How was Your IPL Recovery?

sabellamarconi 9 Apr 2013

I used Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) effective treatment from bellamedspa and shown great results.IPL vein therapy is a non-invasive treatment for spider veins. It may also treat reticular veins, age spots, and sun damage. IPL works by selectively damaging or destroying small spider veins and small vascular birthmarks

Theycameback 27 Sep 2012

Hello guys am a little confused and was wondering if any of you experienced the same thing I did after IPL.I recently had my third session so i know about the down time and the flaking.Well after the brown spots started flaking i noticed my skin looked very clean and refreshed.A few days later the spots i had on my face came back,and all because i was out in the sun for approximately 20-30 min without sunblock.I had a hat but abviously it wasn't enough to protect my skin for that little bit of time.Also I use proactiv as my daily cleanser,and am wondering if it could have been one of the reasons why the spots came back.I called the nurse that did my IPL she said she will give me one more session for free.So am going back next Friday.I really hope it all goes well.

dawnq39 17 Sep 2012

Good grief this is worring me! The machine used for IPL today was at a different provider and I was unaware it was any different than what was previously used on me by another provider until I got there (an hour away from my home). She knew exactly what machine was used by the other provider as they are in the same area and they know each other. I have to say that I don't know what this was. The proceedure done previously produced the same results the maybe 6 times I had it done over a period of a couple years. Pulled up brown spots which came off in about 5 days. There feeling was pretty much the same during and after but my face was redder after this one (subsided after a few hours), veins disappeared immediately after previous machine use but they are considerably darker after this one. Proceedure at 3:00 today and it is now a bit after midnight. There is some swelling setting in and possibly brusing which did not happen at all after the previous ones. I was also told no down time and brown would flake off 5 to 7 days after. I am worried about how long brown will be around and even more worried about the darkened veins and slight swelling and brusing present as most likely they will be worse in the a.m. Idk, maybe I'm just seeing the negatives but I was not prepared for more than 5 days tops of being out of the public eye. What is considered typical and normal in recovery??

tiqueybird 9 Sep 2012

On my third day of IPL. Still swollen and can barely open my mouth to brush my teeth. I had this in conjunction w/the erbium laser, fresh peel. No amount of makeup can mask the coffee ground like substance on my face. No way, no how. I also feel like someone took elmers glue and painted my entire face and dared me to take it off. I got the same speech about no down time, easily covered by makeup on the third day. Not true. Over the past year, I have been on prescription retin a w/hydraquinoine and had two chemical peels, so you'd think mine would'nt have been so bad. The lady that said she looked like a 90 yr old woman who was left out in the sun for a month was dead on.

Thecolonelswife 21 Jul 2012

I know it's bad, but the results are amazing!

emabarrasedinwisconsin 20 Jul 2012

Had the procedure done 4 days ago and there is absolutely NO makeup that can cover the dark black spots that cover my face! There clearly is "down time" unless you enjoy going out into public looking like a FREAK! These better "flake off" pretty damn soon or that Dr. is going to have a whole lot of my face in HER FACE about misrepresenting the procedure and the effects that come with it!!

Deserttree 26 May 2012

question: One side of my face is healed but has 3 white rectangles. Looks like I was slapped or something. I've read that this is caused by the laser probe. When I went for my appt. yesterday to take care of the "wounds", the assistant said I must have been out in the sun too much. I haven't left my house except to drive to their office! They are totally avoiding this issue. So, I read that follow-up laser will take care of that problem. Considering my recent experience with that I'm more than reluctant to do that. Anyone know any other ways to get rid of the marks? Will they resolve on their own in time? I swear this mess just never ends.

Deserttree 24 May 2012

hello again. I now have a "skin" over the open sores to help things heal. Other issues are resolving. Down to 1/4 of my face with open sores, scabs and such. The doctor has been very good about seeing me as needed and doing all follow-up at no charge.

Deserttree 24 May 2012

oh, to clarify, the open sores are on my nose and the area long my nose from eye to mouth. not scattered over my face.

Thecolonelswife 22 May 2012

I just commented to another poster. If you go go away with anything from this post, it should be expectation management. It is high time we start going into the office and say, "hey, I need to take this slowly. I cannot have a messed up, socially unacceptable face for more than xxx days. I have heard stories of burns and antibiotics, and that is not the experience I want!"
It seems like the setting has been entirely too high on a few of you. It isn't acceptable.

Deserttree 22 May 2012

Hello: I agree. I thought I did the right thing by checking the doctor's credentials etc. and going to someone board certified. But, that isn't who does the actual procedure. Also, get everything in writing from cost to exactly what they are going to do and show that to the person actually doing any procedure. What I think happened with me, aside from the setting too high and not being informed of prossible complications and down time is that they had poor communication. What was discussed at the initial consulatation and what they did were two different things and no one had anything written down other than "mother's day special". Well, that was a discount I was to receive and I believe the technician thought it was the service. I had no idea there was no clarification. I did point out the spots to be removed but clearly the technician must have though those were my main concern, not the actual services to be done. Lesson learned (although I will NEVER do this again) is to state clearly exactly what is to be done and not assume they have it in your chart correctly or that anyone communicated with anyone else. Anyway, there were 4 people involved and none appeared to talk to the other.

My face is FINALLY not hurting so much and I will have a lot of scabs and long healing. My nose and area long my nose to my mouth is getting scabs. I'm praying I don't have scars from this.

Christian Chloe 19 May 2012

Omg, you must have an infection! I'm so sad for you!

Deserttree 20 May 2012

No pus or anything like that. When I went to the doctor Thursday they said there was a lot of edema and inflammation. These little white spots come up and then blood comes from those. Have even more today. I've called the answering service so I can speak with the doctor on call today. Want seen today or first thing in the morning. This is truly unreal. I will miss more work, missed two graduations, cancelled a 4 day trip to see my grandson that has cancer and on and on and on. Its been a week now and still in pain, swelling and so on. So incredibly sick of this. This has more than disrupted my life!!

Deserttree 21 May 2012

Sigh. Yep, now on oral antibiotics. Will be another week before this is healed. At least the doctor called me personally. Today is the first day I don't have horrible pain. This has been unreal. A nightmare. Your life literally comes to a halt. Will miss work this week too. Two weeks lost wages is going to seriously impact my family this month. No fun.

Christian Chloe 21 May 2012

Maybe you can discuss the lost wages with your physician. I would definitely discuss options, and perhaps even get legal advice. Have you kept a photo journal as someone suggested in this string? I feel so bad for you. :*(

NateTheGreat 22 May 2012

Based on everything you've said, your results are so far outside of the norm and the doctor's assistant admitted as much. When all is done, and you are sure that you don't have any permanent scars or issues that will need any ongoing treatment, I would make a demand for lost wages and pain and suffering. And if they refuse, I would take them to small claims court for the money. This is beyond unacceptable. I would also file a complaint with the state medical board. I had a pretty horrible recovery but nothing compared to what you are experiencing. It's wrong, you should be made whole financially, and they need to stop doing these procedures if they can't do them correctly. I hope you are doing better today.

Deserttree 22 May 2012

Hello. I'm keepin all options open. Have to wait to see how all this shakes out. I plan to write a letter to the doctor first and list my options. Then go from there. This has truly been life altering and horrific.

Deserttree 19 May 2012

day 6 - face still swollen on left side along nose to mouth. Felt something wet and odd and realized something was running down my face. It was blood from the crease of my nostril. That has stopped. Inside of nose is less swollen now. But, (and I don't mean to be gross here), when I blow my nose its dried blood, clots and scabs. Lovely. Yep, I think they definitely did something very wrong.

I just cannot believe all that has happened and the pain and swelling. This is unreal. Please - to anyone reading this blog, take very, very seriously doing any cosmetic procedures. If someone makes a mistake there are no "do overs" and they can't say, "oops, got too much here and remove or fix it". Nope, you are stuck with the consequences.

Llbmomof3 19 May 2012

Well, I'm almost 4 weeks out from my IPL & I'm in a much better place. Everything did eventually come off after about a week and a half. Then I was left with a white grid pattern all over. At week 3 I went back to see her & she assured me that everything was going to be fine. She said that she just didn't realize how much of a tan I had & that is what caused the boxes. She also said she had it set on a higher setting to attack the rosecea. Her solution was to put in on an extremely lower setting and zap the dark places left on my face....of coarse free of charge. Believe it or not I trusted her to do it! This time it did not hurt as bad, I didn't smell that burning smell, & my face wasn't even red afterward. I am 6 days in and this process has been soooooo much better. I am starting to flake off & I'm praying everything will look more even. She told me I could have just waited it out & eventually overtime the hypo-pigmentation would have evened out, or she could hurry it along. So far I am really glad I trusted her. We'll see once it all comes off. Never again will I do something like this!!!! This has been, by far, the most traumatic thing I have EVER experienced.

Thecolonelswife 22 May 2012

The grid thing happened to me, too. It is just an under lap with the application. It's to bad when you hear you need another treatment, but it happens. I think you willbe pleased with the outcome. It is time people stopped trusting what their doctors say and go in and tell their doctor what they don't want to happen!! It is pretty clear the real story isn't being told!

Rosadee 19 May 2012

About 2 weeks after treatment, my skin went from looking great, to the pigmentation coming back even worse, and with hypo-pigmentation too. I am hoping it is still in process but it does seem worse than before. Is this normal?

Christian Chloe 19 May 2012

That was not my experience at all. Looked horrible at first in both cases but eventually healed 2-4 weeks. Longer term, face lost some fullness and eventually dark spots returned, but not as dark. Also I have new dark spots from limited exposure to sun regardless of how much sun protection used. Are you saying you have white spots?

Deserttree 18 May 2012

Today I insisted on speaking to the Physicians Assistant I saw at my original appointment as we discussed the removal of the sun spots etc. I explained what happened, that I was concerned I had an infection going on etc. She was really not happy with her office and told me that there were some big communication issues. She said that yes, there would be no down time if they lasered just the few spots. They would be dark brown but nothing that would keep me from going to work etc. I explained my problems (I'm now calling them injuries) and she said that they obviously did not listen or communicate well. She said that the doctor that owns the practice is very good but has some language barrier issues at times so she relies a lot on her staff for many things she should not be. The PA said she is going to request a conference to talk to the doctor and said that they absolutely need to change what people are being told and that people must be told the possible complications etc. She said a whole face procedure which they clearly did to me takes several weeks to fully heal, sometimes longer and that usually the dark spots come off within 2 weeks. She assured me that I would heal ok and that the bruises, spots etc. would go away. I explained the soreness, swelling issue along my nose to my mouth and noted the pain I felt and a burning flesh smell that happened with the laser on this area. She said there was damage done which has caused severe inflammation but felt it will get better in time and I should not have any lasting problems. She doesn't think its infected. She said that yes, laser procedures can have significant down time and they have to start telling people this. She said they have a Dr. on call over the weekend in case I have more problems or need to be seen. She said the antibiotic ointment prevents a number of types of infections including Staph so felt I should be okay. She recommended I do cold compresses as often as I want with skim milk. She said that milk has many soothing properties that will help reduce the inflammation. So, that and Tylenol. She said she would also talk to the doctor as the PA has not seen me since the procedure. She didn't want to "diagnose" over the phone so to speak but felt comfortable with the record from my visit yesterday and what I was describing that I didn't have an infection. I noted to her that they told me that this has never happened before and I knew better. She said that was just not true and told me of some people that had worse problems than I'm having. She said she will call me back next week to check on me and let me know how the conversation went with the Dr.

So, my Type A self is just going to have to settle in for more down time and a long recovery. I'm bored to death and not a happy camper at all.

Deserttree 18 May 2012

Hi Christian Chloe and Thecolonelswife: Starting to get little white spots along side of my nose like zits coming on. Still very swollen on that side. Doctor said there was a lot of "edema" there which I understand is fluid like inflammation. Some of the hyperpigmentation on right side of my face is a little better but not much. Left side still the same - looks scary still. So, had this done Monday. Today is Friday and still a brown mess. Guess its going to take longer for the brown spots to come off? Sigh. I'm just praying they actually do.

I hope I don't have to miss more work next week. This week was a wash. At least employer is being kind and understanding. Took me a year and a half to get this job. Only been there 2 months and now this. I was fearful I'd be let go or thought of as some sort of nut case. So far, still employed.

I'll feel soooo much better after the brown spots come off!!

Thecolonelswife 18 May 2012

I am wondering what the heck they did to you!! I just had a facelift and it wasn't of this much concern. If you aren't about 200x better by Monday, I would escalate this somehow.