Mrs K Higgins

Mrs K Higgins, Rotherham

Age 30

I have had UVB light treatment a few times in the past but always administered by the hospital. On this occasion when my psoriasis flared due to the timescales involved with hospital treatment I decided to look into the possibility of home treatment. After a short search on the internet, I came across Anytime Sunbeds who’s units appeared to have the Philips TL01 tube which is used for light treatment in hospitals. Still, I was a little sceptical but decided to give it a go as they could deliver a unit to me straight away. I booked a unit for 7 weeks and within a few days, the unit was delivered.

The canopy was very easy to use and the user demonstration very thorough. I was advised to commence treatment times at the lowest time of 15 seconds and build up treatment times slowly. As I have pale skin and burn easily I started my treatment time at 10 seconds, having 3 treatments a week leaving at least 24 hours between treatments, although at the start of my treatments I proceeded with caution and left 48 hours because of my pale skin. I gradually built up treatments to a maximum of 50 seconds and found this was the maximum tolerance for my skin. Light treatment does dry your skin out so it is important to moisturise after each session.

I didn’t see much difference in the first two weeks but that is normal for light treatment, which I was aware of through my hospital treatments. It’s VERY important to build up the usage of the lamp and NOT overdo it as I can confirm the bulbs are very strong and the last thing you want to do is to burn yourself. Take your time and build up slowly, rushing things you risk the chance of burning and a setback in your treatment. After 2/3 weeks I started to see results.

Overall I was really impressed with the unit and the results. Hospital UVB treatment was in a booth rather than a sunbed canopy so it was slightly more effective because you could treat everywhere at once. However, not having to wait months and months to get treatment at a hospital was absolutely amazing. As was not having to go to the hospital up to three times a week. The convenience and speed of receiving the treatment at home were, without question, so much better.

The actual strength of the UVB lamp seemed to be the same but as the hospital treatment is via a booth rather than a sunbed, it meant slightly better distribution of the treatment all around the body. However, it was only a slight difference though and certainly did not outweigh the benefits of using a UVB lamp at home. The major factor was the timescale – using the lamp at home meant my psoriasis had gone weeks before even getting an appointment for light therapy in the hospital!