I am 38 years old Asian. I got IPL on 12/8/16. After the treatment, I had scabs all over my face, and my face even got swollen. From day 4, scabs flaked off, and I got a beautiful skin for a week. However, my pigments got back after 2 weeks from the treatment, and they seemed to become even darker. I even see pigments that I did not see before the treatment. After 4w, I started having red breakouts on my cheek. I usually have clear skin and barely had this awful skin. Is this the side-effect?
January 12, 2017
Answer: IPL You must be careful treating Asian skin with the IPL. You can easily get a burn which in turn can turn into hyperpigmentation. Also when treating pigmentation you must make sure that sun spots are not confused with Melasma. Although FDA approved for the treatment of Melasma IPL will temporarily reduce the pigment and then you can get rebound pigmentation which can become worse then it was before you started. I always recommend skin types 3-4 pretreat their skin with Vitamin C and a Retinol products for 2-4 weeks prior to treatment. Doing a test spot never hurts either.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
January 12, 2017
Answer: IPL You must be careful treating Asian skin with the IPL. You can easily get a burn which in turn can turn into hyperpigmentation. Also when treating pigmentation you must make sure that sun spots are not confused with Melasma. Although FDA approved for the treatment of Melasma IPL will temporarily reduce the pigment and then you can get rebound pigmentation which can become worse then it was before you started. I always recommend skin types 3-4 pretreat their skin with Vitamin C and a Retinol products for 2-4 weeks prior to treatment. Doing a test spot never hurts either.
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
January 11, 2017
Answer: Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH) after IPL I'm very sorry you are going through this. Though IPL is a very common treatment, it is possible to have complications like burns and hyperpigmentation. PIH is fairly common in darker skinned people. In Asians, IPL can be tricky, because even lighter Asian skin can act like darker skin when it comes to aesthetic treatments like IPL. PIH usually will go away over time. Getting on a skin lightener now will help to make the new pigment fade more quickly. Hydroquinone and retinol are examples. I would recommend going back to your doc right away to start treatment. And of course, stay out of the sun and wear sun block every day (always-- but especially to make sure the spots don't get worse). I would recommend no more IPL treatments!
Helpful
January 11, 2017
Answer: Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH) after IPL I'm very sorry you are going through this. Though IPL is a very common treatment, it is possible to have complications like burns and hyperpigmentation. PIH is fairly common in darker skinned people. In Asians, IPL can be tricky, because even lighter Asian skin can act like darker skin when it comes to aesthetic treatments like IPL. PIH usually will go away over time. Getting on a skin lightener now will help to make the new pigment fade more quickly. Hydroquinone and retinol are examples. I would recommend going back to your doc right away to start treatment. And of course, stay out of the sun and wear sun block every day (always-- but especially to make sure the spots don't get worse). I would recommend no more IPL treatments!
Helpful