The UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph has a short fluff piece on IPL. As is usually the case with this style of article there is little substance. The reporter was not impressed with the results but was impressed with the pain and bruising and swelling.
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL): miracle cure or waste of money?
It is a new reality of the high street that establishments formerly known as beauty salons are reinventing themselves as medical aestheticians, touting a quasi-scientific approach to skincare. Along with cosmetic dentists offering teeth-whitening treatments, this new breed are poised to transform the looks of the nation, catering less to regular maintenance regimes than to our growing reliance on instant makeovers and the holy grail of new technology.
…
Reactions to IPL will vary according to skin type, but the majority of providers – when asking for your "informed consent" – play down both the discomfort and the potentially debilitating side-effects. Ask for a patch-test before embarking on the treatment. Either that, or plan to live in a cupboard for up to a week post-consultation, just in case.
Light therapy looks set to be a long-term trend, though the jury is still out on whether this is a miracle cure or a waste of cash. It’s certainly not for me. In fact, I’ve learned a valuable lesson: there is such a thing as a deal of pain for absolutely no gain at all.
I have to agree. I have mild rosacea (probably erythema). I have always been pink skinned/blushed on the cheeks as a little girl and now 38, am quite red on the cheeks, forehead and nose. I was seeing a derm. for about a year trying different topicals. Tried the metrogel, finacea and none of it worked. She said my last resort was IPL. 5 treatments and $1500 later, I look no different. (I kind of feel my condition maybe needed to be worse to gain any benefits from this laser treatment..?). Anyway, it’s very expensive and we suffers will literally try anything. I hope it works for others.
Hi everyone out there affected by Rosacea.
I have had a chronic case of rosacea followed by the same dermatologist.for 35 yrs.
Up until 2001, I had been dealing with Level 2. A little IPL did the trick.
Following ( what was called a ” mini-facelift), this level has been fastly progressing.
I, believe, trauma to the skin (from the procedure)has caused this.
In the past year , the condition is affecting the skin itself and now has progressed to metophyma (forehead).
It is extremely painful and feels as though there are a million slivers on my forehead….and seems to be rapidly moving to cover more and more of the forhead tissue .
Tetracycline and topical ointments have been ineffective.
Does anyone have advice /or cna you identify ?
Thanks
Jean
Sorry I can’t ID what you describe Jean.
This is a damned nuisance, this disease.
I just had my 5th and last IPL – hasn’t really worked to rectify the redness unfortunately.
The skin tone is improved.
Derm now suggests a laser treatment and warns it will bruise badly. Mottled areas following that will be treated with IPL.
Will let you all know how it works out – maybe by summer things will have happened!