Is IPL the best treatment best treatment for sun damage on face and under eyes?

Question

My circles are not from hollow tear troughs but are a redish/purplish color which appear as a cluster of tiny broken capillaries when i look in a magnifying mirror. I had 4 Fraxels (not around eye area) last year but still have some unwanted pigment and very fine broken capillaries on my face. What are my best treatment options? (downtime is not an issue) Thanks so much.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian 
Realself100 Surgeon

Joel L. Cohen, MD · Answer

For vessels around the eyes, if they are more red and shallow &mdash; then pulse dye laser; if they are purple and deep, then long pulse Nd:YAG. 
For the face in general, BBL Hero and focal BBL works great for areas of pigment (lentigines) as well as areas of red vessels (telangiectasia). If some of the brown spots are really light, then sometimes a Q-switched laser is needed to treat these low-contrast lesions. You should first see a Board-Certified Dermatologist who will use a dermatoscope (like a 3Gen DL-3) to make sure these spots look benign and not suspicious for a MIS (melanoma in-situ). And then cleaning up sundamage on the face, neck and chest with a Thulium laser is a great choice for the newer, lighter, and evolving brown spots in these sun-exposed regions.

Is IPL the best treatment best treatment for sun damage on face and under eyes?

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Is IPL the best treatment best treatment for sun damage on face and under eyes?

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Everything you need to know about Laser Resurfacing

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.