IPL  (to see IPL before & after pictures, click here)

IPL (intense pulsed light) is a very exciting new technological advance in phototherapy. Its biggest advantage over lasers is that a single unit produces a range of wavelengths of light, and therefore can be used to treat several different types of problems:

• Sun damaged skin
• Brown "age" spots and freckles
• Vascular spots (red clusters, broken capillaries or unwanted veins)
• Skin tightening (erasure of fine wrinkles and lines)
• Acne reduction
• Hair removal
• Facial rejuvenation ("photo-facial")

Intense light is delivered in pulses to the area being treated. The energy in the pulse, the duration of the pulse and the duration of the pause between pulses can be adjusted to suit the application. A "flashlamp" with a window of about 1" by 3" is placed on the skin and fired. It is not unlike a strong camera flash. The lamp is then moved to the next area and the process is repeated. Some units deliver up to 4 pulses at a time, but in such rapid succession (milliseconds) that you see it only as one flash.

A treatment lasts only a few minutes, and is relatively painless. The discomfort of this procedure is similar to a hot rubber band being snapped against your skin. Most patients tolerate the treatments without anesthesia, but ice or an anesthetic cream can be used prior to the procedure for people more sensitive to pain.

IPL Skin Tightening

Click thumbnail to view larger size Neck before & after IPL Note tighteningas well as improvement in sun damaged skin Hands before & after IPL Note tighteningas well as improvement in sun damaged skin Significant skin tightening can now be achieved with the Novalis Clareon IPL unit. We are very excited to have recently acquired this revolutionary technology. IPL (intense pulsed light) is a proven and safe modality to achieve a number of cosmetic enhancements to the facial skin, including removal of dark spots, spider veins and hair. Based on the IPL premise, this unit uses the penetrating characteristic of infrared light to stimulate collagen growth under the skin and achieve tightening without significant discomfort or downtime. Treatments are administered about every two weeks for a series of 3 (more if significant wrinkling is present). While the results are not as dramatic or as rapidly seen as with Erbium/CO2 laser (currently the gold standard in skin resurfacing), IPL is much less invasive and is not associated with the 3 week recovery time seen with CO2 lasers. Acne reduction is very effectively accomplished using IPL technology. For more info, click here.

For conditions like age spots, freckling, unwanted small veins and precancerous skin lesions, 2 or 3 treatments is usually enough. For hair removal, a series of 3 to 6 treatments is needed, since hair grows in phases, so each hair follicle may have to be hit 3 times to make sure it is destroyed. Dark hair responds much better than blond or white. The effect is basically permanent, but small "stragglers" can recur from time to time.

Another application of IPL's is the "photo-facial" which provides an overall rejuvenating effect to the facial skin, making it smoother and more uniform.