intense pulsed light treatment

Before you come in for your IPL appointment, we advise that you remove all makeup and gently cleanse the area you’re getting treated. Though the Palomar Icon is comfortable for some patients,  numbing cream can be used for your treatment. We ask that you let us know you’d like numbing cream beforehand and be prepared to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your appointment. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

After your dermatologist or physician assistant has accessed your skin, you’ll be equipped with super stylish goggles to protect your eyes from the bright flashes of light. While reclining, your practitioner will calibrate the laser to your specific treatment parameters. Without numbing cream, each laser pulse will feel similar to an elastic band snapping on your skin. If you choose to apply numbing cream, you’ll feel minimal discomfort.

Because of the expertise of our dermatologists and physician assistants, our patients often tell us that our laser treatments are virtually painless.

After your laser treatment, you might be a little itchy, red or swollen in the area treated, but these side effects should subside in a few days or so. Depending on the area treated, you might also bruise. Bruising, redness, and swelling can last for several days, but they generally subside sooner. After a week or so, you might notice improved skin tone and texture. Everyone has unique skin, so side effects, amount of treatments, and results may vary.

After Intense Pulsed Light treatment, your skin will temporarily be more sensitive to the sun. Protecting your skin is really important, especially during the first few weeks after treatment. Dr. Ciatti recommends avoiding the sun as much as you can after your appointment and protecting your skin with a broad-spectrum sunscreen. At Salonika Medspa, we offer leading broad-spectrum sunscreen products from Elta MD and Isdin.

An Intense Pulsed Light treatment is a non-ablative, non-invasive procedure that uses intense pulses of light to treat a variety of skin conditions, including age spots, melasma, and unwanted veins.  For pigmented lesions, intense pulsed light targets, heats and breaks down the melanin in the tissue responsible for unwanted coloration. For vascular lesions, the intense pulsed light heats and eliminates the red-pigment without damaging the surrounding tissues.

Our dermatologists frequently combine IPL Treatment with fractional laser resurfacing. This involves our dermatologists simultaneously treating unwanted vascular and pigmented lesions while rejuvenating your skin’s elasticity, texture and tone. Click here to learn about how we use fractional resurfacing to rejuvenate your skin’s tone and texture.

The Palomar Icon intuitively combines an IPL handpiece with a 1540nm fractional laser to precisely target and treat a variety of skin conditions.

With IPL treatment, we can treat age spots, broken capillaries, veins, and much more. With fractional laser treatment, we can encourage a more youthful you by improving your skin’s appearance, elasticity, and texture.

Intense Pulsed Light treatment is a non-invasive, non-ablative procedure used to treat a variety of skin conditions.

• Acne Scarring: At Salonika Medspa, we have a wide variety of treatments for acne scarring. Click here to learn about how we might treat your acne scarring.
• Skin Resurfacing: With fractional skin resurfacing treatment, we can effectively improve the evenness, tone, and texture of your skin to encourage a more youthful you. Click here to learn about fractional laser treatment.
• Scars and Blemishes: With the Palomar Icon, we can use the fractional laser to help improve the appearance and texture of burns, surgical scars, stretch marks, and other scars and blemishes. Click here to learn about how we might treat your scars and blemishes.
• Melasma: If you have brown patches of discoloration on your face, you might have melasma. Melasma might have many causes, like medications or sunlight, but we offer many solutions to improving its appearance. Click here to learn about how we might treat your melasma.

At Salonika Medspa, we’re dedicated to making sure your Intense Pulsed Light treatments are equally comfortable and effective. Depending on the area, each laser pulse will feel like a snap similar to an elastic band. However, ifyou’re sensitive, you can request that we apply a numbing cream beforehand. With numbing cream, you’ll feel almost nothing during treatment.

For your comfort and safety, the Palomar Icon also has a melanin reader and cooling system to intuitively protect your skin. With care and compassion, your dermatologist or physician assistant will ensure that your IPL treatments are as comfortable and effective as possible.

Ablative and non-ablative lasers primarily differ in how much they alter the skin’s surface.

Ablative lasers partially remove the top layer of skin, or epidermis, to encourage improved texture and tone. Non-ablative lasers, like the Icon IPL, involve treating the deeper layers of the skin without affecting the top layers.

At Salonika Medspa, our dermatologists and physician assistants recommend non-ablative laser treatments because they have fewer side effects and much less downtime than ablative alternatives.

Depending on the area treated, our dermatologists generally recommend a series of treatments, usually 3 to 5, spaced 2 to 4 weeks apart to encourage your best results. However, no laser treatment is ‘one size fits all’, and some of our patients often report that they notice an improvement in their skin’s appearance, tone and texture after a single treatment.

Depending on the area treated, you might notice improvement in as little as a few days post- treatment. As the skin heals, many of our patients notice improvement over the course of 2 months post-treatment.

• Chan CS, Saedi N, Mickle C, Dover JS. Combined treatment for facial rejuvenation using an optimized pulsed light source followed by a fractional non-ablative laser. Lasers Surg Med. 2013;45(7):405-409. doi:10.1002/lsm.22162

• Dermnetnz.org. 2020. Intense Pulsed Light Therapy. [online] Available at: <https://dermnetnz.org/topics/intense-pulsed-light-therapy/> [Accessed 8 July 2020].

• Knight JM, Kautz G. Sequential facial skin rejuvenation with intense pulsed light and non-ablative fractionated laser resurfacing in fitzpatrick skin type II-IV patients: A prospective multicenter analysis. Lasers Surg Med. 2019;51(2):141-149. doi:10.1002/lsm.23007

• Preissig J, Hamilton K, Markus R. Current Laser Resurfacing Technologies: A Review that Delves Beneath the Surface. Semin Plast Surg. 2012;26(3):109-116. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1329413

• Ross, E.V., Smirnov, M., Pankratov, M. and Altshuler, G. (2005), Intense Pulsed Light and Laser Treatment of Facial Telangiectasias and Dyspigmentation: Some Theoretical and Practical Comparisons. Dermatologic Surgery, 31: 1188-1198. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4725.2005.31925