IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) uses light photons to rejuvenate skin and is the world’s most popular skin rejuvenation treatment. In contrast to laser resurfacing, IPL does not injure the skin’s surface and has a much shorter recovery time. IPL primarily addresses the skin’s tone, texture and reduces the brown pigmentation and redness that create a dull, aged complexion. IPL is a treatment that delivers pulses of light to the targeted areas, such as brown pigment and red cells in the skin. The light is converted to heat energy, which fades those specific targets resulting in a more even, brighter complexion with less discolouration. People who have had IPL treatments once or twice a year over a decade have healthier more radiant skin with often less skin cancer than those who do not have treatments.

IPL is used on sun-damaged skin to even out a range of skin issues, such as skin discolouration, texture, pigmentation, distended capillaries, facial rosacea or redness and poikiloderma of Civatte. IPL will also complement other rejuvenation skin procedures such as laser resurfacing, skin needling, microdermabrasion and dermal fillers.

Most clients who have IPL, tolerate the treatment with minimal discomfort. The sensation of the treatment can be likened to the snapping of a few rubber bands at one time. For those who are sensitive, a numbing cream may be applied about 30 minutes prior to the treatment. This will reduce the discomfort by about 60-70%. The treatments are designed to work over multiple visits which may be from 1 -3 treatments over a couple of months. Most people will see improvement in the removal of capillaries and freckles within 2 weeks of their first treatment. Deeper redness and brown discolouration will take 2-3 treatments to see significant improvement.

For some people, the side effects of the IPL treatment may include swelling and redness of the treated area. This may last for a few days and up to a week in some cases. When darker brown pigmentation is treated, scattered brown crusts resembling dark coffee granules may occur and will take 7-12 days to slough off. A very important point to remember is that IPL treats what it sees at the time of treatment and does not prevent new discolouration from forming.

Following an IPL treatment, sunscreen is a must in order to reduce the occurrence of pigmentation and distended capillaries. Ten to fourteen days post-treatment it is advisable to attend the clinic for a deep exfoliation treatment such as microdermabrasion or Jet Peel. This is then followed by a hydrating infusion with either oxygen therapy or relaxing facial treatment. These post-treatments ensure the optimum result for the skin and any follow-up treatments can then be customized for the individual needs.

Intense Pulsed Light is a procedure rather than a relaxing treatment. The results of the IPL treatment will reveal a brighter, healthier complexion. When the prescribed home care products are used diligently morning and night this will enhance the results of the IPL treatment to reveal a healthy and definitely rejuvenated complexion.