Cortisone Injection vs V-Beam

Cortisone Injection: A tiny shot of diluted steroid into one inflamed acne cyst. It flattens that spot in a few days. It treats the bump, not the acne.

V-Beam: A laser tuned to the color of blood. It fades facial redness, broken vessels, rosacea flushing, port-wine stain birthmarks and some red scars. The thing to plan around is whether your settings will bruise the skin or not.

Reviewed by Dr. Schwarz, Board-Certified Dermatologist
Last updated: 10/22/2026

Editorial illustration for Cortisone Injection, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.

Editorial illustration for V-Beam, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.

Choose if Key differences What is it?What it treats Treatment areas Skin tones How it works Before your treatment Day of treatment After your treatment Risks Cost Questions Related

Choose Cortisone Injection if…

Choose for one painful acne cyst that needs to flatten fast, or for keloids and patchy hair loss.

A single painful cyst before an event
A raised keloid
A patch of alopecia areata

Choose V-Beam if…

Choose for facial redness, broken vessels, port-wine stains or red scars — plan around whether your settings will bruise.

Persistent rosacea redness or visible vessels
A port-wine birthmark
You can plan around possible bruising

Often combined

Can you have both?

For red, raised scars, V-Beam and cortisone injections are often paired: the laser fades the redness, the injection flattens the scar.

Key differences

● Cortisone Injection

● V-Beam

DowntimeNone → 2+ weeks

None

1–2 days

PainMinimal → Needs anesthesia or sedation

Mild

Results showImmediately → 3+ months

Within days

1–4 weeks

How long it lastsWeeks → Years or permanent

Weeks

1–2 years

Visits neededOne → Every few months

Every few months

A longer series (4–6+)

Cost per visit$ → $$$$$

ReversibleYes, can be undone → No, permanent

No, permanent

No, fades slowly

What is it?

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

What is it?

It is injected into a lesion.

An intralesional steroid calms local inflammation or scarring.

It differs from joint injections.

It is not a systemic steroid treatment.

The diagnosis matters.

Infected or uncertain lesions should not be injected.

Side effects can last.

Skin thinning, fat loss and pigment change may persist.

It is a vascular laser.

Brief pulses of visible light are absorbed by hemoglobin in blood vessels.

It treats redness and vessels.

It is used for vascular lesions, persistent redness and some red scars.

Redness has many causes.

The diagnosis should be confirmed first.

Recent tanning matters.

Prior pigment changes, scarring and tanning affect safety.

What it treats

Evidence level

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

Strong evidenceMost established uses

Acne

Flattens a painful cyst within days.

A raised, smooth, firm scar on the upper chest on light skin. It is shiny pink-red and hairless, and its edges spread well past the small mark it grew from.

Keloids

Softens and flattens raised scars.

Alopecia Areata

Regrows hair in patches.

Redness and fine superficial vessels across a light-skinned cheek and nose.

Rosacea

Reduces redness and vessels.

Port-Wine Stains

The standard treatment.

Spider Veins

Clears facial vessels.

Moderate evidenceSome supportive research

A smooth, dome-shaped lump about two centimetres across on the upper back on pale skin, with a tiny dark pore at its center and faintly pink skin over it.

Epidermal Inclusion Cyst

Calms an inflamed cyst.

Post-Inflammatory Redness

Fades red marks.

Keloids

Reduces redness and itch.

Little evidence

—

Sun Spots

Other lasers work better.

Not effective

dark keratin plugs in dilated pores on the nose and adjacent left cheek, with the face turned to the person’s right on light skin.

Blackheads

Not for clogged pores.

Flat tan patches with soft irregular edges across the forehead and upper cheek of an adult with light skin, the surface completely smooth.

Melasma

Doesn't target pigment.

Can make it worse

Acne Scarring

Can cause dents in skin.

—

Treatment areas

The specific lesion, scar or affected patch determines the treatment site; there is no fixed body distribution.

Face, neck and chest; the selected vessels or lesions determine the treatment field.

Skin tones

Skin tone

● Cortisone Injection

● V-Beam

Lighter skin

Low risk

A small dent is possible.

Low risk

Bruising with stronger settings.

Medium skin

Some risk

Lighter patches can show.

Some risk

Temporary darkening possible.

Deeper skin

Some risk

Lightening and dents are more visible; low doses help.

Some risk

Skin pigment competes for the light; conservative settings and experience matter.

How it works

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

How it works

Cortisone Injection mechanism diagram. Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.

V-Beam mechanism diagram. Light reaches the vessel: Pulsed dye laser light enters the treatment area. Blood absorbs the light: Hemoglobin absorbs energy, producing localized heat. Treated vessels fade: Controlled vessel injury can reduce visible redness over time.

Diagram explanation

Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Light reaches the vessel: Pulsed dye laser light enters the treatment area. Blood absorbs the light: Hemoglobin absorbs energy, producing localized heat. Treated vessels fade: Controlled vessel injury can reduce visible redness over time.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Before your treatment

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

2–4 weeks before

Not specified

4 weeks before: Sun and tanning: Avoid sun, sunbeds and self-tanner on the area.

Before you book: Events: If bruising would be a problem, say so before the first pulse — it changes the settings.

The week before

Do not pick: Do not pick, squeeze or heat the spot.

Actives and hair removal: Stop retinoids, benzoyl peroxide and exfoliating acids 3 to 5 days before.

Actives and hair removal: Stop waxing, threading and hair removal creams.

Day of treatment

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

Before you arrive

Clean skin: Wash your face and skip makeup on the area.

Clean skin: Clean skin, no makeup.

Arrival & prep

The provider checks that the spot is an inflamed acne cyst and not a boil.

Skin is cleaned and photos usually taken.

Treatment

The skin is wiped with alcohol.

A very fine needle goes just into the bump and a small amount of fluid goes in, under 10 seconds per spot. The sting is sharp for a few seconds, worse if the cyst is already tender, but most people rate it lower than they expect. Numbing does not help much — the needle stick is the whole procedure.

You wear opaque eye shields, with metal shields under the eyelid near the eye.

The handpiece fires overlapping pulses, each preceded by cold gas, with a snapping sound and a smell of cold. Nose and cheeks take a few minutes, a full face 10 to 20 minutes. Each pulse is like a hot rubber band snapped on the skin: sharp, brief, worst on the nose and upper lip.

Before you leave

A tiny red dot, sometimes a small raised bleb that flattens within an hour.

Warm, red and slightly swollen, like mild sunburn.

After your treatment

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

First 24 hours

Days 1 to 2: The bump softens and the ache fades.

Days 1 to 3: Swelling is worst the morning after and settles over two to three days, with cheeks and under-eyes puffing most.

Days 2–7

First few days: A pinprick mark, sometimes a small bruise, fading over a few days.

Days 3 to 7: Most cysts are flat.

Days 3 to 14: Purple turns brown, then green, then yellow, then goes.

Weeks 2–4

Not specified

Weeks 2 to 8: Once the bruise clears, the change from the session becomes visible.

Time to results

24–48 hours for a cyst

1–4 weeks per session

How long results last

Treats only that spot

Months to years; new vessels can form

Risks

Dent in the skin
Lighter patch of skin
Visible small vessels

Most of what happens after a pulsed dye laser is expected
Dark patches
Light patches
Crusting or a blister
Swelling that is not settling
A cold sore outbreak

Cost

Per session

Roughly $50 to $250 per office visit in the US, usually billed as an office visit plus a procedure charge rather than per spot.

In the US, a pulsed dye laser session for the face usually runs $300 to $700, and small single-area treatments such as one cherry angioma or a few nose vessels can be less.

Insurance

Insurance often covers it, since acne cysts count as medical rather than cosmetic.

Insurance almost never covers laser treatment of rosacea redness or facial vessels — it is classified as cosmetic.

Questions

Cortisone Injection

V-Beam

Individual Questions

How fast does a cortisone shot work on a cyst?

Softening begins within 24 to 48 hours and most spots are flat by day three to five. That figure traces back to one small 1983 trial — it matches what dermatologists see but has never been tested at scale. The mark left behind takes weeks longer, and the injection does not speed that up.

Will it leave a dent?

It can. A shallow depression happens when the dose is too strong, so a lower concentration is the main protection. It is uncommon — most dermatologists see it in well under one patient in a hundred — and it often fills in over several months. But it is not reliably temporary. About half the clinicians who do see it report it lasting more than six months, and occasionally it is permanent. That is why you ask what concentration is being used.

Can I get one before an event?

Yes, the most common reason people ask. Aim for three to five days ahead so the swelling has time to drop. A same-day injection rarely looks better by that evening.

Does it stop acne from coming back?

No. It treats only the spot it is injected into. Preventing the next cyst needs a daily treatment plan, and the guidelines call this an add-on.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

Yes. The risk is a lighter patch at the site, more noticeable and slower to fade on deeper skin tones. A lower concentration reduces it, so ask.

Is this approved for acne?

Not in the United States, strictly speaking. The FDA labeling lists intralesional use for keloids, alopecia areata, discoid lupus and others. Acne is not on it. Off-label use for an acne cyst is routine, legal and recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology, but almost nobody says it out loud. In the UK, NICE withdrew its recommendation in 2026 after UK-licensed triamcinolone injections stopped being available — a supply and licensing decision, not a safety one.

Will I have a bruise?

Only if the laser is set to give you one. Purpuric settings burst the vessel and leave a purple bruise for 7 to 14 days, and generally clear more per session. Non-purpuric settings leave you pink and slightly swollen for a day or two and need more sessions. Decide before the first pulse.

Does it treat rosacea?

It treats part of it. Visible vessels and the background flush respond well. The bumps and pus spots do not, and those need creams or tablets. Most people with rosacea use both.

How many sessions will I need?

For facial redness, usually 3 to 5, spaced 4 to 8 weeks apart, then a top-up every year or two. A few isolated broken vessels may need only one or two. Port-wine stains take many more, over years.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

It is used on deeper skin tones, with lower energy, longer pulses and more cooling, often with a test spot first. The risk of a light or dark patch is higher than on fair skin, so many providers choose a 1064 nm Nd:YAG instead, because that wavelength is absorbed much less by pigment.

Will the redness come back?

Usually, gradually. The laser clears the vessels that are there; it does not stop new ones forming or change the rosacea underneath. Most people return for maintenance every one to two years, and sunscreen and prescription creams stretch that out.

Does it help brown marks or melasma?

No. This wavelength is aimed at blood, not pigment. Melasma can even be provoked by heat and light, so if pigment is your main concern this is the wrong device.

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