Treatment for IPL complications?

In February, I had a "Vitalize" chemical peel which left some red capillaries. I went back a month later to have an IPL treatment for capillary removal, and ended up with forehead burns, indentations, severe pain, and what I believe to be eyebrow loss.

The nurse did the sides of my nose and my nose. I then asked her to do my forehead which was pink. I also had a vein next to my right eyebrow. I asked her if I should cover my eyebrows, as years ago I had hair removal done between my brows, and the nurse had me cover my brows with cotton to prevent hair loss. This time I was told that this was a different laser (I assumed since it targeted veins and not hair) and I didn't need to cover my brows. She did a few pulses and I went home.

Everything seemed OK, until about a week later, when I got a splitting headache and my forehead swelled, revealing burn marks and indentations. I have tried everything to get the swelling to go down and it still is a bit swollen today. I was told by a plastic surgeon that it would go down on its own.

Today, I still have red marks, burn indentations, and on and off pain. Can you recommend any treatment or product?

Read my review "IPL left burn indentations, swelling, pain and eyebrow hair loss"

1 answer to “Treatment for IPL complications?”

A: IPL negative result

Michael Kulick, MD

 Hello, Your questions would be better answered if you submit photographs.  If you can show different facial angles it may demonstrate your concerns. It is atypical for IPL to cause indentations.  See if you can find out the name of the device and settings used.  For now, time will allow... more

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