IPL technology is employed in the treatment of medical disorders of the skin including:
In terms of rosacea, IPL offers one of the few effective treatments to relieve the facial redness associated with the disorder. Such treatment may be administered by a dermatologist or other medical specialist with experience treating skin disorders. This new technology incorporates 'dual mode filtering' and other important advances which result in safer and more effective treatment than older systems designed for hair removal.
The pulses of light produced by IPL equipment are very short in duration, so discomfort and damage to non-target tissues is minor. Most people who undergo IPL epilation only experience slight irritation similar to that of a minor sunburn though under certain circumstances, blisters may occur. Men undergoing the procedure experience greater discomfort as male body hair is generally thicker than women's.
Depending on the instrument settings and intensity, treating sensitive areas such as the chest and face can result in pain comparable to waxing the same areas; however this pain dissipates immediately. The light that emanates from the IPL wand is filtered to remove any ultraviolet components, eliminating the possibility of UV skin damage.
IPL's (Intense Pulsed Light) work more directly on the top layers of the skin and do not penetrate deep enough to damage hair germ cells, without potential damage to the epidermis.
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Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), is a technology aimed at producing light of high intensity during a very short period of time. It involves specific lamps together with capacitors whose rapid discharge provides the high energy required.
It is a method of hair removal from the body most commonly employed by medical practitioners and estheticians. It involves the use of a specially constructed xenon flash lamp and focusing optics.
IPL hair removal is cheaper and faster than laser hair removal. Although the precise effectiveness of IPL compared to Alexandrite and ND:YAG laser epilation is debated by scientists, equipment manufacturers and practitioners. Their results are generally accepted to be roughly equivalent, although it is accepted that IPL sometimes requires more treatments than laser treatments, which counters the argument of IPL being a cheaper treatment option for hair removal. IPL can also be used as a skin treatment in a process known as photorejuvenation.
Each session is somewhere between 3,000 to 6,000peso depending on the number of shots per treatment. Usually the dermatologist will assess patient first, then recommend a program of treatment, maybe once or twice a week, and then reassess after several treatments.
There are a large variety of medical lasers, each emitting a certain wavelength that have a different effect on skin. Each laser wavelength is attracted selectively to a particular substance on the skin. A particular laser wavelength can therefore target a particular problem on the skin, depending on what it is attracted to. Some wavelengths will be attracted to melanin (pigment), others to haemoglobin (blood), and others are attracted to the water in the skin. Each laser wavelength will also penetrate a different depth. Lasers that are attracted to melanin are used for the removal or reduction of excessive pigment such as freckles, sunspots, and brown birthmarks. Also because melanin is found in hair, these lasers are also used for laser hair removal.
What is selective photothermolysis? One of the benefits of laser treatment over other modalities of treatment (such as IPL) is the specificity of laser treatment. For example, to remove a brown spot in the skin, it may be possible to use liquid nitrogen to burn it off, however, by doing so, this will non-specifically affect the normal skin as well as the brown spot. Lasers are able to selectively treat the brown spot with minimal or no disruption to the normal skin. Lasers are able to specifically target a particular problem when the principles of selective photothermolysis are used.
Selective photothermolysis is the principle that allows lasers to be used to target a specific area/problem in the skin with minimal or no disruption to the surrounding normal skin. For selective photothermolysis to be successful, the following must occur (we will use the example of removing an unwanted blood vessel with laser to illustrate each point);
- The laser wavelength must be highly attracted to the target e.g 532nm laser wavelength is targeted to haemoglobin which is present in blood vessels
- The target must dissipate heat slower than the surrounding skin, and therefore accumulate heat from the laser e.g the blood vessel targeted by the 532nm wavelength will dissipate heat energy slower than the surround skin, therefore it accumulates heat and this causes it to shut down. The laser energy also must be applied to the target quickly enough for the target to heat up to a critical temperature.
- The laser wavelength must reach the target e.g the 532nm wavelength needs to be able to penetrate down to the level of the capillary it is targeting.
If the above criteria are satisfied, it is then possible for laser to specifically target a particular problem in the skin, whether it be a freckle, capillary, or excess hair, without damage to the normal skin.
Lasers have specific wavelengths to target a specific problem. The KTP laser, for example has a wavelength at 532 nanometres (nm) that targets melanin and haemoglobin. This makes it very specific to problems such as broken capillaries, rosacea, freckles, sunspots and pigmentation.
IPL is a broad spectrum of light that has a large band of wavelengths. Hence, it tends to target a number of problems simultaneously and not as selectively as laser. If for example, you are trying to selectively target capillaries, the broad band of light wavelengths emitted by IPL will target capillaries as well as other parts of the skin. The amount of energy delivered to the intended target will also be delivered to the unintended targets, and at times, cause unnecessary skin damage.
