What Skin Tones are Not Appropriate for IPL?

Intense Pulse Light or IPL utilizes a range of light wavelengths in a scattered fashion to treat brown spots, broken blood vessels, and unwanted hair.  A byproduct of IPL is mild stimulation of collagen growth in the skin,  hence the term Photofacial.  It must be used with great care and at low settings for darker skin types (Fitzpatrick III-VI) due to the risk of melanocyte stimulation and transient inflammatory hyperpigmentation.  When I treat patients with greater pigmentation in their skin, I typically start out with a test spot behind the ear to gage the way the skin will respond. Use of hydroquinone for several weeks prior to treatment is advisable for darker skin types.

The only skin type that cannot be treated with IPL is type VI.

The most important factor in the safety and effectiveness of the procedure is to do accurate skin typing of the patient, not just by visual inspection but by a thorough history and questionnaire.

When the skin type is properly determined, the parameters of the IPL can be set in such a way as to protect the normal skin pigmentation with lower settings as well as cooling the skin during the procedure to minimize adverse events, such as burns or hypo/hyperpigmentation.

Because the light treatment targets pigmentation, it is also extremely important NOT to have sun exposure for four weeks before the treatment, as ultraviolet light increases the background pigmentation of the skin (tan).

To make the results of the IPL treatment more long lasting, sun exposure should be avoided after the procedure, as sun damage is the biggest culprit in causing hyperpigmentation in the first place.

I think the real question you should be asking is, "What do I need to treat my concerns?"  Maybe IPL isn't even what you need.  What are you trying to treat?  What are your goals?

IPL can be used in Asian skin, but very cautiously.