While light can be damaging to the skin (just think of a painful sunburn), it can also be used for rejuvenation—even countering the unwanted cosmetic effects of ultraviolet radiation. With intense pulsed light,Palm Beach’s Carroll Dermatology can target everything from photodamage to benign pigmented lesions to overall facial redness. The powerful pulses of light are ideal for beautiful and lasting results.
Many people refer to intense pulsed light as a laser, but the two treatments are actually different. A laser uses a beam consisting of a single wavelength of light, while intense pulsed light—often called IPL—is made up of multiple wavelengths. An IPL treatment can more easily cover a larger area, leaving precision work to laser devices.
The name of the treatment also gives a clue as to how the device operates: Instead of working as a steady, continuous beam, the light is emitted in bursts—or pulses—that are brief, but powerful. The light from these bursts can target either water, melanin (pigment), or blood. It heats up darker-pigmented cells, like the ones that make up age spots or give visible blood vessels their distinct red hue. This heat damages the unwanted cells,ultimately causing the lesions to break down or flake away, visible veins to collapse, and redness to fade.
An intense pulsed light treatment, also known as a photofacial, is versatile, able to address a range of cosmetic issues. Since the light targets the uppermost layers of the skin in a more general way, it is often used for patients who have cosmetic sun damage, broken capillaries, or symptoms of a chronic condition known as rosacea.
Heating the skin with an intense pulsed light photofacial can trigger natural collagen production, which increases levels of the protein where it counts. The result is a firmer and smoother surface, which can counter the effects of sun exposure, including rough texture. Fibroblasts, which are cells responsible for producing collagen, can also increase hyaluronic acid levels in the skin, providing more moisture and fullness.
For benign pigmented lesions, like sun or age spots, the intense pulsed light is selectively absorbed by cells that are darker than the surrounding tissue. The resulting rapid heat generation kills the unwanted cells. This causes the pigmented lesion to break down. The cells are either absorbed by the body or flake away from the surface, leaving a more even look.
Broken and visible blood vessels—often found on the nose and cheeks—get their distinct color from hemoglobin, which is a protein that carries oxygen. It also contains iron, an element that causes blood to appear red. If veins fail to flow properly, blood can pool and become visible through thin surface skin. As with pigmented lesions, the darker-pigmented hemoglobin more readily absorbs intense pulsed light, generating heat that causes the visible—but unneeded—vessels to seal off and be broken down.
Patients with rosacea often find that their face flushes uncontrollably red. This response may be triggered by any number of factors,including heat, stress, spicy foods, and more. Targeting fine vessels near the surface with intense pulsed light minimizes the general redness.
An initial consultation is ideal for anyone who has spots or other cosmetic issues they would like addressed at Carroll Dermatology.Patients with pigmented lesions such as moles can have the spots checked as part of a skin cancer screening.Those with specific cosmetic concerns may benefit from Fraxel® laser skin rejuvenation or CoolPeelCO2 resurfacing. Fraxel, CO2, or a combination (Helix) can be used for longstanding pigment and severely photoaged and photodamaged skin. Focused light can also be used for laser hair removal and laser acne treatments.
.png)
.png)
.png)
