Levulan blue light therapy
This is one treatment that has the real potential to treat sebaceous
gland hyperplasia, follicular hyperkeratinization (little keratin
plugs sticking out of pores),oily skin,acne and the lumpy bumpy
texture.
This is one to keep an eye on.
If you want to read about it you can search on google
levulan blue light therapy and/or photodynamic therapy.
May 22nd, 2005 at 8:31 am
Hello boyblue….i’m well aware that seb derm is different then
actinic keratoses, but many people with seb derm have extremely
oily skin…many even think the excess sebum is the root cause..
well photodynamic therapy does an excellent job of zapping those
oil glands….much like accutane does, but without popping all
those harmful pills.
May 22nd, 2005 at 6:20 pm
Here are my thoughts on lasers, and these are non-ablative lasers such as
Smoothbeam or Pulsed Dye Laser (VBeam) with or with the Levulan photdynamic
treatment
We all need to understand that seb derm only affects about 4% of the
population, and I would say half of that 4% only have it on their scalp. So
that leaves maybe two percent of the population that has chronic seb derm on
their faces, quite possibly even less. In other words, it is not a huge
market for drug or laser manufacturers to go after given that acne,
psoriasis, and roscea are huge markets compared to seb derm.
So, when drug companies or laser companies perform clinical trials, they are
going after the big buck markets of acne and rosacea and psoriasis. We know
acne is bacterial infection that is able to proliferate because of trapped
sebum in the pores. We also know that seb derm usualy presents in people
that have execessive oil production.
So, it makes sense that if a laser (or any other treatment, including
accutane) can shrink oil glands which results in less oil being produced,
there is also a good chance that it will help seb derm patients as well.
Drug and laser makers cannot market their products for Seb Derm unless they
have seen results through clinical trials. They don’t spend the money on
clinical trials (which are very expnesive to begin with) to see how their
product affects seb derm becasue the market is tiny compared to the acne or
rosacea markets, but the fact that there are many acne/rosacea/psoriasis
products and treatments that also help seb derm (accutane, sodium
sulfacetamide, salycic acid, corticosteroids, both topical and internal, UV
therapy, elidel, protopic etc etc) we need to make our conclusions that a
lser that shrinks oil glands has a high probablity of at least alleviating
some seb derm outbreaks, but for sure not curing seb derm.
RJ
May 28th, 2005 at 6:36 am
antonio32ca, this blue light thing is something I’d be interested in
doing. How do I find somebody that does this treatment?
May 28th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
Let me know where you live and i’ll try to help you out.
Tony.
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May 29th, 2005 at 2:54 am
I’m also interested in the blue light therapy or any type of
light/laser that can help seb derm. I saw some of the posts boyblue
made on the rosacea board…it seems like noone will answer them. As
someone posted before it’s hard to get information about sebderm
treatments in general because companies are focusing on the big
bucks. I was also curious if anyone on the board has tried or knows
anything about narrowband UVB for seb derm? It’s listed as more of a
severe psoriasis treatment but from what I’ve read it can be used in
sebderm.
May 29th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
They use it for rosacea..
perfect skin center in milwaukee.
wisconsin medical college.
i’m sure there are more…you need to call around the
laser clinics in your area to find the ones that offer
the treatment.
May 29th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
Antonio, is there anyway you could help me find a doc that does it in
the Detroit, MI area? I’ve tried doing a google search but I havnt
been able to find much.
May 30th, 2005 at 9:21 am
Harper laser clinic
20340 harper ave
harper woods mi.
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May 30th, 2005 at 7:30 pm
Thanks you much, Antonio. How are you finding these places because
its been hard for me to find anything?
May 31st, 2005 at 5:39 am
Just a matter of typing the right combo
of words in the search.It took a few trys but
i got it..=)..glad i could help.
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June 1st, 2005 at 10:15 pm
we should all post about the effects of the treatments.