You did not state your problem. IPL is excellent at treating both red and brown problems. When to use IPL after a CO2 Laser will depend on which one of these you are treating. The CO2 Laser always causes redness. This redness will last veriously depending on the particular laser used. Those where the CO2 is combined with an erbium or the CO2 Laser works like the Luxor Laser with very high energy pulses that are further apart. The latter two usually have redness that lasts a couple of months. The redness from the others last quite a few more months. I would not try to reduce the redness for many months as it is part of the healing process and improves the long term results. Instead, I suggest camouflage make-up. Discoloration, on the other hand, is an abnormal response to the laser. I generally pre-treat the patient to prevent this before doing the laser treatment. However, if you have discoloration after the laser resurfacing, I would use the IPL as soon as you are completely healed.
