nycdiarist: finally, a v-neck

Friday, August 6, 2021

finally, a v-neck

I have always loved the sun. Or more specifically, getting tan.

We all now know, if we didn't then, that baking in the sun is not a good idea for lots of reasons.

Over many summers, my chest has become mottled. It does not look good. And for years, I've avoided V-necks.

Recently while at the dermatologist (whom I've been seeing for years and love), Dr. Rhonda Pomerantz tells me that I'd be a good candidate for IPL — Intense Pulsed Light. It's used for skin pigmentation sun damage, and according to Wikipedia, "the technology uses a high-powered, hand-held, computer-controlled flashgun to deliver an intense, visible, broad-spectrum pulse of

On March 9, I go for my first of two treatments.

I am excited to improve this bad look.

I'm told that the process will be uncomfortable, and afterwards I'll be red. But over time, the dark spots will slowly lighten.

The process begins.

Instead of using the word uncomfortable, perhaps a better description would have gone like this:

"It'll feel like you are being slowly tortured with lit cigarettes all over your chest."

It is brutal.

And every few minutes I need to take a short break.

The whole process probably takes about 15 minutes, if that. But it feels like hours.

Though it looks horribly painful, as soon as it's over —and for the days and weeks following —there is zero discomfort.

Now that I know what it feels like, I am dreading the second treatment a few weeks later. But on April 14 I return.

Same procedure as last time.

Protective goggles and some gel goop on my chest.

But this time, quite by accident, I am talking to Dr. Pomerantz the whole way through. And the simple distraction of talking makes this time much less painful than the first.

And, Dr. Pomerantz later tells me, she had increased the intensity level of the pulses.