Minimally invasive therapies
Ah, aging. The much-looked-forward-to yet dreaded stage of our lives when superficial flaws become evident on the skin. With the progress of science, new minimally invasive therapies to combat fine lines, wrinkles, removal of sunspots, and other unwanted blemishes have been developed to reverse the appearance of age. These treatments include volumizers, muscle relaxers, facial treatments, and lasers. This last category of treatments is a safe, powerful, yet to some daunting class of light therapy due to their ability to invisibly penetrate flesh and cause changes to deep skin layers. For the patient looking to get rid of unsightly veins, hair, or even acne, a more comfortable option is an IPL treatment.
A Gentle And Effective Solution To Your Aesthetic Concerns
Intense Pulsed Light or IPL is one of the most versatile non-ablative lasers that offers a gentle and effective solution to many aesthetic concerns. The name may seem intimidating- intense light can mean a variety of things. Could it do damage? Can it unintentionally affect surrounding tissues? Will it hurt? To soothe these worries, it is important to think about the IPL and all other lasers as devices emitting energy. You are surrounding by energy-emitting objects everyday without knowing it, including the sun, your car, your phone, and of course, you! The from taken by energy varies. There can be chemical, mechanical, nuclear, thermal, and electromagnetic energy- the form taken by light. IPL uses the energy harnessed by light to target specific chromophores in the skin for aesthetic results.
Dermal chromophores
Dermal chromophores are easy for the laser to target due to their natural ability to give color to a molecule. Depending on the headpiece attached to the laser, the wavelength of light emitted by the laser will be attracted to specific chromophores that absorb that wavelength. For example, the hair removal IPL targets melanin, the dark pigment in skin, and laser crystal headpiece used allows the laser to emit light at 650 nm wavelengths. For laser vein reduction, a headpiece emitting 510 nm wavelengths of light is attached to target hemoglobin as the designated chromophore. The laser itself feels like small snaps of a rubber band on top of the skin, but depending on the type of treatment and settings, you could feel no pain at all. The combination of chromophores and light of precise wavelengths allows the laser to safely address aesthetic concerns with minimal invasiveness.
Great acne treatment
Other than laser hair removal and vein reduction, IPL can be used for correcting vascular and pigmented lesions as well as reducing acne. The light energy kills bacteria on the surface of the skin which are in part responsible for acne production, thus helping to eliminate the appearance of pustules, redness, blotching, and scarring. When coupled with levulinic acid, IPL becomes sensitized and thus stronger to eliminate precancerous lesions. Because the laser is non-ablative, it does not have the capability of vaporizing flesh like CO2 or erbium lasers. IPL is therefore a milder laser treatment designed to keep the patient comfortable while delivering appearance-shaping results. Just think of how IPL could help you!