POSTED UNDER IPL Reviews
IPL: An Expensive Way to Age Your Face at Least 10 Years - New England
UPDATED FROM IPLissues
1 year post
Dirty Duodenoscopes Fiasco Highlights Abuse of Medical device Loopholes Applicable to IPL/RF/BBL devices
$400
As anyone who has suffered an adverse event from tx w/ an IPL/BBL/photofacial/RF device has discovered, the FDA's oversight of the medcial device industry is woefully inadequate. If device mfgrs don't care about infecting people w/ dirty duodenoscopes, do you really think they care if you get a few dents and burns on your face from a cosmetic laser/light/rf device? Please read the congressional report highlighting the laws weaknesses in the duodenoscope fiasco. It highlights what is wrong w/ the cosmetic devices as well: link: http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Duodenoscope%20Investigation%20FINAL%20Report.pdf
UPDATED FROM IPLissues
5 months post
IPL: 5 months out, still bad, still fastest, most expensive way and least fun way to ruin your skin
*Pigment: Slight improvement, but only from the months of 4% HQ, RetinA, hats, spf50 ALL THE TIME after IPL. The second I get any sun, bam, back to worse than before the IPL.
*Broken blood vessels: Darker, redder, more of them.
*Texture: The pitting and depressions I got from the IPL have not improved. They are still there, and look like hell. They are not going away, and I'm beginning to doubt they ever will. Very depressing. I did not have these pits and holes before IPL.
*Rosacea: The massive rosacea flare, complete w/ pustules and spider veins, that I got right after the IPL has mostly simmered down, but the spider veins from the pustules are still there, as are the spider veins in some of the depressions where the skin appears to be most injured.
*PIH: numerous new PIH spots from the major breakout I experienced after IPL.
*Bleeding from the pores after IPL: This truly bizarre symptom has JUST (5 months after IPL) started to die down. For the first time since the IPL in March 2014, in late August 2014 I actually had one full week w/ no random bleeding from the pores. Yay! I hope this continues!
Overall, an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. My skin looks like I had much worse acne than I had as a teenager, and it looks like I laid on the beach and drank for years. It would've been one thing if to get this skin I'd laid on a beach in the South of France and drank wine for a few years. It would've been fun. Instead I paid $400 to lay in a chair for a few minutes and get the sensation of being whacked in the face repeatedly by a tiny cattle prod. Actually seeing the pattern of tiny dark red marks on my face after - more like a thousand tiny red-hot adzes. I felt like years of sunscreen, retinA, and taking care my face went down the drain. I've filed an adverse event report w/ the FDA, which I encourage everyone who's had a bad experience w/ either a medical device or a drug do, because one thing I've found out: when you have a great experience w/ cosmetic procedure, it's all roses. With a bad experience, you're on your own. And there is apparently a dearth of knowledge out there on how to manage or treat complications. We should all do our best to add to the fund of knowledge. We are, after all, guinea pigs, since there is no REAL PREMARKET TESTING going on for most devices (in this case, Sciton BBL Profile), and the FDA's after-market adverse event report is the ONLY MEANS of identifying and tracking problems. So please, file an FDA report if you have a bad outcome! The FDA DOES NOT READ REALSELF.
The doctor who performed the IPL, who was otherwise very nice and did a GREAT job w/ a dysport injection, did not seem to know why the IPL went so bad with me, and did not offer any treatments to fix the problems (probably because, ack! there aren't any!). I had to spend $$ to go see another derm for a consultation, and was told, more or less, we don't know what to do, don't do anything for at least a few months, let your skin heal, let's re-evaluate in the fall. all we can do for you is help you get back on your retinA and give you some 4% HQ. So I also may need more procedures down the road. I asked the dr. who did the IPL for a refund, and was told I'd need to sign a release to get my $$ back. So, the end result is, if you get a bad result, you probably won't even get a refund unless you sign some ridiculous release, and you will spend $$ out of pocket trying to fix, or maybe just treating, the bad result, and you may not even be able to fix it. I suspect my skin was fried down under, like meat in a microwave, and there's no way to fix it. If you buy a new roof, usually you get some kind of guarantee w/ it. Not so w/ cosmetic procedures, and there's the rub. I'm thinking I'd rather not do any more procedures unless I find a doc who offers some kind of minimal guarantee or refund if the result is bad. If doctors can't do that, then I'm probably better off keeping my money in my pocket. Or spending it on something that has some guarantee or refundability, like a new car, a new pair of eyeglasses, a new pair of shoes! If I buy a pair of shoes and they give me blisters, a reputable store will refund my $ without asking me to sign a release. Not so it seems with cosmetic procedures. Buyer beware. And please, notify the FDA of any problems you have!
*Broken blood vessels: Darker, redder, more of them.
*Texture: The pitting and depressions I got from the IPL have not improved. They are still there, and look like hell. They are not going away, and I'm beginning to doubt they ever will. Very depressing. I did not have these pits and holes before IPL.
*Rosacea: The massive rosacea flare, complete w/ pustules and spider veins, that I got right after the IPL has mostly simmered down, but the spider veins from the pustules are still there, as are the spider veins in some of the depressions where the skin appears to be most injured.
*PIH: numerous new PIH spots from the major breakout I experienced after IPL.
*Bleeding from the pores after IPL: This truly bizarre symptom has JUST (5 months after IPL) started to die down. For the first time since the IPL in March 2014, in late August 2014 I actually had one full week w/ no random bleeding from the pores. Yay! I hope this continues!
Overall, an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. My skin looks like I had much worse acne than I had as a teenager, and it looks like I laid on the beach and drank for years. It would've been one thing if to get this skin I'd laid on a beach in the South of France and drank wine for a few years. It would've been fun. Instead I paid $400 to lay in a chair for a few minutes and get the sensation of being whacked in the face repeatedly by a tiny cattle prod. Actually seeing the pattern of tiny dark red marks on my face after - more like a thousand tiny red-hot adzes. I felt like years of sunscreen, retinA, and taking care my face went down the drain. I've filed an adverse event report w/ the FDA, which I encourage everyone who's had a bad experience w/ either a medical device or a drug do, because one thing I've found out: when you have a great experience w/ cosmetic procedure, it's all roses. With a bad experience, you're on your own. And there is apparently a dearth of knowledge out there on how to manage or treat complications. We should all do our best to add to the fund of knowledge. We are, after all, guinea pigs, since there is no REAL PREMARKET TESTING going on for most devices (in this case, Sciton BBL Profile), and the FDA's after-market adverse event report is the ONLY MEANS of identifying and tracking problems. So please, file an FDA report if you have a bad outcome! The FDA DOES NOT READ REALSELF.
The doctor who performed the IPL, who was otherwise very nice and did a GREAT job w/ a dysport injection, did not seem to know why the IPL went so bad with me, and did not offer any treatments to fix the problems (probably because, ack! there aren't any!). I had to spend $$ to go see another derm for a consultation, and was told, more or less, we don't know what to do, don't do anything for at least a few months, let your skin heal, let's re-evaluate in the fall. all we can do for you is help you get back on your retinA and give you some 4% HQ. So I also may need more procedures down the road. I asked the dr. who did the IPL for a refund, and was told I'd need to sign a release to get my $$ back. So, the end result is, if you get a bad result, you probably won't even get a refund unless you sign some ridiculous release, and you will spend $$ out of pocket trying to fix, or maybe just treating, the bad result, and you may not even be able to fix it. I suspect my skin was fried down under, like meat in a microwave, and there's no way to fix it. If you buy a new roof, usually you get some kind of guarantee w/ it. Not so w/ cosmetic procedures, and there's the rub. I'm thinking I'd rather not do any more procedures unless I find a doc who offers some kind of minimal guarantee or refund if the result is bad. If doctors can't do that, then I'm probably better off keeping my money in my pocket. Or spending it on something that has some guarantee or refundability, like a new car, a new pair of eyeglasses, a new pair of shoes! If I buy a pair of shoes and they give me blisters, a reputable store will refund my $ without asking me to sign a release. Not so it seems with cosmetic procedures. Buyer beware. And please, notify the FDA of any problems you have!
Replies (4)
A
August 27, 2014
This sounds very similar to what happened to me...however, I was NOT nor EVER using Retin-A before my IPL treatment. I suspect my skin was fried at a very deep level as well. 1 month post-procedure I have what look like train tracks on my forehead due to the spotty and uneven treatment. I too would get little pin prick-like bleeders from virtually nothing. Wherever my sunglasses or hat would rub, the skin just sheered right off. I applied Aquaphor and healing agents only to break-out in acne from the heavy topicals. I also have an orange peel texture to my skin and feel my pores are just gaping open...which I never had before. People would comment how 'pore-less' my skin used to be. I'm only 30 and did an IPL to erase sun damage and acne scars. I'm so frustrated and depressed. I paid $400+ for someone to RUIN my skin. Now they want me back for another IPL treatment to essentially burn the areas they missed the first time to 'even my skin tone.' Never again! I truly hope time will heal the damage the IPL did to my skin so I'm still holding out hope. If anyone knows how to rid my skin of this orange peel, old, huge-pored, wrinkly texture...I'm ALL ears!
I
August 28, 2014
ambermore: Have you made a report to the FDA? If not, PLEASE DO. If nobody reports the adverse effects, no one is going to pay attention to this or work on developing ways to avoid it or treat it. PLEASE make a report to the FDA. You can do it online or you can mail in a report if you want to send pictures. I mailed mine in because I wanted to submit pictures. However, the FDA apparently lost my mailed-in report, and when I called to check on the status of my report, an FDA person gave me an email address to email my report. Emailing it was actually better because that was they can look at the photos digitally rather than poor paper copies. If you'd like the FDA person's email address ( and I have the mailing name and address of the head of the FDA's Division of Regulatory Misconduct as well) let me know. I will try to post that info here but not sure if this website allows me to post email addresses but I will try. I hear you about the textural changes - it really is the most distressing effect, because you can't cover pits and lines w/ makeup! I've heard of one person who had good results improving the bad IPL texture w/ a very long course (I think a year) of very low dose accutane, but that person was very young and was male. Males have thicker skin, and being young may make the skin heal better.
A
August 29, 2014
I have not filed a report with the FDA yet, but after all of the info and research I've been doing about how dangerous IPL is, I am going to. I took tons of pictures from 1 hour after treatment and each 24 hours thereafter. It's nightmarish to look back on those photos. It's been just under 2 months and I still have stark white rectangles all over my forehead. I am olive skinned Italian decent with lots of freckles/sun damage AND I had a tan from playing outdoor sports...but even still the esthetician assured me I was a good candidate and their "skin identifier" would match the IPL with the correct settings to my skin tone. Clearly IPL wasn't for me. They mentioned nothing about having a tan (it was mid-summer!!!) and the darker your skin the more it retains the light and heat. I feel so stupid for not researching this procedure first and I beat myself up everyday that I did this to my face...that's harder to overcome than the physical damage itself. Luckily I've gotten very good with foundation and bronzer application. I've also found some good primer to fill in the enlarged pores and semi-smooth out the orange peel texture (Dr. Brandt's Pores No More Pore Refiner). After I refused additional IPL or chemical treatments (which the office keeps trying to push on me after THEY messed up), I caved to the 4% Hydroquinone and Tretinoin .025% they suggested. I haven't used them yet because I don;t think my skin is quite ready for anything else to shock it, but does anyone know if that will help even out my skin tone and/or with the rough, wrinkly texture?
I
September 2, 2014
Amberbmore: Tretinoin MAY help you, but it depends on whether the tretinoin agrees w/ you skin or not. Some people have great results from it, others don't. Be forewarned, though, most people go thru an initial "ugly" phase w/ it before the benefits kick in - peeling, clogged pores coming to the surface, dry looking. Personally, I've used it for almost 20 years and it always helped. The HQ 4% should help lighten areas that the IPL darkened, but it's recommended to use it no more than 3 mos at a time, as chronic use can cause rebound darkening or lack of efficacy.
S
HM
July 22, 2015
Thanks so much for your incredibly detailed and medically aware reporting on the procedure, it has given me pause.
I am just so sorry your experience was needed to understand the dangers of IPL.
I am just so sorry your experience was needed to understand the dangers of IPL.
I
L
September 15, 2015
Can you tell me what makeup you use on the pin holes and micro wrinkles? Thank you
I
September 20, 2015
I have gotten the best results from the following: after washing, if skin is dry, 1. apply Cerave cream in the tub wherever needed (sometimes all over), 2. apply sunscreen, and 3. apply Maybelline Fit Me Matte+Poreless thin layer all over w/ fingers, 4. over that pat Estee Lauder Maximum Cover Camouflage double wear mu (in the navy tube w/ gold cap) wherever I have burn marks /hyperpigmentation/broken caps, 5. dust all over w/ Neutrogena Mineral Sheers pressed powder.
This routine helps, but does not elminate by any means, the pin holes and micro wrinkles. It's the best I've found so far. i have found that the following foundations do not mesh well w/ my new IPL holes (either they cover everything but the pore holes or they pile up in the pore holes): that NARS all day luminous weightless liquid foundation, the Oxygenetix liquid (not bad as far as the holes but covered nothing), the new Maybelline Better Skin liquid, and some others I can't remember. Revlon Colorstay liquid is not bad, and covers well, but the Maybelline Matte+Poreless does a better job w/ the holes. You may get even better results is you press the foundation in w/ a sponge, and/or buff w/ a brush, but I hate using anything other than my fingers.
This routine helps, but does not elminate by any means, the pin holes and micro wrinkles. It's the best I've found so far. i have found that the following foundations do not mesh well w/ my new IPL holes (either they cover everything but the pore holes or they pile up in the pore holes): that NARS all day luminous weightless liquid foundation, the Oxygenetix liquid (not bad as far as the holes but covered nothing), the new Maybelline Better Skin liquid, and some others I can't remember. Revlon Colorstay liquid is not bad, and covers well, but the Maybelline Matte+Poreless does a better job w/ the holes. You may get even better results is you press the foundation in w/ a sponge, and/or buff w/ a brush, but I hate using anything other than my fingers.
UPDATED FROM IPLissues
3 months post
Settings used in my tx
I got my medical records, and found the following:
Fitzpatrick Type II
58 shots
515 filter, no adapter, 14 j, pw20, cool 20
560 flter w/ snap on adapter, 18j, cool 25
No pulse width was noted for the 560 filter. I am wondering also if I am really a Fitzpatrick II. I went online and took the American Skin Cancer society's test and came out as just over the line into Fitzpatrick Type III. I don't know if that makes a difference. Also, while I look pretty light (light eyes), I have some family members who have brown eyes, dark brown hair, and look like they could pass for American Indian. Don't know if that makes a difference.
Fitzpatrick Type II
58 shots
515 filter, no adapter, 14 j, pw20, cool 20
560 flter w/ snap on adapter, 18j, cool 25
No pulse width was noted for the 560 filter. I am wondering also if I am really a Fitzpatrick II. I went online and took the American Skin Cancer society's test and came out as just over the line into Fitzpatrick Type III. I don't know if that makes a difference. Also, while I look pretty light (light eyes), I have some family members who have brown eyes, dark brown hair, and look like they could pass for American Indian. Don't know if that makes a difference.
Replies (1)
S
June 5, 2014
what state are u from-I am going to have a dermotogist do mine as I believe they know more about the skin -as far as procedures go to make the skin healthier than plastic surgeons.
Replies (1)