IPL vs. Photofacial - What's the difference?

What's the difference between IPL and a Photofacial? 

2 answers to “IPL vs. Photofacial - What's the...”

A: Basically they are the same

Mary Lupo, MD

Photofacial is a generic term for any light-based therapy that improves the appearance of the skin with no downtime. IPL is Intense Pused Light, a non-laser light that helps red spots, dark spots and rosacea. So, IPL is a way to perform photofacial.

A: A rose by any other name....

Armando Soto, MD

Hi- A photofacial treatment describes the use of an IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) machine to treat the facial skin for improvement if brown spots, wrinkles, and vessels. IPL may also be used in other areas, however, such as the hands or chest- so a photofacial would always involve use of an IPL, but an IPL... more

Comments

marium
5 posts
2 Jan 2009

hi, i have allergy aczema on my face. can you recommend me any photolight treatmnet for it. do you think that "Evis MD red light platinum facial system" is effective. please help me......

dverebelyi
81 posts
30 Dec 2008

In 2000 doctor Patrick H. Bitter, Jr., MD published one of the first articles about IPL used for photodamaged facial skin in The Journal of Dermatologic Surgery. The article entitled, "Noninvasive Rejuvenation of Photodamaged Skin Using Serial, Full-Face Intense Pulsed Light Treatments" described how to use an IPL device for removal of facial photodamage.   After the publication he trademarked the term FotoFacial as a description of using a certain ranger of parameters with a particular IPL to removal facial photodamage.

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