Time and IPL: How Often and How Long Treatments Should Be Used

In a cul­ture that seems to demand some sort of invest­ment at every turn, it’s easy to put per­sonal things on the back­burner in attempt to save a lit­tle money. How­ever, when your self-confidence and per­sonal image is at stake, you may find your­self lean­ing towards mak­ing that invest­ment rather than strug­gling with low self-esteem. Your skin says a lot about you and if age spots, bro­ken blood ves­sels, lack of tone, or even Rosacea bother you, there’s a good chance you already know what a dif­fer­ence being proud of your skin makes.

If you are are con­sid­er­ing Intense Pulsed Light ther­apy (IPL), you are prob­a­bly won­der­ing how much time and money you’ll have to com­mit before see­ing any results.

Can You Trust Your Skin to IPL Therapy?

IPL has been proven to be effec­tive for over 90 per­cent of the pop­u­la­tion. Orig­i­nally used to con­trol hair growth, over the years it has been shown to be incred­i­bly effec­tive as an anti-aging, anti-acne and even anti-Rosacea treat­ment. There is no down­time and no harm­ful chem­i­cal side effects. It is a vir­tu­ally risk-free experience.

Youth­ful Skin is Closer than You Think

Unlike other more dam­ag­ing pro­ce­dures, IPL takes a few ses­sions in order to see results. The amount of time you’ll need to com­mit is largely depen­dent on what you are try­ing to accom­plish, along with the con­di­tion of your skin and how your body responds to the procedure.
Those look­ing to retex­ture their skin and expe­ri­ence the lift­ing that occurs when the cells are stim­u­lated to pro­duce more col­la­gen can expect to com­mit to 2 to 4 ses­sions spread over 4 to 6 weeks. Those who are look­ing to remove bro­ken cap­il­lar­ies or brown spots will see results after 2 to 8 ses­sions every 2 to 6 weeks. Finally, those who strug­gle with Rosacea and acne will find relief after roughly 2 to 6 ses­sions every 1 to 3 weeks. When you con­sider the dra­matic dif­fer­ence that IPL can make, the time frame for improve­ment is quite impressive.

Does IPL Hurt?

Each ses­sion begins with the licensed clin­i­cian apply­ing a sooth­ing gel that helps to numb the skin before the light is applied. Although it’s a rel­a­tively pain­less pro­ce­dure, those with sen­si­tive skin or peo­ple being treated for Rosacea may expe­ri­ence a burn­ing sen­sa­tion or a ‘snap­ping’ feel­ing that has been described as sim­i­lar to the flick of an elas­tic band. The ses­sion lasts for approx­i­mately thirty min­utes to an hour depend­ing on the area that is being treated. If you have time con­straints, you can eas­ily speed up the process by being sure that you arrive with no makeup of any kind and a clean, moisturizer-free face.
A quick online search for before and after shots of peo­ple who have used IPL ther­apy should be enough to con­vince even the most fru­gal among us. Freck­les are gone, wrin­kles are reduced, Rosacea is under con­trol, and best of all, indi­vid­u­als look ten years younger and incred­i­bly happy. Beauty may be only skin deep, but self-confidence goes much, much deeper.