The length of time varies from patient to patient and between conditions. Typically psoriasis patients will see much faster results than vitiligo patients. The most important thing is to be consistent with your treatments, and to follow your doctor’s treatment plan.

It is important to know that some topicals may actually hinder treatment. For example, some lotions contain UV absorbing ingredients similar to those used in sunscreens and may block much of the benefit of phototherapy treatment.

Other topicals and medications may photosensitize your skin. Watch out for lotions containing photosensitizing agents or essential oils such as lime, lemon, or orange. Such ingredients could cause an unexpected erythemal reaction when exposed to the ultraviolet energy delivered during a phototherapy treatment. In addition, coal tar, psoralens, and retinoids will consistently photosensitive your skin to UV light.  For a detailed list of photosensitizers, visit this link: https://www.daavlin.com/dont-see-red-know-these-photosensitizers/. We recommend speaking with your doctor about topicals and medications that may impact your phototherapy treatments.

Occasional or temporary redness may be normal if it resolves by the next treatment time. If your redness is sustained, ask your doctor if you should reduce your treatment times.

It’s usually best to keep uninvolved skin covered with clothing or sunscreen during your treatments, but follow your doctor’s advice. The most important thing about covering “healthy” skin is to be consistent, and always use the same covering techniques for each treatment. (External genitalia should be covered during PUVA therapy.)

With a dosimetry machine, there is no real advantage to allowing your machine to warm up first. In situations where a machine is kept in a very cold environment such as a garage, a 5-minute warmup may allow faster treatment times.

Every device has a different level of therapeutic output. Follow your doctor’s directions for dosing advice. If you have questions about how to program your machine to deliver the doses your doctor provides, please contact technical support.

Choose a dry, enclosed room where others will not be exposed to the light. Optimum treatment times and lamp life will occur when the machine is kept in a room temperature area that is neither extremely hot nor cold.

If you no longer use or want your unit, you may dispose of it locally.

Lamp Disposal
Daavlin recommends that UV lamps, which contain mercury, be recycled in compliance with your local
regulations, and not left in the device due to the risk of harm to others. If you are not sure how to dispose of your device’s lamps, please contact your local waste/recycling service and ask them about fluorescent lamp recycling in your area.

Device Disposal
Daavlin CANNOT purchase or resell used devices due to regulatory restrictions. Customers who no
longer wish to use their phototherapy device may dispose of it on their own (with the lamps removed) through
a local scrap metal dealer/recycler or return it to Daavlin for disposal.

To return your device to Daavlin:

1. Notify the technical support (800-DAAVLIN) that you are returning your device for disposal. Be prepared to provide the device’s serial number. Customers are responsible for shipping costs.
2. Write "FOR DISPOSAL" on the outside of your return unit’s container.

Note: Daavlin cannot facilitate the sale or donation of a used phototherapy unit.

Please have your doctor call Daavlin's FlexRx refill hotline at (419) 636-6304 x300 to request additional exposures for your phototherapy device. Your doctor will be provided with an updated code to enter into your device.

You can find the output of your device on the yellow Calibration/Output Certification that was included with your device. The output information is located under the "calibration/output data" section on the certificate.

If you have a DermaPal, your device's output can be found in the device manual.