IPL Laser Recovery

The recovery from an IPL treatment depends on the patient and on the aggressiveness of the treatment. Some patients react to almost any stimulus with a blush or red response. These people can expect to be red - either mottled or diffused like a sunburn - for a few hours after a treatment. The red response goes away quickly and can be covered with makeup until it resolves. Some patients have a lot of brown discoloration - like freckles - near the surface of the skin. It is very easy for the... more

In most cases the recovery time is anywhere from a week and up to 3 weeks depending on the patient and what area of the body was treated. The face usually takes 8-14 days to completely recover and the arms, chest or legs take closer to 3 weeks. When you are finished with the treatment you will feel like you have a sunburn. That lasts a short period of time. You may have swelling based on how agressive the settings were during your treatment. You can usually return to work following the... more

I tell my patients to plan on the full recovery taking 2 weeks. In some people it is less time, but better to be prepared. IPL treats brown spots and discoloration-- the more brown you have the longer the recovery time. Initially after treatment the area is itchy, red and swollen for a couple of days. Then the brown pigment will rise to the surface of the skin, and feel dry and crusty, and then peel off. I liken the recovery to a burn. The area may also be very itchy but it is very... more

The downtime and recovery time depend on how aggressive the treatment was. Temporary discoloration will occur for 3-4 days after the procedure and will flake off slowly. Short term side effects are reddening of the skin, temporary bruising and edema. Rare reactions such as scabbing and blistering are possible but not very common. Protecting the skin by applying sunscreen daily is very important after the IPL and will prevent from future sun damage.

Downtime from IPL treatments are minimal.  Typically shortly after the procedure the patient will appear flushed, may have a bit of puffiness and brown spots appear darker.  It is possible to use sunscreen and cover up with makeup, immediately following the procedure.  In addition, a patient may even return to work after a treatment.  Over the course of the next few weeks (about 2) the dark spots will raise and there will be a "coffee ground" appearance to... more

IPL can have little to no down time depending on the intensity of the laser. Face treatments up to two weeks of the treated area turning darker at first then slowly flaking off. Depending on the area of the body, the more aggressive the treatment, the more damage done to the top layers of skin, the more down time. Some of the conditions that can be treated are: Sun damage induced depigmentation and vascular changes Poikiloderma of Civatte Acne Rosacea Broken... more

The best thing about IPL is that the recovery is usually pretty minimal. Most of the time, you should be able to go back to the work immediately. Right after IPL, you may feel a slight buring sensation that lasts for about 1-2 hours and then you should have very little pain. Sometimes bruising can occur, but this is when you are pretty aggressive with the settings. But the amount of bruising is usually minimal and makeup can cover it. Sometimes, swelling can occur, but this is usually,... more

First, a clarification: IPL is not a Laser but a device that emits strong bursts of visible light. The recovery time after treating Rosacea or Melasma is minimal: a few to 24 hours, unless the Rosacea is severe, in which case it may take up to 2 days or longer, folllowing agressive treatment. The recovery time after treatment of freckles (lentigos) takes several days, up to 10 days, including peeling , dark dots and redness. It is important to avoid even minimal tanning for a... more

The time to recover depends on how much color you are treating on the face. Most people have little to no downtime. If there are a lot of brown spots, plan on 5-7 days as the brown spots may peel during the first treatment.

The usual downtime with these devices is minimal to none.  Some patients being treated for rosacea can have swelling particularly around the eyes for a few days due to the edema from the treatment.  This is rare and only happens in select patients.  Brown spots will turn darker brown to grey and may look like coffee grounds before gently and invisibly exfoliating away with the normal skin turnover process. So in general little to no downtime is needed. The skin... more

In most cases, patients can return immediately to work or school after an IPL treatment. Redness and mild swelling may exist after treatment depending on how aggressive the treatment settings are and which skin type you are. Even though you may be able to return directly to work, it may be noticeable that you have had something done. I think that is why there is such a large variation in the "recovery" time among the physicians that have answered this question. Especially in the... more

Thank you for your question. Post-treatment recovery after intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment is generally minimal. Your skin may be red and warm for the remainder of the day and this usually settles down by the following day. Around three to five days after treatment the dark spots on your skin will become darker, often described as having a “coffee-ground” appearance. Over the next few days after they appear, the darkened spots will disappear on their own leaving your... more