I Had an IPL Facial Done and No Protective Eyewear Was Offered to Me. Should I Be Concerned?

The office should provide you with eye protection before each IPL treatment, lasers are very strong and can cause eye damage or even vision loss. Im concerned where you're getting your treatmens done, I normally recommend having IPL done 4-6 weeks apart and always apply spf after each treatment

I would be very careful of this place you're getting your treatments done and make sure to go to a medical provider with tons of experience with all skin tones. Yes you should be wearing either goggles or eye patch and the office should provide this. No you shouldnt be doing IPL  every other week, the skin needs time to heal and recover from each treatment and for the pigment to flake off, we normally recommend 4-5 weeks apart each treatment.

Good Luck

Patient safety should be the first priority for any treatment in a medical practice. Both the patient and the practitioner's eyes should be protected from the light during the IPL treatment.  I would personally question the safety standards of the practitioner who treated you.  Typically IPL treatments are spaced 2-4 weeks apart to allow the skin to properly regenerate. 

Eye protection should absolutely be worn when undergoing IPL treatments as it can result in injury to your eye and even vision loss.  I would hesitate returning to that clinic.  

Hi Heidi.  It is extremely unprofessional to not have been given protective eyewear.  While the chance of eye damage is low unless they fired directly into your eye, you should still have been presented with proper eyewear.  

We space most laser treatments approximately 4 weeks apart.  Good luck.

Protective eyewear is often used with IPL treatments although it is rare to have damage to the eyes if your eyes are closed. It is when the flash is directed at the open eye that it can be harmful. When IPL is used to treat right around the eyelids, it should only be performed with protective contact lenses placed in the patient’s eye. This type of treatment is used for red eyelids and dry eye in our practice.  However, we always use protective shields when a treatment is close to the eye.

Yes you should be concerned.  Protective eyewear is a necessity for both the patient and the individual performing the procedure and there is no excuse for not providing this.  The recommendation for performing IPL procedures one week apart is just another reason that you should find another provider for your treatments. 

Best Regards,

Jacque P. LeBeau, MD

Although you will probably be fine, I would worry about the clinic you had your treatment in. There are many reports of people losing vision or parts of their vision from various lasers, so this is a serious matter which you should bring up with the clinic, or better yet, go somewhere else. ~ Dr. Benjamin Barankin, Toronto Dermatology Centre.

We treat many patients with IPL without eye protection but we are away from the eye and orbital area.   We offer eye protection to all and all patients are asked to close their eyes throughout the course of treatment.  Any laser surgery, must have googles or rather eye protection placed into the inferior and superior cul de sacs.    

Dear Heidi,  IPL Facial Treatments are performed with protective eye goggles. However, this type of light source, as opposed to a more powerful single-wavelength source (laser), are not associated with blindness or partial loss of eye sight. Particularly if your eyes were closed during the treatment, you will have had some protection from the intense light and should not have any future problems. Yet, discuss this occurrence with your provider to ensure that proper eye protection is offered to you during future sessions.