Can You Have IPL Treatment if You've Been Treated for Skin Cancer?

The simple answer to this is yes. It is possible to have IPL folllowing skin cancer treatment and/or surgery.

There are no contraindications to having IPL treatments if you have had skin cancer.  IPL can be used to improve redness on a scar after skin cancer excision.

There are no contraindications between IPL treatments and past and/or skin cancers.  It is important to use sunscreen, SPF 30+, daily and especially after a light therapy treatment, as these treatments will temporarily increase your sensitivity to the sun.

If you've had a skin cancer excised or surgically removed then it's best to wait until the scar has healed before any treatment.  That being said, IPL can help diminish redness or tiny capillaries around the scar and help it to blend better.  IPL, especially in combination with something like ALA/Levulan, can be extremely effective for helping to treat precancerous lesions that are present and repair other unseen sun damage that may lead to precancerous and cancerous lesions in the future.  So not only is it okay to do IPL with a history of skin cancer, we recommend it for our patients.

 

There is no problem using this technology after a skin cancer. Some doctors even use this in conjunction with a special cream to treat pre cancers. It can be helpful to reduce the redness in the scar after the surgery has healed.

There is no contraindication for IPL after skin cancer surgery, but you will want to wait until the area has fully healed.  In addition, make sure that the IPL is done by the surgeon's office that did the reconstruction.

There is no contraindication to being treated with IPL after skin cancer treatment.

IPL is a useful way to reduce scar redness (erythema) and may still be used to reduce generalized redness and brown spots/ pigmentary changes in the skin after primary healing is complete from skin cancer treatment.

I don't see any reason you can't have IPL after being treated for skin cancer.  There are some treatments using IPL that are even aimed at decreasing the skin cancer risk.