Diet taboos after photorejuvenation

There are only two types of diet that really need to be 100% strictly avoided after photorejuvenation - highly photosensitive foods and foods that can cause allergies. The rest of the "no spicy food, no soy sauce, no dark drinks" spread online are mostly empirical requirements without clear evidence-based basis, and the recommendations of different doctors will also differ based on clinical experience.

In the past few years, I have accompanied no less than ten of my friends to have photon treatment, and I also do it three times a year. I have seen so many people ask me not how high the energy should be before surgery, but whether they can eat hot pot and drink milk tea after surgery. It almost made the operating doctor laugh.

Let’s talk about the most troubling issue about eating spicy food. I accompanied my friend to have an ultrasound last month, and the dermatologist who performed the surgery on her made it clear that as long as your face doesn’t get red or rash after eating spicy food, and as long as you don’t sweat profusely and the blood vessels in your face continue to expand after the surgery, there is no need to deliberately avoid spicy food. She ate a bowl of spicy Chongqing noodles on the day after the operation. Except for her face feeling a little hot just after eating, the facial mask faded away after she applied it. Half a month later, there was no blackening or redness at all during the follow-up visit. But the attending doctor of another friend of mine with sensitive skin is a veteran expert in laser beauty for 20 years. He specifically told her not to use spicy food for three days after the operation. He said that her skin barrier is thin and capsaicin can easily aggravate redness by stimulating blood vessels. It may also induce post-inflammatory pigmentation. There is actually nothing wrong with either statement. The key is to look at your own skin background and don’t copy other people’s experiences.

But there is one thing that all doctors will unanimously ask to avoid, which is highly photosensitive foods. The furanocoumarins in this type of food can increase the skin's sensitivity to ultraviolet rays several times. Melanocytes are already more active after photon surgery. If you eat them and then get exposed to the sun, the probability of darkening will increase three to four times. I once met a little girl who went to a farmhouse with her family on the second day after the operation. She ate a large bowl of cold amaranth and walked on the field for two hours in the afternoon. She forgot to wear a hat and a mask. On the day she returned home, her face turned one degree darker, and she also had some small spots. It took three months of applying whitening essence to restore her skin. There are actually not many common photosensitive foods: wild vegetables such as gray cabbage, amaranth, and purslane, as well as highly photosensitive fruits such as lemons, pineapples, and mangoes. Try not to touch them within one week after the operation. If you really want to eat them, wait until evening to eat them. Just don’t run out in the sun after eating.

As for the "can't eat soy sauce and can't drink coke" that has been spread for many years, it is really an old rumor with no basis. Many people think that eating black things will make their skin darker. In fact, the melanin in soy sauce will be metabolized directly after entering the human body and will not be deposited in the skin at all. The synthesis of melanin is only related to the activity of tyrosinase and ultraviolet radiation, and has nothing to do with how much dark-brown food you eat. I drank iced Coke and ate braised food with a lot of soy sauce on the same day after I finished photon surgery last time, and I didn’t feel bad at all. There’s really no need to lose my mouth over this.

In fact, I have met so many people who have undergone photon surgery. Nine out of ten people who actually have problems after surgery are due to lack of sun protection, and the remaining one is due to eating photosensitive food and being exposed to the sun. The impact of diet on postoperative recovery is really not as big as everyone thinks. Don't keep a list of taboos every day. If you have time, it is better to buy two sun hats and two bottles of physical sunscreen. Don't let your face be directly exposed to the sun when going out. It is much more effective than avoiding eight or ten foods.

Of course, if you are really confused about whether you can eat something, just ask the doctor who operates it for you. After all, he knows your skin condition and the energy parameters he uses best, and is much more reliable than searching 800 conflicting answers online. In short, one sentence: don’t talk nonsense, don’t be a monster, just avoid the minefields, there is no need to pay so much attention.~