Dr. Bomer’s PDT Experience

Dr. Bomer’s Story:

Growing up and attending college in southern California offered many opportunities for being over sunned.  My habits greatly improved in my thirties when I finally started wearing sunscreen everyday and when the consciousness of my skin health began. Now in my early 50’s after twenty years of taking care of my skin,  I find an area on my left cheek that looks like a precancer and I know I need PDT.  

Love the skin you are in!

My Levulan PDT Treatment:

The response to PDT with redness and peeling is greater if one has more sun damage.

I was looking for a moderate treatment level so we chose to let the Levulan incubate on the skin for 30 minutes. 1 hour incubation time would have increased the intensity of the treatment which most often is appropriate and offers the best results from this treatment. So why less for me?  So I could work out over the weekend and if needed I will do another one in about 4 months. I knew that my activity in the first 48 hours would activate the Levulan a bit more, so 30 minutes incubation time was good for my goals with this treatment.

Levulan DPT with FotoFacial - Dr. Bomer's Experience

What Happened Post-Treatment?

First phase: Reddening of the skin which looks and feels like a sunburn and associated swelling.

For 48 hours after the Levulan is applied it is activated by light (sunlight and fluorescent light). The FotoFacial activates the Levulan initially and then in the 48 hours after, it is best not to further activate it with more light.

Click on images for more details.

Day of Treatment:

Day 1:

After the 48 hours, the skin is red and swollen, but no longer warm like a sunburn. The skin starts to become tight as it is getting ready to shed. More moisture is required on the tight skin that is going to peel; this is when some Bacitracin is helpful along with the Neocutis Bio-Cream to allow the tight skin to stretch and split without allowing any raw areas to develop.  If this is not done with enough moisture, it is like a scab getting pulled off too soon and leads to delayed healing and the possibility of a less optimal result. Click on image for more details.

Day 2:

Day 3:

By day 4-5 most of the skin peels off. The skin comes off in large pieces. It is very important not to pull the skin off – best to gently brush the surface of the peeling skin with clean fingertips and allow the flakes to fall off when they are ready. Scissors can be helpful to trim skin that is bothersome.

Day 4:

At the end of one week, the big flakes of skin are mostly done.

Day 11:

In the second week, routine skincare can be started again. The skin continues to heal and smooth over the next few weeks. The best cosmetic result is appreciated at one month after the treatment and this will last for many months and to some degree forever as the skin has less potential to generate cancer and has been transformed into a healthy, younger state.

My Skin Care After Peeling:

Many aging women are afflicted with hormonal acne in the perimenopausal years and I’m one of them.  I started to get a flare at the end of the first week, so I jumped into my Jan Marini Duality MD quickly which helped tremendously and cleared the flare in a few days. Extra moisturizer with Neocutis Bio-Cream and then Jan Marini Transformation Face Cream was necessary for the second phase of healing.

Reverts Your Skin to a More Youthful State

“I believe that one PDT therapy activated with IPL gives more rejuvenation than many of the more expensive laser treatments available to rejuvenate skin. In addition, one receives the reversal of sun damage that can evolve into skin cancer. This treatment truly reverts your skin to a more youthful state.“

 – Kelly Bomer, MD

Watch Dr. Bomer Reverse Sun Damage with Photodynamic Therapy


Find out if Levulan is for you…