Second V-beam

Had my second v-beam today.....and i forgot how much it hurts!!! It was nearly unbearable. 1 hour after and if i stop icing my face it feels like it's been dipped in hot oil!

Last time i only had a slight flush before the v-beam so this time i got a really really bad flush happening, so maybe that's why it hurt so much more than last time. Would that make sense?

This time they upped the setting from 6kj to 6.25kj. As i detailed in my post on my first v-beam i have a conservative derm who never uses brusing settings except for treating port wine stains. They also don't up the settings eveytime, so unless i get bad swelling 6.25 is the setting they will keep using for further sessions.

Well a few hours makes a big difference...my face feels much much better now :)

Is V-beam better for flushing?

I've just had another Yag + KTP treatment (1pass with KTP ans 3 with yag). Not too bad pain wise and now I'm home just feel abit flushy

Sarah

Last time i had no swelling but this morning i've woken up and the treated areas are massivly swollen, because it was just my cheeks i look like a chipmonk with a mouth full of acorns...or if for any australians i look like Bert Newton (a tv personsality nicknamed moonface)!

Do you have any swelling from the Yag and KTP Sarah? I've never had swelling before, does anyone know how long it lasts? It just says in my aftercare notes to sleep propped up on pillows until swelling subsides.

At least it's not red or sore though. I don't know if i will be going out in public looking like this though.....

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Is V-beam better for flushing?

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My derm thinks so, just because it is the most specific for blood vessels. Though he does always remind me that flushing very hard to treat. I have nerve type pain in one side of my face so he also feels it is the least likely to trigger any nerve reactions. For flushing he trys the V-beam first, and if still no result, the KTP then Lyra and then Yag then lastly IPL.

Okay i just had a look through Twickle Purples Gemini laser post and think i swelled so much because after the first painful hour passed i didn't ice my face the rest of the night. The first time it seemed to trigger a flush so i iced my face the whole afternoon and evening...think that may have made all the difference!

No real swelling with the Yag + KTP but that depends on who does the treatment and the techique used. A couple of years ago I would go to someone who only used the KTP and she did it a whole different way (at a guess I would say less power but lots of passes) and I would swell up sooo much. The swelling would always go in about 2 days as long as I kept my head up.

Today I am just various shades of red.

Sarah

I hope you are feeling better today, Sarah.

I find it fascinating that we can all react so differently to this insult to our facial tissue. I swelled so much the first time that I made a point to do things better the second treatment. I took the recommended antihistamine pretreatment and continued icing even after the application discomfort passed and still I was much more swollen than the first time I had Gemini. And it wasn't defined to the treatment area -- the tissue around my eyes from eyebrow to cheek bone were grotesque.

My theory is that, since flushing is my Rosacea MO, my tissue is already traumatized and the Gemini adds insult to preexisting injury. I had healed only superficially in the time between treatments so the underlying tissue became more aggravated with the second treatment. This makes sense to me because I know that post surgery it can take 6-12 months to normalize, sometimes more, depending.

For this reason, even though I have had marked success with the Gemini, I am going to wait at least 6 months til the 3rd treatment.

Twickle Purple

I've woken up this morning and i am even more swollen! I was so hoping to wake up to a more normal face!

And like you said Twickle Purple, directly under my eyes where the laser wasn't used is the worst. My eyes feel like they are going to swell shut!

Such a difference to my first v-beam where i got no swelling or downtime and it's the same operateror and technique. So maybe there's somthing in the therory that the second time is worse.

Sarah, so the worse of your swelling went in two days? It's been 40 hours since i had the v-beam and my swelling is showing no signs of going down yet. Did that ever happen to you?

I am very glad that i don't have any big plans this weekend.

I put vaseline on my lower eyelids because my lashes stabbed into flesh as my eyes were swallowed. :shock: It helped with that bit of discomfort.

Wow that is extreme swelling, mines not quite that bad but in case it gets worse thanks for the tip!