Redness on forehead
Hi, I have what I was told by a dermatologist is remaining redness from plaque psoriases and seborrheic dermatitas. He said that it is clear in the sense that there are no active plaques or pimples but it's the redness from psoriases that was there. I'm a bit confused, given the fact that psoriases is in fact redness, so I'm not sure how he can determine that it's remaining redness from what was psoriases breakouts and not is currently. Anyway, I asked him how to get rid of the redness and he told me it could take years if I don't get laser. Does anyone have any ideas as to how to get rid of the redness quicker? I don't think it's scars, just redness. I have one particular mark that has been there for almost a year and the redness comes back every time it looks like it's fading. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.
by the way, the sun seems to make it redder so I try to limit that. It's tricky because spf can irritate it too at times too.
, I struggle with this too - both the actual redness and also trying to figure out if it's still psoriasis or a mark that it's left behind. If I'm not treating the area and no new scales/flakes are appearing, then I interpret that to mean that it's not active plaque psoriasis and is instead a mark that's left behind due to the inflammation. I believe this is called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. As an aside, we can also get post-inflammatory hypopigmentation, where a white patch is left behind (I've had this too!).
I haven't really tried many things to get rid of it, but for me personally it can take years for these marks to fade. I'm hoping others will stop by to share anything that helps them with these marks. Have you had any thoughts on doing the laser treatment? Warmly, -Catherine, Community ModeratorThanks Cathy. Here is a pic of my forehead. It'a hard to tell if a mark is current psoriases/or eczema or simply remaining redness. I've been using both zoryve and ketocanozole cream on every single mark daily though. Do you think I should continue or not do this as much if the marks are simply "remaining redness". The dermatologist told me to only use as needed, so the creams won't "stop working". Thoughts?
Hi
, good to hear back from you! Apologies for my delay in responding - I didn't get a notification of your reply for some reason.
I have always been a little unsure of when to stop treatments too. Usually when I've been prescribed a topical treatment, I've been told to use it for a period of time rather than until the symptoms clear. I only have experience with coal tar, steroid creams and vitamin D analogues though, so I'm not sure how relevant that is... Are you able to ask your doctor for some clarification on what "only use as needed" means?
I can completely understand your uncertainty around this. I wish doctors would be a bit more explicit with their instructions! I suppose another option could be to ask a pharmacist if they have any thoughts. Hopefully we have community members here who can chime in with their personal experiences too. Please keep us updated if you can! Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator
Thanks Cathy. I also have a vitamin D topical the derm gave me for just the remaining redness but I'm reading that this isn't good to use on the face so I've held off on using it. Would you know by any chance if there's any particular laser that works well for just the redness like what I have? I heard DermaV from my derm but I know a lot of people use phototherapy or excimer for psoriases.
Hi
! Did the dermatologist say you could use the vitamin D topical on your face, or just for redness elsewhere on your body? Just in my personal experience, sometimes a dermatologist will recommend that we use a treatment on the face even though the medication insert says not to do so. For example, I had to use a vitamin D liquid solution on my scalp and was also told to bring it down on to my upper forehead (where I also had psoriasis), but the insert says not to apply to the face. Having said that, I'm not sure how much of the upper forehead actually counts as the face... I wish doctors and these instructions were clearer!
With regards to the laser, we have some information on the different types of light therapy, although the article only refers to treatment of psoriasis rather than the marks left behind: https://plaquepsoriasis.com/clinical/different-light-therapy-treatments Unfortunately, as I have only had UVB phototherapy, I don't have any personal experiences to share regarding laser treatment. I was able to find the following Story from one of our community members who had X-TRAC (a type of excimer) laser therapy: https://plaquepsoriasis.com/stories/x-trac-laser-therapy-experience - you could try leaving a comment for them to see if they've found it helpful for any post-inflammatory marks. Are you due to follow up with your dermatologist at some point about the laser treatment? Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator
Thanks Cathy. I'm not sure if the insert said that but it said not to use vitamin d topical on the face when I did my own research.
How was the UVB phototherapy? Is that not considered laser? Do you think it would work for my situation on my forehead? (taking my pic into account)., thank you for sharing. I would definitely chat with your doctor about your concerns regarding the vitamin D topical (if you haven't done so already). They may be able to ease your worries about using it on the face.
"UVB phototherapy" isn't considered to be a laser therapy, but both this and the excimer laser therapy are types of light therapy that use UVB rays. My UVB phototherapy was done at the hospital in what looks like a sun bed - a big light box that works on the whole body. Excimer laser therapy uses UVB rays too, but they are very concentrated and only work on one small area of skin at a time (basically wherever the technician focuses the laser). Do you know what type of laser the DermaV is?
The UVB phototherapy was good overall - it really worked very well on my guttate and inverse psoriasis. It did help my plaque psoriasis but that returned to its pre-phototherapy state not long after I finished the course of treatments. I was prescribed this for active psoriasis and I didn't have any red marks at the time. I also wasn't left with any marks after treatment, as far as I can remember. I don't think I've heard of UVB phototherapy being used for the post-inflammatory red marks... That would probably be another good question for your doctor. I hope you can get some clarity on this, and I would be very interested to hear if you do try any treatments for the red marks. Warmest wishes, -Catherine, Community ModeratorHi
, just wanted to check in and see how you are and how the redness is these days, as it's been a little while since we last spoke. Hope you're doing okay! Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator
