Ultraviolet radiation from artificial light sources has been used by dermatologists for over 100 years and is widely used and effective for treating a number of skin conditions. Choice of ultraviolet B (UVB) over other forms of light treatment depends on a wide range of factors including age, disease, skin type, previous therapy and current medication. In Newcastle, we use the latest form of “narrow band” UVB in a new handheld lamp which can target selected areas of skin disease. This means that we can give higher doses of UVB to target areas without causing reddening (like sunburn) to surrounding skin, allowing faster improvement of your skin disease.
The aim of ultraviolet treatment is to clear your skin, although it will not be effective for everybody. It is difficult to know how long your skin will remain clear for after treatment, but it is likely that you will require further treatment in the future (either UVB or another treatment). Your doctor can discuss this with you. Most patients are not routinely followed up after successful treatment, but you can ask your GP to refer you back in the future if you require more treatment.
Are there any risks?
The most common side effects of this treatment are a sunburn-like reaction to exposed skin and increased pigmentation (tanning) in the treated area.
Conventional or broad band UVB is considered to be a relatively safe treatment, with no increased risk of skin cancer ever having been demonstrated. Narrow band UVB has only been widely used since the early 1990s, and therefore information on longer-term safety is not available. The 308nm excimer lamp is a new type of narrow-band UVB which emits light with the same wavelength as a laser and can achieve equal results.
We suspect that the narrow-band lamps may result in a small increase in skin cancer risk if treatment courses are given repeatedly over a number of years. However, narrow-band UVB is thought to be safer than PUVA (an alternative form of phototherapy involving a psoralen and ultraviolet A).
Your treatment
At the first visit, an arm test is performed on small patches of normal skin on your arm. This is read 24 hours later and tells us how sensitive your skin is to the treatment. It allows us to choose a safe but effective dose of UVB to start the course of treatment. At subsequent visits, the increase in dose depends on disease and skin response (or lack of response) after the previous treatments. Treatment will take only a few seconds to each area.
Ideally, you will not develop any discomfort with the treatment, or redness on surrounding skin. You must inform the nurse if you do so that the dose can be adjusted.
Treatment is given either twice a week on a Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday, or three times per week on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each area of your affected skin is treated individually, and takes up to a minute.
Treatment is expected to clear your skin (in the areas treated), and we anticipate that this will improve your quality of life. To monitor this, you will be asked to complete a quality of life form before your first treatment and at the end of the treatment course.
UVB is safe to use in pregnancy.
Do
- If you do not wish to wear the hospital gowns, you can bring your own
- Always remember to inform the doctor or nurse if you are taking, or about to start, any new medications (prescribed or otherwise) or cream while having UV therapy.
- Dry flaky skin will deflect the light, rendering UVB therapy ineffective. On UVB days, before treatment, use only Epaderm, Hydromol, Aqueous cream or Diprobase cream as a moisturiser. Use other treatment creams such as tar, steroid or Dovonex on non-treatment days only.
- In order to maximise the benefits of UVB regular and punctual attendance is essential.
Don’t
- Avoid fragrances and sunblocks before treatment unless you have been told otherwise.
- Never use a sunbed and keep sunlight exposure to a minimum during your course of treatment. Otherwise it is impossible to determine the cause and/or dose of burning. On bright days, protect treated areas from the sunlight, by wearing long sleeves, a hat etc. Sun block (SPF 30) can be used after treatment or on non-treatment days.
For further information
Contact
In case of any queries, please contact the phototherapy department by email or call ref=”Tel: 0191 282 0871″>0191 282 0871 or 0191 282 0872 between the hours of 7.30am – 4.45pm.
For urgent advice about this treatment out of hours, please ring ward 5 on 0191 282 5599.
Monday to Friday, 7.30am – 4.45pm
Please be advised that you will be discharged if you miss 3 appointments without notifying our department.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can offer on-the-spot advice and information about the NHS. You can contact them on freephone 0800 032 02 02 or e-mail [email protected]
Useful websites
If you would like further information about skin conditions and treatment options, you may wish to have a look at:
