THE INDICATIONS
Sun damage
Uneven skin tone
Freckles and flat brown spots
Brown skin discolorations including
Benign red lesions including:
THE SCIENCE
An IPL system is a broadband light device emitting wavelengths from 515 to 1200nm
An integrated real time chiller provides skin surface cooling before, during and after each light pulse, permitting higher energy fluences to reach target tissue safely and more effectively.
Multiple wavelengths interact simultaneously with multiple targets, basically photocoagulating the abnormal red and brown pigments, leaving the normal skin color intact.
The Palomar IPL is a star among broadband light devices.
THE TREATMENT
The skin is cleansed and the eyes protected
A thin layer of refrigerated coupling gel is applied to the entire treatment area to facilitate light transmission.
The chilled sapphire tip is systematically moved over the entire field delivering pulses of light into the skin.
These feel like a prickly heat sensation immediately followed by a cool sensation.
There generally is no real down time following IPL treatments.
Darker spots will turn darker immediately and flake off within a week.
Small spider veins usually shrink within days. Larger vessels may darken as a result of blood coagulation. This also disappears within a week and can be covered up
Treatments are undertaken as a series of 3 to 5, a month apart. Each session takes about 20 to 30 minutes.
*The best results are obtained when combined with other modalities such as microneedling or microchanneling.
IPL therapy uses more than one wavelength of pulsating (alternating) light, whereas traditional lasers use a single beam. Lasers often target one skin issue, such as dark spots, but IPL therapy can address multiple skin concerns at once.
IPL therapy can remediate wrinkles, visible sun damage, birthmarks, dark spots, acne, freckles, rosacea, broken blood vessels, scarring, and even unwanted hair. That means this procedure usually makes someone look younger in a relatively short period of time.
IPL therapy is not ideal for people with skin cancer or those who are sensitive to light. Additionally, anyone who has recently tanned (by sitting in the sun, applying tanning lotions, or using tanning beds) or has severe scarring is not a good fit for IPL therapy.
IPL therapy is a long-lasting solution for hair removal that is considered more effective than laser therapy. This is because IPL not only assists in removing hair, but it also reduces hair growth in the areas where it is performed.
