Photo Dynamic Procedure

  1. Treatments
  2. Face
  3. Photo dynamic therapy

“Now's the time to manage your damage”

Nothing is quite as beautiful as smooth, soft, healthy-looking skin. Over time, the effects of the sun, wind, time and hormones begin to appear. Our skin is our body’s largest organ and maintaining it’s youthful, vibrant appearance doesn’t have to be a difficult process any longer. PDT is a powerful way to treat sun damaged skin, reducing blemishes, tightening and firming. PDT is an innovative light-based treatment, designed to treat certain types of skin problems.
Following are the points that will make the Photo Dynamic treatment clearer.

  • Photo Dynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new, non-invasive method of treating common facial skin conditions such as age spots, rosacea, and acne
  • By combining a photosensitizing solution called Levulan Kerastick and a light source such as the Clear Light or BLU-U systems, photodynamic therapy targets specific skin cells while leaving surrounding tissue unharmed.

“Remember it’s never too late to repair and protect your skin.”

PDT has many benefits for your skin to help improve the overall health, look and feel of your skin. After treatment you will be sensitive to light for a period of 24-48 hours. It is important during this period that your exposure to the sun and all forms of light including bright house lights, shopping centre lighting and even light through a car window is avoided. Benefits of PDT

  • Minimal side effects and down time.
  • Healing is usually rapid.
  • It provides an excellent cosmetic result.
  • There is no systemic reaction.
  • The treatment is able to be customized to your individual needs.
  • Can be repeated if necessary.
  • Does not prevent you from undergoing any other cosmetic, medical or surgical procedures in the future.
  • Offers a real alternative for severe acne sufferers.

List of Questions and Answers

What are the treatments and recovery like?
PDT is spaced at two to three week intervals. The number of your treatments, your treatment time and your treatment intervals may vary depending on the condition being treated. You will receive a topical application of ALA solution prior to your treatment. PDT can cause mild to severe pain during treatments and mild erythema to severe redness, blistering and scabbing after treatment depending on how long the Levulan Kerastick is left on, how much light is used, and which light source is used to activate the ALA. The worst cases heal like severe sunburn.
After treatment, there may be some discomfort. The skin may appear flushed, brown spots may be darker and tiny veins may be more visible. This will decrease over the next several hours. You may resume normal activities immediately. It is important for patients to avoid all bright light sources for 48 hours after treatment to lessen these reactions.
A photo sensitizing cream is applied to the area to be treated, then allowed to incubate for a period of time. A light source is applied to the area, which activates the drug. This effectively targets damaged skin cells, including those not visible to the naked eye and deals with areas that might be missed by surgical treatment, destroying them.
PDT treats:
  • Actinic Kerasotes, (persistent scaly lesions on sun exposed skin).
  • Bowen’s Disease (red scaly lesions often on shin).
  • PDT can also be used to treat sun damage and rejuvenate skin blemishes, tightening and firming.
Some patients report a slight feeling of skin irritation during and following the treatment, with a mild tightness that is helped with applications of emollient creams.
The treatment causes only temporary sensitivity to light. You may be advised to avoid direct sunlight for a period after the treatment. You will be advised on the precautions you need to take. How many treatments do I need? This depends on the extent and size of the area being treated. On average, a series of one to two treatments are required.
After each PDT session, you will experience some improvement in skin tone and texture. There will be a decrease in the overall redness and flushing. Sunspots will fade; pore sizes will shrink. Fine lines and wrinkles will gradually decrease in size as the new collagen forms beneath the skin. These improvements will continue to increase with each treatment.

More Questions?