IPL Photo Rejuventation: For Perfect Celebrity Skin

What is IPL photo reju­ve­na­tion treatment?

IPLs have been around since the 1960s, and their use ranges from treat­ing pig­mented and vas­cu­lar lesions to hair removal. IPL or Intense Pulsed Light is like a laser but works with mul­ti­ple wave­lengths instead of just one. Lasers by def­i­n­i­tion are sin­gle wave­lengths devises, like the red light that comes out of your laser pointer.  IPLs are more like a flash­light with a full range of wave­lengths of light.  The term “photo reju­ve­na­tion” is a catch-all term that can cover just about any light based pro­ce­dure that is used to make you look younger.

IPL is a non-invasive treat­ment that can treat skin with dis­rupt­ing the skin’s sur­face, hence, the “no down time”. Depending on the sym­toms to be treated, it may take sev­eral treat­ments, usu­ally four to six are nec­es­sary and are per­formed three to four weeks apart.  More aggres­sive IPL treat­ments at higher power lev­els are avail­able that pro­duce some tem­po­rary crust­ing and/or bruis­ing of the skin.

In prepa­ra­tion for a treat­ment, you must not be tan on the treated areas, avoid­ing self-tanners for at least two weeks prior to your appoint­ment.  And, the areas must be clean and free of make-up.  After the IPL, your skin will appear red for sev­eral hours.  And you may also develop a brown, freck­led appear­ance like “cof­fee grinds”. The advan­tages of the IPL are that it doesn’t require a local anes­thetic due to min­i­mal pain and a larger area can be treated at one time.  The dis­ad­van­tages are that it takes a lot longer to take effect, approx­i­mately 4–6 treatments.

IPL Pros:

• Very good at decreas­ing brown pig­ment like sun spots for peo­ple with light or fair skin
• Good for gen­er­al­ize red­ness like that of Rosacea
• Treatment are nor­mally mod­est in price (about $300-$500 for a full face per ses­sion and it takes 4–6 ses­sions for the full effect)
• Limited down time: brown spots turn darker until they break-up after about 10–14 days
• Doesn’t require a local anes­thetic due to min­i­mal pain

IPL Cons:

• It can takes a few treat­ments to take effect, approx­i­mately 4–6 treatments

Does IPL work?

With an expe­ri­enced der­ma­tol­o­gist or med­ical spa, IPL can be effec­tive on patients with pig­mented age spots and/or redness.

How much does IPL cost?

About $300-$500 for a full face per ses­sion and it takes 4–6 ses­sions for the full effect

Can I do IPL at home?

Depending on what you want to be treated. Recently, prod­ucts have been invented to take the power of the der­ma­tol­o­gist clinic laser into the the home for at home, weekly treat­ments.  Think of this as mini ver­sions of der­ma­tol­o­gist treat­ment bro­ken up into tiny, at home treat­ment snacks.

One such prod­uct is the Claro SX. It also comes in a more pow­er­ful ver­sion that needs a pre­scrip­tion. Check out our review here and their web­page here.