How Many Treatments of IPL Are Needed to See an Improvement on Acne PIH?

Like Dr. Oppenheim, we do not advocate IPL treatments for acne scars. Bleaching creams and chemical peels are an excellent solution and we would also add q-switched and pulsed dye lasers to the mix. The reason that IPL is ineffective is that it is not specific enough in the type of light it uses. Q-switched lasers we use for brown acne scars have a 1064 nm wavelength which is ideal for removing the brown color. The 585 nm pulsed dye lasers are ideal for vascular conditions such as red... more

IPL is a very good treatment for lentigines (age spots), but not particularly helpful for PIH. In fact, oftentimes IPL can make PIH worse. I much prefer topical creams and glycolic acid peels. There are a variety of creams to chose from. They contain a host of ingredients such as Hydroquinone, arbutin, licorice, glucosamine, azelaic acid, kojic acid, Retin A or tazaratene helps since these agents improve penetration and have some de-pigmenting potential themselves. You might ask... more