Clown nose

About 5 years ago, I got a severe sunburn on my nose.  It was my own fault; I was at the beach and sat in the blazing sun without sunscreen.  My nose looked as though someone had held a match to it; it scabbed and eventually healed.  I thought that was the end of that.

Two years after the burned nose incident, one of my colleagues said, "What's going on with your red nose?"  Thank you, helpful and honest colleague.  I hadn't paid much attention to it, figuring whatever damage I had done was over.  Not so much.  A visit to the dermatologist confirmed sun damage.  He said, "You are fortunate that this isn't cancer."  

How does one treat sun damage such as I have?  I did some research (of course, I did; I'm a librarian).  The best approach to disappearing that red seems to be pulsed dye laser (see https://www.bcm.edu/healthcare/care-centers/dermatology/procedures/pulsed-dye-laser).  I had that done once.  Of course, it isn't covered by insurance and it can be very costly.  I had only my nose treated, and the treatment lasted about one minute.  $300.  Yipes!  After the treatment my nose looked like someone had punched it...hard.  The bruising was immediate and lasted about a week, but the redness decreased for a time.  Multiple treatments are needed to completely erase the redness.  

An alternative treatment is intense pulsed light (see https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/dermatology/specialty_areas/cosmetic/intense_pulsed_light.html).  Because the machine that emits this light is less costly, the treatment itself is too.  I've had three treatments, and will need a few more.  

For both laser alternatives, maintenance treatments are recommended to keep the redness at bay.  

Until I got my clown nose, I didn't realize how vain I was about my complexion.  I've never worn foundation, I just took my skin for granted.  No more!  And, although it's late in life to learn this lesson, I now preach the necessity of sunscreen.  I always got sunburn when I was growing up, but the burn turned to a lovely tan.  That lovely tan is not worth the damage done.  

Lesson learned, lecture complete.  

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