated downtime. Patients must remain indoors away from sun exposure and bright light sources for 48 hours following the procedure. The skin may peel or be red for approximately 5-7 days, especially when multiple light sources are used during PDT.
What can I expect after my procedure? After PDT, you may notice temporary changes in your vision. Your vision may decrease, become blurry, or you may see flashes and/or floaters for a few days following your treatment. You will see your doctor in about 4-6 weeks for a follow-up visit.
It is very important to keep moisturizing your skin with a petrolatum-based moisturizer such as Vaseline or Aquaphor at this stage of healing. On the fourth through sixth days after your PDT light treatment your skin will start to peel. Do not pick at your skin! Allow your skin to peel away naturally.
PDT-induced pain, experienced with either blue light or red light, is not alleviated by any topical anesthetic agent (other than ice and evaporative cooling), and it can be so severe that patients refuse to complete the treatment or decline to undergo any future PDT.
Can I watch TV after photodynamic therapy? You can watch TV as long as you are at least 5-8 feet away from the TV screen. Wear a thick layer of sunblock that has at least SPF 30 and contains Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide during the first 48-72 hours.
Does PDT hurt? PDT does not hurt. A special contact lens will be placed on your eye to hold your lids apart and focus the "cold' laser". Your eye may feel scratchy for a few hours after the PDT treatment, but there should be no pain.
A follow-up appointment at the hospital or clinic will be arranged to assess whether the treatment has been effective and decide if it needs to be repeated. It usually takes around 2 to 6 weeks for the area to heal completely, depending on which part of the body has been treated and how big the area is.
Following your treatment, you must go directly home with the treated area covered. You may consider having someone drive you and/or pick you up to allow you to apply cold compresses if you have a long ride home.
Conclusion. Topical PDT, both with ALA and MAL, seems to offer a good therapeutic alternative to standard therapies in treating superficial NMSC, especially if widespread areas or field cancerization are involved. Treatment results are generally very good and the cosmetic results are excellent.
Following PDT, the treated areas can appear red with some peeling for 2-7 days. Temporary swelling of the lips and around your eyes can occur for a few days. Darker pigmented patches called liver spots can become temporarily darker and then peel off leaving normal skin. (This usually occurs over seven to ten days.)
After one year, six treatment failures occurred using ALA-PDT, while 13 failures took place using MAL-PDT. Patients treated with ALA-PDT also experienced side effects more frequently. The probability of treatment success after one year was 92.3% for ALA-PDT and 83.4% for MAL-PDT.
Use an effective moisturizing barrier cream (CeraVe cream), Aquaphor ointment, Vaseline or natural aloe at least twice daily, as needed. After 12 hours you can begin using a mild cleanser. You may take an oral antihistamine (Claritin, Zyrtec or Benadryl) to reduce any swelling.
Downtime after PDT treatment
It's very important to avoid sun exposure in the first few days after treatment. We recommend staying home for 3-4 days. As the skin heals, it may peel or develop crusts.
Typical cost for Photodynamic Therapy starts at $1000 depending on the areas treated and your specific treatment plan.
Previous studies using PDT for treatment of photodamaged skin have found significant histological and clinical improvements including increased collagen, smoother skin texture, and fewer wrinkles [3, 18].
It usually takes about two to six weeks to fully heal after PDT, depending on the area of your body that's being treated.
Starting the day after your treatment, use a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser (such as Cetaphil®, Dove®, Basis®, or Eucerin®) to clean the treated area. Use a clean towel to pat your skin dry and avoid rubbing the area.
The medications used in PDT are photosensitizing substances. In order to avoid hyperphotosensitive reactions, patients must avoid direct sunlight exposure by using light shielding curtains and maintain themselves in a luminescence controlled environment.
Damage to normal cells is limited but photodynamic therapy can still cause burns, swelling, pain, and scarring in the treatment area. Other side effects may occur depending on the area that is treated, including: cough. trouble swallowing.
Following PDT, your skin will get red and start peeling for a couple of days. This side effect is normal and is a good indicator that your therapy is working correctly. Blistering sunburns. This skin condition may occur if you expose yourself to sunlight after therapy.
Changes in hair growth (uncommon). The treated area may occasionally show increased hair growth or loss of hair. Dermatitis and contact allergy (uncommon). The treated area may occasionally become itch, red and/or scaly, and this may indicate that you have become allergic to the cream or gel.