“Very Comfortable Experience, Now Have Permanent Damage.. - New York, NY”

Let me put this out there, I made it to 3 out of 4 ipl sessions. It was a very comfortable experience, no stinging, no burns, no rubber band snapping sensations, the office was great. Explained worse case scenario it may not work, best case scenario skin will look great. I browned on my sun spots, flaked, and they fell off just like I was told. My face looked great...due to microswelling.

On my 4th session, I was scheduled after July of 2010. I didn't show up. Reason being, I began to notice drastic changes to my face, cheeks losing plumpness, dry skin, strange scars just showing up, wrinkles developing, orange peel texture skin, odd creasing. I went in for sunspots, I came out with serious damage. I'm a victim and I didn't have any initial reaction.

If you decide that ipl is the best for you, take your own pre ipl pictures, and post ipl pictures once a month for a year. And please keep posting and updating, it will help people make more educated decisions once they have all the knowledge about ipl and lasers.

Updated on 27 Apr 2011:
3 Ipls in 6 weeks. This picture shows what happened to me in less than a two month period. I never made it to the 4th, because I noticed the difference immediately after the swelling went down after my 3rd treatment.

Updated on 10 Jun 2011:
I found a link that I would like to know if I can post here, not only have we seen the positives on laser and ipls, but I don't think there is enough resources showing the negatives other than the our personal experiences. It doesn't highlight any practices, etc, but it is a very useful link so that those considering have as much information upfront as possible. Hope this is okay to post
http://atndesign.com/pdfs/Laser%20Compl ... kl2005.pdf

Updated on 21 Jul 2011:

Interesting study on ipl and oxidative stress:
http://www.hydrafacial.net/Dr_Freedman_Study_-_Topical_polyphenolic_antioxidants_reduce_the_adverse_effects_of_IPL.pdf

Updated on 1 Aug 2011:
Recently, I came across some information that I thought might be helpful. IPL is non-ablative, and reaches the dermis. The dermis, when heated, can retain the heat from ipl and cause 2nd to 3rd degree burns, even if you feel no pain during your session. The dermis can not regenerate itself. Once it is destroyed, the appearence of skin will become lax, leathery, and lose elasticity because the structure holding it up, the dermis, has been compromised. Any swelling that feels hot to the touch, and lasts for more then several hours after the ipl session, has to be immediately looked at by a burn center for evaluation. Often, because the dermis retains heat for hours or days, blistering does not need to be present in order to be indicative of a dermis 2nd degree or 3 degree burn. I wish I had known this, and had more common sense to contact a burn center immediately after my experience. My skin felt hot for 3days, but I was told that was the normal "sunburn" reaction. Any doctors on this forum care to comment?

Updated on 10 Aug 2011:
The more research I do, the more I understand the cosmetic laser industry. To find out more information about the laser you are researching, I would encourage you to look under the laser's annual report filings, known as the 10-K form. "We have modified some of our products without FDA clearance. The FDA could retroactively decide the modifications were improper and require us to cease marketing and/or recall the modified products." That's just a small blurb from one of the annual findings, do all your research and determine whether you trust the laser company you're looking into.

Updated on 29 Oct 2011:
Please check this site out, this isn't just a "lunchtime procedure." This is a forum where opthomologists are discussing patients that have been treated after ipl created damage to their eyes. http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?13971-The-Dangers-of-IPL-please-read-before-you-get-your-first-treatment

Updated on 8 Mar 2012:
An update: Texture the same, has not improved, skin lax, leathery, jowly, with the same bumps and linear scarring. The hydroquoine was increased to 8% for me, and has done wonders in helping keep my skin uniform in color. I'm still doing my chemical peels every 6 weeks for pigment, and have an appointment to go in for my 3rd visit for tca cross in dented/ice pick scars. So far I haven't seen any noticable change with the latter, but I'm giving it about a year before I stop with the tca cross and give an updated review on my outcome.

Updated on 1 May 2012:
Nearing my 2 year anniversary since my Ipl disasters. Unfortunately, my skin never bounced back and neither did my contours, and now I am looking into fillers and even considering fat grafting at age 35. I have more crepey skin texture and linear scarring than ever. I can only imagine it getting worse with normal aging, never in a million years did I consider light therapy to be so destructive.