Age Spots Treatment: Stories

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IPL for Sunspots

  • posted 3 years ago
  • updated 3 years ago

I got several courses of IPL for very dark sun...

  • 18 Jan 2010

I got several courses of IPL for very dark sun spots that suddenly showed up after a Greek vacation. I was dissappointed that they did not go away entirely - they are still visible. But they did fade a lot. I even used a hydroquinine cream for a while and it seemed to do nothing.

If I could guarantee that they would fade completely, I'd go back for more courses, but results seem very individual and it is expensive.

Great review?

My Doctor:

I had a different person attending to me every time I made an appointment - and their experience varied.

Comments (9)

Stephen Prendiville, MD 23 Jan 2012
Actually, IPL works quite well for the right indications. The benefit of IPL is its efficacy to downtime relationship, which is quite good. A full face IPL treatment in our office runs 400 or so.
View answers from Stephen Prendiville, MD
Anita L. Dormer 23 Jan 2012
IPL is something that i really dont understand its popularity. It just is a money maker for businesses but with little results. It requires several treatments. It is a light and not a laser. There are several lasers that with one treatment will remove 80% of the spots. this treatment is about 575 per 15 minutes and hands take about 10 minutes for most people. Post care must be done but I am rather astonished that people keep offering IPL when better technology with fantastic cheaper results are out there. One of my clinics was built on the failure of IPL pts and the referrals to a treatment that would actually work with little risk or downtime. Patients should be informed as unfortunately you may find yourself a victim. I expect many IPL fans will be a furious but this is fact and I would be happy to compare one treatment with 6 treatments for an IPL.
Tom at RealSelf (Community Manager) 10 Feb 2010

Here's a photo and doctor answer to treating sun spots that are seborrheic keratosis:

How do I get rid of sun spots and Seborrheic Keratosis?
luminous 11 Feb 2010
Thank you - that is what mine look like only much smaller. I think I will make an appointment with a dermatologist before considering more laser.
cujola 10 Feb 2010

I have had sun spots successfully treated by a dermatologist with a simple office visit. In my case, the sun spots were seboreic kerotosis. You can google that term. The dermatologist zaps the spot with liquid nitrogen, aka cryo-surgery. This procedure freezes the spot. The spot initially blisters, then dries out and flakes off in 1-2 weeks.

luminous 11 Feb 2010
Thanks for the information. I am definitely not satisfied having these spots on my forehead, even though they aren't as dark as they used to be.
luminous 18 Jan 2010
Can it be used if you scar easily (keloid)?
Stephen Prendiville, MD 18 Jan 2010
Keloids typically occur on darker skin types, patients of African, Asian, or South American descent. A keloid, defined by a scar that grows beyond the natural boundaries of the scar in a botyroid fashion, occurs most commonly on the chest, deltoid, and ear/earlobe regions. True keloids on the face are exceedingly rare. A low power fractionated treatment is generally very safe.
View answers from Stephen Prendiville, MD
Stephen Prendiville, MD 18 Jan 2010
Hello in Dublin. My experience with IPL is that you will periodically require a "tune up" procedure. A more permanent and very effective solution is the fractionated CO2 laser. The treatment can be applied at relatively high density and low power without significant downtime (albeit more than with IPL).
View answers from Stephen Prendiville, MD

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