What Is IPL Therapy and How Can It Improve My Skin?
May 12, 2023
Intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy, sometimes called a photofacial, uses intense pulses of broad-spectrum light to target trouble spots on your skin to create a smoother, brighter, and healthier complexion. A photofacial works with your skin’s own toxin-removal and renewal processes to restore your complexion naturally.
At the Center of Advanced Wellness, our expert aesthetics team recommends IPL therapy to address a variety of skin issues. At our offices in Frisco and San Antonio, Texas, we determine if you’d benefit from IPL alone or in combination with other therapies.
Should IPL be the first-line treatment for your facial goals? Read on and see.
IPL therapy works by targeting the excess pigment in your skin. The device delivers high-powered pulses of light to break up visible acne scars or red patches as well as the pustules from rosacea.
You can’t be in an active acne breakout when you receive an IPL photofacial, but you can be in an active rosacea flare. The IPL treatment not only breaks up red spots, patches, and scars, but also kills excess bacteria on your skin. Both acne and rosacea are associated with bacterial proliferation.
The power of IPL counteracts the damage caused by sunlight. The ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight not only cause alterations in your skin color, quality, and health, but they also change the DNA in your skin cells.
An IPL photofacial helps reverse some of that damage. Your practitioner calibrates the light pulses to target excess pigment, such as that found in:
The pigment may darken at first before gradually flaking off. Melasma tends to recur, so you may need touch-ups even after you’ve cleared your complexion.
Whether or not you have rosacea, you may still have patches of broken capillaries — sometimes called spider veins — that mar the tone of your complexion. We target the IPL energy to the dark pigments in damaged blood vessels.
These unwanted, nonfunctioning veins are vaporized by the IPL energy. Your body then removes the debris through normal excretion methods.
Another benefit of IPL is that you can also remove unwanted hair during a treatment session targeting your skin. If you have excess hair between your brows, above your lip, or on your chin, we may be able to remove it.
An IPL session can only target hair that is darker than your skin. If you have blond or red hair on your face, we won’t be able to remove it.
The IPL energy targets the pigment of the hair shaft while it’s in the follicle. By zapping the hair root where it rests, the IPL energy also disrupts the integrity of the follicle.
In many cases, once the current hair drops out, the follicle won’t be able to produce another one. If it can still function, the follicle will produce hairs that are lighter and thinner than your original hair.
IPL therapy works with your body’s processes, so the improvements you see are usually gradual. While you may notice an immediate difference in unwanted hair or visible veins, other benefits take awhile to accumulate. An IPL doesn’t just remove unwanted lesions, veins, and hairs, but it also stimulates your skin to rebuild itself stronger and better.
In most cases, you need up to six IPL sessions, separated by about four weeks, to achieve your aesthetic goals. The time between allows your skin to heal and rebuild. It also allows you to gauge your progress before proceeding to the next step.
To improve the look and texture of your skin, book your first IPL session today at the Center of Advanced Wellness office nearest you today. You can reach us by phone or online at our locations in Frisco and San Antonio, Texas.