How long must one wait to do an IPL or multiple IPL sessions after having Ultra Pulse CO2 laser resurfacing?

Once someone has had Ultra Pulse CO2 laser
resurfacing, it is recommended to wait about six to eight weeks before proceeding
with any other laser treatments. This time allows the skin to heal and decrease
from any swelling that may have occurred before continuing with a session of
IPL or especially a series of IPL treatments. 

The skin will take several weeks to be back to "normal" after CO2 resurfacing laser - sometimes longer depending on the settings used and your skin type.  The intense pulsed light device is used to treat brown spots and redness- so I would recommend that you wait until your skin is completely healed until you consider IPL treatment.  The CO2 laser should have taken care of any brown spots you have, and you will definitely have redness after the CO2 laser - which will improve as your skin heals.  So to answer your question, I would wait at least 1 month and then consult with your board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon to determine if you really need the IPL treatments at all.Best of luck!

Dear writer, IPL treatment may be started one month after Ultra Pulse CO2 laser. Typically, it takes up to 2 weeks for complete skin healing from this ablative laser to take place. Yet, residual inflammation from the treatment may last for up to four weeks, some times more. On average, waiting one month or longer after CO2 laser is preferred.

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.