Post Efudex Treatment - The Easy Way

My derm asked me to use a mix of Vaseline, bacitracin, and hydrocortisone on my face until all redness and swelling and healing is accomplished.  

I am also using some of the advice on this page:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/burns-000021.htm

Including many habits that I do anyway, including multi-vitamins, lots of water and taking a body builders mix known as "Muscle Milk" which meets a lot of those nutritional requirements on that page.

I hate to compare myself against others but I believe that I am healing at a much faster rate that some of the photo blogs that are on the web.  I expect to be completely healed in about a week after finishing treatment.

 There are a few reasons for this. 

1. I always kept the skin moist during the treatment and didn't suffer the thick skin cracking and bleeding that others suffer.  

2. Scrubbing the skin with a washcloth allowed a new layer to be exposed to the medicine more often.  Think of scabs as being shields against the topical medicine.  It makes sense to get them out of the way.  Soaking in a bath and gently abrading them off is relatively painless.  You will find an optimum amount of force to remove what is removable and allow what should stay to stay.  

3.  Exercise that increases bloodflow. Healing nutrients are carried to the skin faster when metabolism is increased.  Even broken bones heal faster in a stationary leg when the other leg is exercised.  

This is something I learned from a study conducted at the Olympic training center. 

I think it's going well.  

Great post, Jeff. 

Would you happen to know what the "average" heal time is?  I'm anxiously awaiting that part of this regimen.

I am not aware of the average heal time but I can tell you I was worried when I saw these blogs and the effects:

 http://www.sannerud.com/people/efudex/index.html

 and

http://myefudex.com/1.html

Again, I think the gentle scrubbing, vaseline from hours 4-12, and shaving made the difference.

 Clearly, Celebrex made it worse and more irritated but I did see a whole new layer of lesions surface and die when I combined the 5FU and celecoxib.

Here is a photo of my forehead which was treated with Efudex for 21 days. 

http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003630338164441404

The small redspot in the middle is actually a spot caused most likely by the constantly oily surface.  I'm 45 years old and still get pimples like a teenager!  My mom got them into her 60s.

A larger view of the same photo

http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/41235/2003630338164441404_r

Yes, thank you.  The logic behind that is this:

Using the Efudex creates a situation that is something very much like a first degree burn.

A mix of those remedies will help in the recovery being less painful and less duration.

Hydration

Debridement (scrubbing)

Bacitracin 

I am doing all of these

• 
  Eat antioxidant foods, including fruits (such as blueberries, cherries,
  and tomatoes), and vegetables (such as squash and bell peppers).
  
• 
  Avoid refined foods, such as white breads, pastas, and sugar.
  
• 
  Eat fewer red meats and more lean meats, cold-water fish, tofu (soy) or beans for protein.
  
• 
  Use healthy cooking oils, such as olive oil or vegetable oil.
  
• Reduce or eliminate trans-fatty acids, found in commercially baked
  goods such as cookies, crackers, cakes, French fries, onion rings,
  donuts, processed foods, and margarine.
  
• 
  Avoid coffee and other stimulants, alcohol, and tobacco. (1 cup of coffee a day)
  
• 
  Drink 6 - 8 glasses of filtered water daily. (much more in my case!)
  
• 
  Exercise at least 30 minutes daily, 5 days a week. (much more!)
  

I am doing these 4 of the 10 suggested:

• A daily multivitamin, containing the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E,
  the B-complex vitamins and trace minerals such as magnesium, calcium,
  zinc, and selenium.
  
• Omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, 1 - 2 capsules or 1
  tablespoonful oil, one to two times daily, to help decrease
  inflammation, and for healing and immunity. Cold-water fish, such as
  salmon or halibut, are good sources, but taking the supplement is
  recommended.
  
• 
  Vitamin C, 500 - 1,000 mg, one to three times daily, as an antioxidant and for healing.
  
• Whey protein, 10 - 20 grams daily mixed in favorite beverage or as
  a smoothie (use soy or rice milk), twice daily, for support of immunity
  and weight gain.

How many days post treatment is your forehead photo?

Did you document your treatment?

Jeff, those pictures are pretty sobering.  I thought I was bad at day 8 - but it is clear that I have a long, long way to go.  Do you think those photos are the norm?  Was that bad for you too?

The only good thing is that we have this site to share this ordeal together - otherwise, I'm not sure that I would complete the process.  Jeff thanks for all the info, and for staying with us even though you are done with this.

4 full days.

I didn't document by photos because I couldn't find the charger for my camera until just a few days ago.

 That's a big benefit of Efudex, you get a lot of things done around the house. LOL

Always in,

I don't think anyone has to go through those extremes in the photoblogs.  I did look a bit like the bottom photo on myefudex.com for the last 5 days of my treatment.

I never got the large areas of thick scabbing though and I believe that was because of the consistent debridement (scrubbing) and perhaps the shaving that took it off in thinner layers but more often.

I think it makes a big difference to keep it moist with Vaseline when you're in the treatment.