IPL Guide

What is IPL?

IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) is a non-invasive skin treatment that emits powerful bursts of light energy to treat sun-damaged skin, wrinkles, and unwanted hair growth without damaging the surface of your skin. IPL is often marketed as a lunchtime treatment.

The idea is that after a short session you should be able to return to work, with no downtime, bruises, or special after-care. However, real experience of those who've tried IPL, including a testimonial by a RealSelf member, suggests that in some cases IPL can cause redness and scabs. Additionally, sun exposure is not a great idea after an IPL treatment.

Make sure you go to a highly reputable dermatologist or IPL operator. Poorly trained IPL device operators are more likely to make a mistake that can lead to burns or less satisfactory results.

IPL Treatment

The IPL device can generate light energy at various frequencies in order to treat these different skin problems. For this reason, many dermatologists indicate that they prefer IPL over laser therapy. Certain frequencies destroy dark skin regions, while other frequencies will increase the melanin in your skin to re-pigment skin.

IPL can encourage new collagen growth (that causes wrinkles to diminish in appearance), remove age spots or brown spots, and decrease skin redness. Researchers at Brown University found that IPL is also highly effective at removing visible signs of birthmarks and facial lesions.

Most IPL units have a hand-held wand so the dermatologist can deliver short energy pulses to a small area of skin. During your session you'll wear protective goggles as if you were headed to a tanning bed. The area of your skin that's being treated is then covered in a gel, and the wand will be pressed against your skin. The IPL unit emits light energy pulses that get absorbed by your skin without damaging nearby healthy skin tissue. Most treatments last less than 30 minutes.

IPL Options

Common names you'll see IPL advertised as include: Intense Pulsed Light, IPL Laser, FotoFacial, EpiLight, MultiLight, Facial Light, and Photo Facial.

A popular IPL treatment is called Photoderm, which is most effective for people with light-colored skin. If you have darker skinned (even if you are normally fair-skinned but have a tan), you are poor candidates for this procedure because you will be at greater risk of your skin being burned.

ReLume Repigmentation is an IPL treatment that works to stimulate the production of melanin to restore lost pigment for stretch marks and post surgical scars and for vitiligo patients.

IPL Side Effects

Even though the IPL energy bursts do not break the skin, they can be painful. Anesthesia is not required, but you may want to request a numbing cream to minimize discomfort. Dermatologists often describe IPL treatment as feeling like a rubber band snapping against your skin. Some people who have undergone IPL treatment say it can be more uncomfortable, and can even inflict stinging pain.

Some common complications include - but may not be limited to - red, slightly puffy, or occasionally blistered skin, burns or other injuries from the heat, scarring, and skin discolorations. In some patients, reactivation of a previous herpes simplex cold sore may occur. A doctor is the best source of information for getting a complete understanding of the potential risks and complications from IPL.

IPL Hair Removal

If you have unwanted dark hair and you're sick of waxing, tweezing, and shaving, you may want to consider IPL (light colored hair does not respond to IPL treatments). IPL hair removal works by delivering energy to the dark hair follicle. The energy heats up the follicle and eventually destroys the hair-growing structure. That said, according to the UK Department of Health, IPL does not provide permanent hair removal. Laser hair removal may offer better results.

IPL Hair Removal vs. Laser Hair Removal

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, lasers can work broader areas of skin than IPL. As a result, IPL hair removal is often more time consuming and costly than laser hair removal. This may explain why you'll find dozens of laser hair removal centers in your area with constant advertised discounts and relatively few IPL hair removal providers.

Share your IPL Experience

If you've undergone IPL for hair removal or any other treatment or skin condition, please share your experience with other RealSelf readers by submitting a review.