Photo therapy
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Photo therapy
So my wife has been battling eczema/dermatitis for almost 2 years and has not had great results. Her first dermatologist prescribed her Otezla for plaque psoriasis and after 6 months her condition was only slightly improved. The doc then took a sample of my wifes skin and as it turned out she didnt have plaque psoriasis. There was 6+ months wasted.
So then my wife found an allergist (this doc worked at the Mayo clinic so we were hopeful) and she put her on a steroid and an antibiotic. The antibiotic was for infected eczema my wife had on her hands and her hands cleared up in just a week, however the rest of her body still has what appears to be dermatitis and she is still on an oral steroid . Her new allergist has become frustrated because she felt like my wife should have completely cleared up by now, so she referred my wife to a dermatologist ( the doc wanted my wife's skin biopsied by the new dermatologist) and so my wife went and found it to be a waste of time. The dermatologist did not do a biopsy and my wife left $60 lighter wondering what the point of the visit was. The dermatologist told my wife that she needed photo therapy twice weekly. Good nessonly knows what that will cost. This issue has been fairly expensive with very little results. The only people that seem even slightly competent are out of our network so we receive a steady stream of bills in the mail, all for not really doing us much good. Aint the American health care system great!
So is the photo therapy a good idea? They havent even really diagnosed her, just moved straight to the therapy. I get the feeling this is about making the doctors Mercedes payments more than trying to heal my wife.
Signed frustrated in Dallas
So then my wife found an allergist (this doc worked at the Mayo clinic so we were hopeful) and she put her on a steroid and an antibiotic. The antibiotic was for infected eczema my wife had on her hands and her hands cleared up in just a week, however the rest of her body still has what appears to be dermatitis and she is still on an oral steroid . Her new allergist has become frustrated because she felt like my wife should have completely cleared up by now, so she referred my wife to a dermatologist ( the doc wanted my wife's skin biopsied by the new dermatologist) and so my wife went and found it to be a waste of time. The dermatologist did not do a biopsy and my wife left $60 lighter wondering what the point of the visit was. The dermatologist told my wife that she needed photo therapy twice weekly. Good nessonly knows what that will cost. This issue has been fairly expensive with very little results. The only people that seem even slightly competent are out of our network so we receive a steady stream of bills in the mail, all for not really doing us much good. Aint the American health care system great!
So is the photo therapy a good idea? They havent even really diagnosed her, just moved straight to the therapy. I get the feeling this is about making the doctors Mercedes payments more than trying to heal my wife.
Signed frustrated in Dallas
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Re: Photo therapy
Hi there,
Oh goodness, it sounds like a very frustrating situation you and your wife are going through at the moment!
I will reach out to our wider community to see if any of our members can share their advice and experiences with phototherapy and I'd also recommend taking a look at our eczema hub here: https://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/talkeczema. You can find out more about phototherapy and specifically how it used in the treatment of eczema here: https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/treat ... totherapy/.
Do keep us updated with how it's going and I very much hope your wife starts to see some improvements soon.
Sally
Community Manager
Oh goodness, it sounds like a very frustrating situation you and your wife are going through at the moment!
I will reach out to our wider community to see if any of our members can share their advice and experiences with phototherapy and I'd also recommend taking a look at our eczema hub here: https://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/talkeczema. You can find out more about phototherapy and specifically how it used in the treatment of eczema here: https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/treat ... totherapy/.
Do keep us updated with how it's going and I very much hope your wife starts to see some improvements soon.
Sally
Community Manager
Re: Photo therapy
I have eczema and it's not getting any better. I needed to learn more once I walked away from the doctor's office so I started looking for apps and then came across this wonderful app (eczematracker.com) that helped me to keep track of my eczema flare-ups. It might prove useful to you as well.
Re: Photo therapy
Thank you for the replies, very helpful.