IPL: Q&A
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How Does IPL Hair Removal Work?
IPL hair removal - how does it work? What makes it different from other hair removal methods?
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9 Doctor Answers |
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anon
+2
It's all about physics
Thank you for your question.
I'm going to answer this in simple terms so hopefully no one reading this will get confused. The targets of our laser treatments (the melanin of the hair bulb, the hemoglobin of blood cells, the water in our skin layers) absorb energy at certain wavelengths of light. When the target absorbs this wavelength energy, heat is produced and the target (and the surrounding tissue in some cases) is destroyed.
Lasers use an specific infrared wavelength to...
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IPL for hair removal
IPL stands for intense pulsed light. Depending on the wavelenght of the IPL system that is used for laser hair removal, it can be very effective. If the wavelength is is the appropriate range, the light targets the pigment in the hair follicle deep in the skin. The light is attracted to the pigment in the follicle and heats it up and most-likely kills the stem cells in the bulge region of the hair follicle that make it possible for new hairs to be formed in the future. So, once those...
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How IPL works for hair removal
IPL (pulsed light) is absorbed by melanin (chromophore) in brown or black hair causing a thermal injury (selective photothermolysis) to the follicles of actively growing hairs (anagen). IPL is a light based therapy which offers 40-50% reduction. It will thin the hair, but not really deliver permanent results. True laser is the better option offering 80-99% permanent hair reduction depending on what area of the body is being treated.
Brampton Plastic Surgeon
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IPL light wavelengths remove hair.
An IPL, or intense pulsed light machine is essentially a very bright flashbulb. These machines are capable of producing a broad spectrum of light wavelengths, but more specific ranges of wavelengths can be chosen depending on the desired treatment.
In general, IPL works by targeting particular colors with specific wavelengths of light that correspond to these colors. When flashes of light are driven into tissue, the light is absorbed by the cells that contain the colors that...
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IPL light absorbs hair during removal.
An IPL, or intense pulsed light machine is essentially a very bright flashbulb. These machines are capable of producing a broad spectrum of light wavelengths, but more specific ranges of wavelengths can be chosen depending on the desired treatment. In general, IPL works by targeting particular colors with specific wavelengths of light that correspond to these colors.
When flashes of light are driven into tissue, the light is absorbed by the cells that contain the colors that correspond...
more
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IPL Hair Reduction
IPL and Lasers both use light absorption to generate the heat within hair follicles to cause them to fall out. The difference is in the spectrum. IPL uses the full light spectrum (think of a strong flashbulb) whereas lasers deliver a specific wavelength of light (red, blue, green). Both can lead to hair loss when used properly. IPL may take more treatments than a laser, but may also be less expensive in the long run.
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IPL Hair Removal
Intense Photo Light (IPL) Hair removal treatments work by sending flashes of light in certain frequencies of light through skin which are preferentially absorbed by, heat and destroy hair follicles in their growth phase.
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IPL for Laser Hair Removal
We do not use IPL for laser hair removal as there are better laser choices that lead to better results with a lower incidence of side effects.
The main difference between IPL and lasers is that lasers use one specific type of light and IPL uses many types of light. This means that IPL cannot achieve the same peak energies because of the risk of side effects. In fact, in recent research, IPL treatments done on low settings can actually lead to hair growth.
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IPL for hair removal
We do not use IPL for hair removal. There are far superior lasers for hair removal that work much faster and with less treatments.
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