Does IPL Remove Redness Instantly or over Time?

The redness of rosacea can be treated very effectively over 5-7 IPL treatments. The small capillaries can be effectively  treated with 1-2 laser treatmenst using a 1064 nm laser such as Sciton's Clearscan. Hope this helps.

Our office has many different treatments for skin and scars depending on the depth of atrophy or hypertrophy. Scars require a combination approach using our HI DEF protocol which uses a combination of lasers, topical scar modulation, and RF treatments to pixelate scars, improve contour, reduce hyperpigmentation, and improve the visibility of the scars so that they are no longer visible in ambient light. Everyone has a unique pattern of scarring and we employ our HIDEF technique to improve texture, color, contour, and topography. We often use a combination of treatments that begin with a careful examination to examine the micro texturing of the acne scars. Atrophic scars and indented scars can benefit from injectable fillers such as Radiesse, Sculptra, and Restylane with or without subcision to remove tethered scars and atrophic depression. Hyper-redness in scars can be improved with V beam laser, Excel V, BBL, IPL, and Venus RF to improve the redness and reduce the visibility of deep scars. Fractional Thulium laser and clear & brilliant can also reduce the inflammation and redness of the scar when combined with topical therapy. Fractional lasers such as Fraxel, erbium, and CO2 laser can be combined with radio frequency and also fractional RF to improve textual issues and microtopography. Subcision and TCA cross are also used for deep ice pick scars and narrow valley scars in order to improve the micro texture. Above all, our combination approach with our clinical nurses and board-certified plastic surgeons can improve the quality of your skin by using at home Melarase creams combined with PRP treatments in our office to improve your skin quality and tone. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an experienced team of experts in order to reduce your scarring.

Finally, hyperpigmentation of scars can be improved with at-home Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads to help reduce active PIH and melanin deposition.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Rosacea is a generic term used to describe redness of the face, often with associated hypervascularity.  Most patients will notice improvement with 1 IPL treatment but will continue to have consistent treatments of at least 3 due to the chronic nature of the underlying skin condition.  
Treating rosacea often involves investigating the inciting cause of redness (there is a whole list) and this can be coupled with either IPL or a laser device.  The newer IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) systems are much more effective at treating than older devices.  This is in part due to changes in flash lamp technology and other tweaks in the technology such as placement of cutoff filters.  Since rosacea is a chronic condition patients will often need repeated treatments of IPL or any other treatment to be effective.

Immediately after getting an IPL treatment, your skin will be more red and sensitive.  It will look a little worse, before looking better.  Depending on what is being targeted, it usually takes at least 3-5 treatments before seeing an improvement.

IPL is done for both tiny capillary blush redness and more discretely visible red vessels. Small vessels can often be removed with one treatment, but there is a reaction to the treatment that lasts for a week or two before the closed down blood vessel and the surrounding inflammation that still looks red goes away.

Treating rosacea or blush redness lightens the redness treatment after treatment, but there is still some inflammation after each treatment that lasts for a day or two. Gradually the redness lightens, but not instantaneously in either case.

Small cherry angiomas, red spots, turn dark after treatment and take a week or two to heal and disappear.

Hi BotoxNewbie.  The results of laser of laser or IPL treatments usually show over a series of treatments.  In some cases (like spider veins), we see immediate closure of the veins, whereas with Rosacea, it is a slow fading of the general redness over a series of treatments.With that said, we would recommend Pulsed dye lasers for diffuse redness abd KTP or long pulsed Yag lasers for small veins.  To see examples of Rosacea before and after photos with laser treatments, click the link below.

IPL is a great treatment for reducing redness, fine blood vessels (capillaries/telangiectases), tightening the skin a little and improving the overall texture and look of the skin. Larger blood vessels may require a different laser such as PDL or KTP. Generally 4-6 treatments are advised, roughly 3-4 weeks apart. Regular sunscreen use should complement this, and annual maintenance IPL therapy is advised in many cases. ~Dr. Benjamin Barankin, Toronto Dermatology Centre.

IPL or FotoFacial works extremely well on redness or broken vessels over a period of time.  The light breaks down the vessel and it may looked resolved after treatment, but blood will partially fill those vessels up again, so staying on a regimen of 3 weeks between treatment (X 3-5 treatments) will greatly diminish the appearance of redness.  I always tell my patients that they will then need maintenance treatments (usually single treatment) a couple of times a year to maintain those results.  SPF on a daily basis will help prevent further damage.

It's worth completing a series of IPL treatments to see the clearing of the area you are concerned about.  It will and can look worse after the first few appointments, sometimes little crusts will form over the regions which have excessive red and brown colour visible.  These crusts fall off in a few days and clear beautiful skin is revealed below.  Immediately after an IPL treatment you will be red and sometimes there is edema (swelling) in the area.  It will clear in a few hours.

IPL is still one of the leading treatments for redness and sun damage.  It takes a little patience to make it through the series of treatments but it is worth the wait.

Dr. Mulholland

SpaMedica Toronto, Canada

Some redness is immediately improved, but long-term effects also occur from IPL and take several months. Additionally, multiple treatments are always necessary, usually done 3-4 weeks apart.