Intense Pulsed Light – Laser Treatment
at Woodbury Dental and Laser Clinic in Kent
Intense pulsed light or IPL is a technology aimed at producing light of high intensity during a very short period of time, and is used for the treatment of certain skin conditions. The IPL laser treatment involves the use of specific lamps together with capacitors, whose rapid discharge provides the high energy required for the specified skin condition treatment. The IPL laser treatment is designed to start the treatment in the deep tissue area of the skin, where skin damage originates; IPL therapy is considered as a non-ablative laser treatment, which means that the top layer of the skin remains undamaged and intact.
What to Expect from the Intense Pulsed Light Laser Treatment
The Woodbury Dental and Laser Clinic cosmetic doctor will clean the affected area, and will ensure that the patient is as comfortable as possible before and during the Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment; an anaesthetic may be applied to the area that needs to be treated, so that the patient will not feel any discomfort. A cold, soothing gel will then be applied to the area that needs to be treated; a glass pyramid or prism will then be placed over the gel and area to be treated. An intense flash of light, or pulse, will be flashed through the prism/pyramid and will be directed at the designated area to address the specific skin condition of the patient. The initial Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment may not be as aggressive as the succeeding to avoid any damage to the skin, and also to determine the skin’s tolerance for more intensive treatments. Treatments are usually performed every 3 to 4 weeks.
Conditions Addressed with Intense Pulsed Light Laser Treatments
Hair Removal/Hair Reduction – IPL treatments are ideal for the removal or reduction of unwanted hair. Although there are many ways to deal with unwanted hair – such as shaving, plucking, tweezing, or waxing – these options provide short-term results and can be inconvenient to deal with. An Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment can effectively damage the hair roots to stop hair from growing again. The result is a long period of being free from unwanted hair.
Acne Treatment – Acne is a skin disorder which is caused by the over production of oil by the skin’s sebaceous glands, combined with a bacteriological infection. Active acne is characterised by the outbreak of inflamed pustules that are the result of bacteria aggravating the (often blocked) sebaceous glands. An Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment can be preceded by a chemical peel for more effective treatment of acne problems. Scars produced by acne outbreaks can also be effectively remedied with an Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment.
Vascular Skin Conditions – The Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment provides a non-invasive way of dealing with vascular skin conditions, and can eliminate the unsightly redness caused by inflamed blood vessels. The intense beam of light emitted by the IPL treatment can destroy the blood vessels, causing them to shrink – and resulting to the disappearance of unsightly red veins on the skin.
Pigmentation Removal – Pigmentation problems such as the appearance of freckles, age spots, and liver spots may be caused by the natural ageing process or by excessive exposure to the sun’s harmful rays. An Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment offers a non-invasive treatment of pigmentation problems by stimulating the renewal of the outermost layers of the skin from underneath, so that the pigmented spots and patches can be eliminated. An IPL treatment also encourages the regeneration of collagen, which will address issues with skin elasticity and smoothness.
Stretch Marks – Purple or red stretch marks can effectively be faded with an Intense Pulsed Light laser treatment, which works encourage the regeneration of collagen to renew the areas damaged by the unsightly stretch marks.
