Intense Pulsed Light, aka IPL, treatment is a non laser light therapy used for improving various skin conditions, like excessive hair removal, aging skin related freckles, lentigo and liver spots, rosacea, telangiectasias, and birthmarks. It uses high intensity pulses of light which are transformed into intense heat. This heat then is capable of destroying up pigment, melanin, hair follicles and tiny blood vessels.
Since IPL targets the dermis without affecting the top layer of your skin, noticeable unsightly skin changes after treatment is minimal. Temporary side effects from the intense pulsed light may include redness, swelling, bruising and skin lightening.
Intense Pulsed Lighttreatment works for hair removal because the intense heat annihilates hair follicles. At best, IPL treatment reduces the amount of hair in a targeted area, but does not remove all the hair.
Essentially, the use of IPL to improve the look of aging skin works by destroying unwanted cells via the intense pulsed light’s creation of heat. This intense heat destroys the undesirable pigment of age spots and freckles, along with their supporting blood vessels. Intense Pulsed Light treatment is also used to extinguish broken capillaries, another sign of aging skin.
For rosacea and its associated rhinophyma, IPL offers some effective treatment by relieving associated facial redness and improving skin texture. The intense heat fragments chromophores (cells with color) so they can be absorbed, leaving your skin smoother and not so red.
IPL treatment for your rosacea is not a cure. You still need to continue other treatments and avoid your rosacea triggers.
And if you have a suntan, then Intense Pulsed Light treatment is not recommended.