Home Phototherapy Q's

[TOVA N]

Hey all,

Does anyone have a great full-body phototherapy unit at home to recommend? I'm going insane trying to pick one from the following list: Daavlin, psoralite, ultralite, national biologics, and uvbiotech.

Is a votage of 220 better than 120?
Are 24 bulbs better than 16?
Is a folding unit not as effective as a round non-folding unit?
Does one manufactuer have better in home repair service than another?

Also, before I go into the UVB NB unit at my Dr's office i slather myself in moisturizer to make the scales transparent. The problem is some parts of my body refuse to be moisturized - the white scales remain white even after moisturization.

Any advice/input is greatly appreciated!!

THANKS,

Tova

[chaimFL]

Hey there Tova, welcome aboard!

I have a home UVB unit that I bought used since my insurance was not willing to pay. Mine is a simple flat panel, but it did the trick of clearing my skin.

My unit is National Biological and the one down side they have is that you can only use it for a certain amount of exposures before you need to call and get a code to enter from your doctor. National Biological will send the code book to your doctor and I guess it's a safety feature of some sort. If your doctor is a real nice guy (or gal) maybe he/she will give you the code book so you can do it yourself without having to make the phone call.

My unit is also a 120 volt, which I prefer so I can pretty much keep where I want without worrying about getting an electrician out to change to outlets.

I would bet that a folding unit works just as well as a wrap around unit it just boils down to how much you are willing to spend and if you mind rotating front to back or just want one exposure and you're done for the day.

[misales]

Do your research and you will find whats best for you. I have a Daavlin 8 bulb panel. It has 4 in the panel and 2 in each door that folds out. It is very compact and fits in my bedroom. It's 110v and narrowband. I'm pretty strong and can move the thing bymyself if I need to or on a wheeler. It looks good and was paid for mostly by my insurance. It does not require a code and also has dosemitry where I can control time and power (millijoules).

It does a good job and I have been happy with it.

The bigger units are really nice, hop in and hop out. I used this type at the derms. It was a daavlin too. If you got the cash or your insurance is going to buy it a full surround is great. If you're planning on moving it might not be fun to move and if it takes 220 it means it has a lot of power.

If you haven't done a course of phototherapy at the derms, I would suggest that you invest in that first to make sure you like the therapy and that it is effective for you.

The bulbs used are very specific and quite honestly all the manufactures use the exact same bulbs. They just manufacture different appliances.

[TOVA N]

Thanks for the info, guys. I'm gonna look into it pretty hard - it still seems pretty confusing to me.

~Tova

[chaimFL]

Tova,

I think you'll find that all the narrowband UVB units are good and your results will vary minimally between the various brands and set ups.

Chaim

[Resist]

Is a votage of 220 better than 120?
Are 24 bulbs better than 16?
Is a folding unit not as effective as a round non-folding unit?
Does one manufactuer have better in home repair service than another?
More lights generally cover you better requiring less time using the unit. More lights also need more juice and the reason for 220. A folding unit is just as good as a round unit. It just provides you with more room in your house. Like with any business, some manufactures have better repair and warranty contracts. You just have to shop around.

[PJ Leary]

Hi Tova,

I am sorry to get to your question a bit late. I was tied up.

I've been a home UVB patient for more than 13 years. I have a BB unit from National Biologic. It works great. Still.

You asked about de-scaling before treatment, which nobody has yet addressed. As you note, it is important in increasing efficacy of treatment. What many of us do is to use a Sal-acid treatment at bedtime and let the chemicals de-scale. Then, shower in the morning, and before applying any topicals, just towel off and do your light treatment. Follow that with your topical regimine and you will find maximum benefit.

If you cannot tolerate a sal-acid type of medication, which Mikek has posted numerous links to, there are alternative OTC meds which will accomplish the same. Just let us know.

Regards,

PJ Leary
Founder of NCPEAS

[chaimFL]

......If you cannot tolerate a sal-acid type of medication, which Mikek has posted numerous links to, there are alternative OTC meds which will accomplish the same. Just let us know.

Regards,

PJ Leary
Founder of NCPEAS

A good replacement is simple mineral oil. Mineral oil will also help make the plaques "transparent" and let the UV rays penetrate better. I started using mineral oil from Edr's advise and saw a better response than before I used it.

[MikeK]

You asked about de-scaling before treatment, which nobody has yet addressed. As you note, it is important in increasing efficacy of treatment. What many of us do is to use a Sal-acid treatment at bedtime and let the chemicals de-scale. Then, shower in the morning, and before applying any topicals, just towel off and do your light treatment. Follow that with your topical regimine and you will find maximum benefit.

If you cannot tolerate a sal-acid type of medication, which Mikek has posted numerous links to, there are alternative OTC meds which will accomplish the same. Just let us know.MG217 (www.mg217.com) makes both a lotion and an ointment that has salicylic acid in them. Here in New Jersey the lotion seems to be available by special order only. I can sometimes find the salicylic acid ointment at Walgreens. Dermarest (www.dermarest.com) makes a moisturizer that has salicylic acid in it. I once burnt myself when I got a little too overzealous with MG217 ointment. (I used it several times a day for several days in a row.) I still use and like it. (I put some on last night.) I'm just a little more careful. According to the NPF's discussion of Dovonex, Dovonex should not be used at the same time as Dovonex because it can actually deactivate Dovonex. Here's a link: http://www.psoriasis.org/treatment/psoriasis/topicals/dovonex.php the information about salicylic acid and Dovonex is towards the end of the discussion.

I hope this helps.

Good luck. Keep us posted and please don't be a stranger.

Mike

[lenraphaelcpa]

am about to chose between daavlin and psoralite full body, dosimeter, but other than 120 vs 220 and slight dimension variations, diff seems to be that psoralite only makes dosimeter units, and daavlin several years ago seems to have had fda warning letters. daavlin seems to target lower upper price range home market and upper end dr office, psoralite aims at middle range dr office, and upper range of home market.

am interested in construction quality, ease of dosimeter controls. noise levels.

[RichJ]

hi lenraphaelcpa,
welcome to the p family. you have meet some of the wonderful people on here and will find alot of great info. welcome and nices to meet you.

have a good a day all

richard