Am I a Good Candidate?
You may be a candidate for PDT if your doctor suspects that you may have precancerous lesions on the skin such as actinic keratosis or actinic damage (cellular sun damage).
Common forms of non-melanoma skin cancer, such as superficial basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell in situ, such as Bowen’s disease, can be treated with photodynamic therapy. However, deeper, nodular skin tumors may need surgery for complete resolution.
How Long Does a Typical Treatment Take?
Once the photosensitizing agent has been applied to the skin or injected into the bloodstream, it takes roughly three to five hours before it can be activated with a laser or strong light to kill the abnormal cells. The procedure itself only takes around 20 minutes.
What Results Will I See?*
When performed correctly, PDT can safely remove abnormal cells in your skin or just beneath it. The procedure also resets the skin so you basically CLEAN UP sun damage and reverse the signs and cell damage which leads to skin cancer.
This is a non-invasive alternative to surgery and excellent for anyone who has actinic keratoses or has been frozen therapy before with liquid nitrogen.
PDT treats a broad area, unlike liquid nitrogen, so you can treat an entire face or arm so even the invisible, microscopic cell damage is treated.
Is There Any Downtime?*
PDT treatment causes a sunburn reaction to the skin. This is desirable because this is how your body is eliminating the cell damage in the skin. This sunburn look and peeling lasts about 4-7 days depending on the area treated.
You’ll be expected to protect the treated area for around 48 hours to prevent further UV exposure. You’ll likely develop a scab at the area being treated, but you’ll be instructed on how to take care and dress it. While you can return to your daily life within just 48 hours, the scab will likely take around two to three weeks to fully recover.
After around four weeks, you may be required to attend follow-up appointments. This is more common if the cancerous cells are deep, requiring multiple procedures to fully remove them from your body.