ipl with dr crouch

[lucy_nic87]

hi guys
i had my first ipl with dr crouch today. i spent ages searching for others experiences before i decided to go ahead with treatment and thought it would be helpful to others to keep track of how things work out. i'll upload some before during and after photos too (once i get home and have my laptop). rosacea reared its head last november, flushing, redness and some p&ps. i had a nasty car accident in january and spent about 6 weeks in hospital. bizarrely my skin actually looked pretty great then, no idea why. it has been up and down since. my flushing is now under control with 30mg mirtazipine pm and 5mg bisoprolol am. ive actually not flushed since on these two meds about 3 weeks ago. ive also started finacea to help with p&ps but it is very early days with that. ive changed my diet and have been eating only gluten free bread, low sugar and plenty of water, veg and fruit. i cant really find any specific triggers other than alcohol. i use cetaphil to cleanse and dr nick lowes redness relief calming cream to moisturise. i also have tinted zinco for suncreen.
dr crouch said not to expect too much from my first treatment. he only treated my cheeks, 8 pulses each side, 3 passes. first pass 22 joules with 590 filter, second pass 24 joules with 615 filter and final pass 26 joules with 695 filter. it was a bit uncomfortable but not painful. i was super red after and my skin felt hot to the touch but i did not have any burning sensations. a few hours later the redness had subsided some and by this morning you can not tell i had any treatment yesterday. i have a few freckles and they have darkened like i was told to expect. they will eventually flake off. dr crouch does not prescribe the antibiotic any longer to prevent angiogenesis as he said the majority of his patients do not benefit from it. i stopped all supplements for a week prior other than a probitoic and milk thistle and have read that milk thistle has some anti-angiogenic properties so perhaps that might help. im thinking i might try some angiostop for the next ipl which is in 6 weeks time. i'll get some photos up tomorrow and report any changes over the next few days/weeks

[MARPUSBEAN]

Glad it went well.
Your comments about your accident, I am not surprised, every time I have been ill, during my many years of rosacea, I have not had problems with the rosacea, it does seem when there is another area of inflamation and trauma the rosacea subsides, bizzare but true!!

[Judworth]

Glad it went well.
Your comments about your accident, I am not surprised, every time I have been ill, during my many years of rosacea, I have not had problems with the rosacea, it does seem when there is another area of inflamation and trauma the rosacea subsides, bizzare but true!!

Yes! when I had a trapped nerve in my neck rosacea was quiet, also when I have flu it's quiet too!

Bizzare alright!

J

[lucy_nic87]

good point you make there marpesan about inflammation in other parts of the body. at the time i put it down to the amount of antibioitics and anti inflammatory meds i was on in hospital but who knows.
anyway heres some pics for anyone whos wondering about ipl or what you might look like straight after. the first 2 are pre ipl, then immediately after, the following day with a tiny amount of mineral powder you couldnt tell i had anything done. and a close up of my worst area 2 days after. it all settled down really quickly. dr crouch said i probably wouldnt see much clearance this time as the settings were pretty low as it was my first ipl

[lucy_nic87]

just wondered if anyone had any ideas about how long you should lay of exercise following ipl? i generaly flush when exercising so dont want to do something too soon before the process of absorbing and rebuilding new vessels has done its thing, but not sure how long to wait? its been 4 days since i had ipl and i havent flushed since so dont want to ruin it now!
any advice would be great! also when can i begin taking grapeseed extract?

[Mister88]

Congrats your face looks amazing.

Grape seed oils and extract what's that for?

I thought grapes are a trigger?


did dr crouch say to stay on finacea?

What other meds are u on for rosacea?

Also did dr crouch say ipl is close to a cure?

[lucy_nic87]

Congrats your face looks amazing.

Grape seed oils and extract what's that for?

I thought grapes are a trigger?


did dr crouch say to stay on finacea?

What other meds are u on for rosacea?

Also did dr crouch say ipl is close to a cure?

From what I've read grape street extract helps strengthen blood vessels. So not a good idea to take during ipl treatment but the rest of the time may be helpful. Yeah dr crouch said I could start using finacea again the day following treatment. I've found it's really helped with papules. I'm also on mirtazipone 30mg in the evening and 5mg bisoprolol in the morning. Since adding the beta blocker about 4 weeks ago I have not flushed once, and it used to be daily.
I have another treatment withdr crouch at the end of July. He said over two thirds of his patients are happy/very happy following 2-3 ipl treatments. And for those that ipl has no effect he then tries pulse due laser

[Mister88]

Interesting.

Where is he located?

[lucy_nic87]

Interesting.

Where is he located?

In Swindon he works from the burghley park clinic. Just google it if you want more info they have a website

[lucy_nic87]

2nd ipl with dr crouch

i had my 2nd ipl with dr crouch 2 weeks ago so thought id update this in case anyone is looking for information about what to expect.
my 2nd ipl was 6 weeks after my first, and i didnt really notice any improvement, but was told to expect this as the settings were low. dr crouch increased the joules by 2 on each pass this time around and also treated a bigger area, including my nose and down to my jawline. first time around it was mainly just my cheeks. it hurt a bit more this time and i was soooo red immediately after. it didnt help that i had it done on the hottest day of the year so i was pretty flushed before i went in. i have more redness on my left cheek than my right and asked if i would perhaps need treatment just on one side to even them out at least. dr crouch advised me that this wasnt neccessary, and that as there was more red there it would absorb more energy and should level out on its own. that would be great!!! but we will see.
i had more spots tha darkened this time and was redder than usual for 2 days but nothing major. i have been a bit more flushed this time around too which i wasnt the first time. i havent had any major full face flushes but have been waking up a bit red faced which doesnt usually happen. i guess 2 weeks is still relatively early days though right?
so 2 weeks later and a few of my feckles have sloughed off, my nose and right cheek are looking fine really its just my left cheek that is still a problem. ive read so many dfferent things about how long it takes for the damaged veins to be absorbed so im not sure whether to expect anymore improvement at this point or not. i have also been using tinted zinco with some mineral powder during the day and a hat when its particularly sunny. i have 2 more appts scheduled this year for my 3rd and 4th ipl one in october and the other in december so im hoping i can start the new year with clearer skin. i'll get some more photos up too in the next couple of days